Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,61
helicopter, and yet he purposely crashed that aircraft after changing course. Misdirection and faked deaths? Seemed likely.
He could have easily ditched Sophia when they jumped from the helo into the lake; she wasn’t part of his mission. But he pulled her from the water along with Benji and made sure he walked slowly enough for her to keep up. And, too, he didn’t have to allow her to get close enough to come on this hair-raising adventure in the first place, but he did.
Sophia was almost certain she’d been able to reach him—truly connect with his soul—in the helicopter. But she didn’t have the opportunity to glimpse more of his eyes in the dark. He hadn’t offered words of reassurance, and he didn’t respond to any of her mental probes.
The only thing Sophia could do, as her eyelids became too heavy to keep up, was trust. She had to have faith that her love was strong enough to bring Dalair back. That together, they were strong enough to overcome all odds.
In the meantime, while she waited for his return, Sophia succumbed to exhaustion.
And she dreamed of the Before that she had long forgotten…
Third millennium BC. Capital City of Akkad. Sometime before the Great War.
“Tell me the story again, Papa,” Titi wheedled with a whine.
“Pleeeassse.”
Papa’s melodious chuckle rumbled from his big chest.
Titi imagined that she could feel it shaking the ground upon which they lay side by side. That’s how big and powerful Papa seemed to her, as if he could carry the entire world on his broad shoulders.
“I must have told it a thousand times,” he murmured, not impatiently.
Papa was never impatient with Titi or Mama. Verily, Titi had never seen Papa impatient with anyone. He was the very best male and the very best Papa in the whole world!
“Then tell it one thousand and one times,” Titi begged. “It’s my favorite story.”
“Very well,” Papa relented.
Titi could hear the smile in his voice. One of the reasons she loved this story was because of how Papa sounded and looked when he told it. His voice deepened with a different kind of warmth, and if she leaned over and looked down into his face, she would see the corners of his eyes crinkle with affection, his expression soften with love.
Not the kind of love Papa showed to Titi though. A more mysterious, wondrous, indescribable kind of love. His love for Mama.
“It was pure coincidence that I passed through this village on my hunting trek,” Papa began.
“My leopard spirit makes me want to avoid crowds, though the Pure side of me prefers the comforts of civilization rather than living in the wild with other Beasts. I’ve stuck to the same hunting routes and trade posts since I was a cub, the paths that my papa had shown me before he… passed.”
Titi nodded.
She knew that Papa’s papa had been killed during the ritualistic grand hunt that Queen Ashlu led every solar cycle. Papa’s mama had died shortly thereafter from grief. When a Pure One lost their Mate, their soul wanted to join the departed. And so she did, leaving Papa to fend for himself in the wild.
Titi knew this because she’d persistently hounded Papa with questions, hungry for every piece of knowledge he imparted. And though she was only five summers, he often spoke to her as he would an adult. He always told her the truth, as if she could understand.
Except, honestly, she didn’t understand.
She didn’t know why the mighty Dark Queen Ashlu had to have the grand hunts every solar cycle in the first place. But those wherefores were not the focus of Titi’s attention. She was much more interested in Papa and Mama.
“But this time,” Papa continued, “I’d been lucky in my hunts and had more than I could carry to the trade post I usually used to exchange the meat and hides for essentials. I encountered a caravan of wagons headed east, and the travelers told me of this newly established outpost. They made room for my goods in the wagons, and so I journeyed with them to the new town.”
“And you saw Mama and fell in love with her straight away,” Titi prompted, excitement coursing through her as Papa approached the best part of the story.
“Am I telling this or are you?” he teased and tickled her under the chin.
“I’m just helping you along!” she chirped, giggling.
Suddenly, the thick-furred tip of a tail slid under Titi’s nose, making her giggles turn to guffaws and sneezes.