Brilliance (Circle of the Stars #4) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,26

asked. The sooner Ari did her actual magic, the sooner I got Cheeks back. I was willing to be kicked in the balls for that to happen as quickly as possible.

“Are you laying in your body, garinion?”

“Yes, Grams. I’ve been here since you all ran up. I’m ready.”

Ari laid her hands on Cheeks’ chest. “Restitutio maior.” I felt the huge wave of power she thrust into her granddaughter’s body.

Cheeks’ body danced with the influx of energy. “Almost, Grams. Try again,” Cheeks called.

I put my hand on Ari’s shoulder, pushed whatever magic I had to her. Thane and Tove came up and did the same.

As one, we said, “Restitutio maior.”

Cheeks’ body lit up like a bonfire on a calm night. The fiery blue-white of intense flames. I squinted against the glare in the dark forest.

Once it calmed back down to a glow, I opened my eyes.

There she was. But that glow was still there. She looked like a glowstick.

I didn’t care. She was here. She was moving. She was alive. She was ours.

I tackled her to the ground, rolled us up against the nearest tree. With the bark cutting into my back, I clenched her against me. Breathed in her scent. Relished in the familiar weight of her body.

Thane plucked her from my arms far too soon, but I couldn’t blame him. Well, I mean I could. I just wasn’t going to. This time.

Tove snatched her from our oldest brother in short order. He took her mouth with his as he guided her legs around his waist.

Dammit.

I should have gone for the kiss.

Ari cleared her throat. “Toven, my granddaughter. Now.”

In the soft glow that radiated from Cheeks’ skin, I saw Ari. Her posture was ramrod straight. Her fists clenched by her side. Her cheeks traced by tears.

Tove snarled.

Thane kicked his ass. Literally. “Tove, now.”

Tove ripped his mouth from Cheeks’. Looked over at Ari. Before whatever he’d thought to spit at her could leave his mouth, he lowered Cheeks to her feet.

Cheeks walked to her grandmother. Pulled the other woman into her arms. The shrieking sobs that sprang from the older goddess shredded my already fragile heart.

I gritted my teeth against the pain. The soul-searing anguish that rose and fell with each of Ari’s cries. I hadn’t thought to examine anyone else’s pain, mine had been overwhelming enough.

But Ari’s shouts of grief showed me for the selfish asshole I really was. I’d hoarded Cheeks’ body. Not let anyone touch her. I’d denied anyone else their own closure. It didn’t matter right now that Cheeks wasn’t actually dead. Had she been, I would have played a role in hurting every single person who loved my girl. And who my girl loved in return.

I got to my feet. I approached the sobbing women. Encircled both of them in my arms. Thane and Tove came around and added their bodies, their hearts, their love to the circle of family we’d created.

“I’m sorry, Ari. So very sorry,” I said softly. I wasn’t sure she heard me through her own grief, but, like the selfish jackhole I was, I needed to tell her. Needed to admit my sins.

The women cried for a bit longer. The screaming easing off into the whimpered moans of relief. Of healing.

I tightened my arms around them both.

“You’re bonded mates, Tagan Ladon. I’m simply her grandmother. I saw your claim and acknowledged it. Carry no guilt for your actions,” she said softly. She leaned her head to my chest for a moment.

I blinked. I’d been sure she hadn’t heard me. I had even prepared myself to confess again. I should have known. Ari, Goddess of the Night Sky, was almost as amazing as her granddaughter.

Chapter 15 – Thane

I was barely holding myself back from ripping Stretch from her grandmother’s arms. I knew I wasn’t the only one hurting, but damn, did I need some one-on-one time with my girl. I’d almost put her in the fucking ground.

Only Tag’s stubbornness had led to this moment. That and his uncanny ability to walk around fully armed without alerting anyone. I was indebted to him for the rest of our natural—and supernatural—lives.

Shame ate at me. Ripped through the joy of having our girl back. In our arms. Alive.

The only thing I could keep thinking of was my demands to bury her. To put her body under the soil so it would no longer taunt me with the reminders. To have it removed from my sight. My heart. My memories.

I’d known I wouldn’t survive her loss. Much