Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,92

was done. Even though she agreed to do as he instructed, she had a feeling she’d break her promise if push came to shove.

She couldn’t leave him. No matter what, she couldn’t ever leave him again. She rather suspected that it was a physical impossibility, even if she could overcome the mental and emotional firewalls.

“Why are they after us? What’s so special about me that they made your…Mate take me?” the boy asked, his tone so serious Sophia felt as if someone else was asking the question in Benji’s voice.

Not for the first time, she wondered at Benji’s uncanny maturity for someone so young. He’d taken an abduction at knife point, leaping off a skyscraper, being absconded in a helicopter and an impromptu survival trek through unfamiliar woods like a champ. Never once did he complain. Always optimistic and cheerful, seeing the bright side of every situation.

Unlike Sophia.

Apart from getting Dalair back to himself, she struggled to see the silver lining in their present circumstances.

Since the beginning, when she first spotted Benji ice-skating at Wollman Rink, she sensed the vibrant Pure soul within this cherubic, angelic human boy. She hadn’t been entirely certain back then, years ago, but there was no denying that Benji was magical, for the colors of his soul were unlike any she’d ever seen.

In a way, it reminded her of what she saw in Erebu’s soul—the colors sometimes changed, blazing hotter, brighter, or subdued like a low flame. But unlike Ere’s soul, Benji’s was pure light, no darkness woven in between.

His colors reminded Sophia of another soul she’d witnessed before, but couldn’t for the life of her recall now where she’d seen it. It was so familiar. Clinging to the edges of her memories. Just waiting for her to realize the truth. She was frustrated by her own mental block, for she knew that whatever it was, the memory was critically important.

“You have special powers, Benji,” she answered honestly, not attempting to prevaricate.

Benji was the smartest, wisest little person she’d ever encountered across all of her incarnations. He could handle the truth.

Instead of hushing them both and cowering in quiet, she decided to allow the distraction of whispered conversation. She didn’t know about the boy, but it helped to calm her, that was for sure. To distract her from the fact that they were being hunted like animals by squadrons-worth of armed, dangerous and mind-controlled assassins.

“What kind of powers?” he immediately asked in that same hushed tone right next to her ear as they crouched together on the forest floor.

Everything else was eerily silent, save the occasional flutter of wings and the scrambling and chattering of small animals.

“Well,” Sophia thought quickly as she talked, trying to stick to the truth while not revealing anything he didn’t absolutely need to know, “you can see people’s true forms. That’s pretty awesome.”

She knew Benji rolled his eyes even if she couldn’t see him.

“Woopdidoo,” he muttered. “You can see people’s souls. That’s way cooler.”

“Just so,” she agreed, which was the first time she acknowledged her Gift in a favorable vein, “we have the best kind of powers.”

“Why do the bad guys want me for that?” he persisted, too logical and astute by half.

“I’m just a human boy. Why didn’t they abduct Mama Bear or one of the Elite warriors or even Seth or Jade? How am I supposed to not do what they want if I don’t know what they want?”

Sophia’s heart palpitated.

That last comment assumed that he was anticipating being in their enemies’ clutches. He was already thinking ahead.

She prayed to the Goddess that it wouldn’t become a reality.

“You come from a very powerful lineage,” she added, then bit her lip and wondered if she’d revealed too much. The fact that Benji was Erebu’s son was still a secret, especially to the boy himself.

“Since Olivia was my mom, not Nana, not biologically anyway, I guess you mean I’m powerful from my dad’s side?”

Sophia could hear the thoughtful frown in his voice.

“But before Dad got turned into a vampire by Nana, he was a human just like me. I get that he has an ancient Pure soul and all, but these things aren’t inherited, are they?”

Mercy! But the boy was impossible to argue with. Sophia was relatively sure she hadn’t thrown around multi-syllabic words every other sentence when she’d been his age.

“You have a Pure soul too,” she revealed. “It is all your own. Not inherited from anyone. Unique and special.”

“So do you,” he immediately replied. “I’m no more special