Chapter 414: Ache of Lost Memories
Nedra and Seth were standing in the cottage of her kitchen, the peaceful sea glittering out the window while August lay on the sofa in the other room where Seth had laid her. She was murmuring in her sleep as they discussed the situation they found themselves in now.
"She is dreaming? I thought you put her out more deeply than that," Seth remarked, hearing August from the other room. She had been dead weight during the length of their walk, unperturbed by the way he was jostling her around—not at all like someone who was merely sleeping.
"She must have a healing portal," Nedra shrugged.
It wasn’t uncommon. In fact, seeing as how powerful Sage was, she wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who opened it for her since August was so new in her abilities. It was unlikely she would have been able to access it herself.
"A healing portal?" his eyebrows shot up. "What is that?"
"It is exactly what it sounds like. A place where powerful alyko or fae can go in order to heal. The lesser experienced ones or those who use powers beyond their current capability—basically those who exhaust themselves—often need to it recover. When I put her out, she must have just automatically ended up there," she explained.
Seth looked at her like she had grown another head. "What else don’t I know about your kind?"
"Much more than I could possibly tell you," she chuckled.
"Do you use a healing portal?" he asked, concerned that this was something she may have needed after all the tasks she was asked to do for Zagan. He thought of how many times he had to carry her back to this very cottage after doing work for him. Did it expend her energy and her capabilities that much?
"Why?" she frowned. "Why are you so worried now?"
"I’m..." he blew out a frustrated breath at the defenses of hers that were apparently back up. "I have always been worried. But you don’t let me in."
"I have let you in!" she countered, throwing an arm out to show the evidence of that. He was literally in her cottage right now. "I have let you in plenty of times. You just always leave. You always have somewhere else to be."
Seth’s phone buzzed as if to make her point for her.
"See what I mean?" she chuckled and walked to the fridge to get some tea.
Seth glanced at the phone and saw it was just Rico telling him the rest of the alyko had made it to the exit and were officially out of the island portal. What a surreal thing—the alyko were gone. The containment facility was empty. What would the strays here do now? They relied on the alyko for their entertainment and stability of purpose. Now what purpose would most of them have?
"They are officially free of this world," he reported the news to Nedra. "They have all left."
She blew out a relieved breath and leaned against the counter. It was hard to believe this was really happening—the alyko were really free. Why had Zagan decided to let them all go? It definitely had something to do with Penelope. This was such a sharp turn in his plans. She was likely the only one who could have persuaded him of it.
Seth got up from where he was sitting at the table and went to her, standing with her back against his chest. He placed his hands on the counter next to hers, framing her between his arms. "I am here now," he murmured into her hair.
"You will leave," she replied quietly, staring at how their hands looked next to each other—hers so much smaller next to his. She loved his hands. They were rough from the work he did and from his time in the wild.
"You have needed to heal in a separate portal, haven’t you? Every time he asks something else of you. You are growing more and more tired. I can see it," he spoke softly, nudging the side of her face with his own as they both stared out the window now at the sea. It was so wolf-like, the brush against her with his cheek as if he was checking on her well-being somehow—with his sense of touch. He needed to feel her to feel her truth.
"Yes," she answered simply. "But I am fine. That is what it is there for."
"You never murmur like that when I carry you," he said, referring to the soft noises he heard August continue to make in the other room.
"I am there alone. There is no one to murmur to," she answered, a small smile crawling on her lips as she imagined who was likely there with August right now.
"She is not alone?" he asked, pulling away from Nedra. For some reason that gave him the chills. Who else could the Luna be with?
"I have a feeling she is with her mate. He was injured. Mates are special. I bet she can pull him in. Or maybe Sage sent him there," she said dreamily, in awe at how remarkable her son was. Hopefully Zagan maintained his decision to leave the alyko alone, because Sage could do wonderful things he was allowed to be free to do them without fear of being tracked down.
"I can’t believe we have two children, Nedra," he sighed behind her, and she turned to see how much anguish painted itself on his face at the thought. "I should have been there with you. I-I can’t imagine you doing that alone."
He ran a hand through his hair and down his face, aching for the memories that were lost—that he would never be a part of. He could have seen his female heavy with child. He could have felt their movements, their kicks of life against his palms as he held her stomach. He could have loved her and them the way that they needed.
