one was better at it than Grace.
"You need your rest," he replied, scooting his chair closer. "You're tired, I can feel it."
Before she could say anything else, he was on his feet, Grace up in his arms. "I'll carry you.”
She just shook her head and the rest of us went back to ignoring them. Especially me.
"Oh, wait!" Grace called, when they were almost out of the room. "I need to tell Jake something."
This got my attention. Information from Grace was most probably about Justice.
Before Tyson could even turn, I was out of my seat standing before them.
Grace chuckled at my lack of fucking chill when it came to her ruby sister. "Justice will take the final step to bond with the ruby stones in the next few days. Cam heard from the ruby queen." She beamed with pride for her sister. “It’s ruby fey only, but I can sneak you in. I know she wants you there.”
I nodded. "Yes."
There was nothing else to say. I’d stayed away as long as I could.
Over the past few months I’d learned to manage my newer, more volatile emotions, but right now the energy swirled strongly inside as I finally acknowledged that it was time to claim my mate.
I was finally fucking ready. Here’s hoping I wasn’t too late.
"Meet you in the forest around 3A.M," Grace said. “I think I’ve timed it right.”
I nodded. "I'll be there."
Tyson swept her away and I didn't even have to hate my brother, because tomorrow I'd see my girl. I hadn't been this damn excited in a long time.
18
Justice Winter
The power I controlled was unbelievable. I'd thought my powers before this day were impressive, but I’d had no idea just how much I was missing out on. When I bonded with the jewels, I could feel them like I was touching every single one in my world. They were ingrained into every part of my essence.
The full length of our city was lined with rubies, below, around, beyond, and above. Even the pinkish elements in our sky was made up of fragmented gems.
As I stood at Rubyhenge, alone, slightly shaken and beaten but growing stronger by the second, I threw my head back and screamed.
A scream of joy and exuberance.
A scream of release and fear.
A scream of renewal and acceptance.
And in that scream, a new Justice was born.
The rubies around me glowed, and the six stones crumbled back into the ground, having done their jobs. Deciding that I’d call a beam of light to travel back to my family, I had no trouble finding the rays of energy large enough. If I allowed my power to flood my body, filling my eyes, I could see thousands of crisscrossing ruby beams in front of me.
A sense of home filled me. The strongest I’d ever had.
I was a princess and this was where I belonged.
But how did Jacob fit into that? How did we make it work?
Grace and Tyson…
My inner voice reminded me that they were from two different worlds, the same two worlds as Jacob and me, so there must be a way. And now I was finally strong enough to track him down and have the conversation. It was time to decide once and for all what our future held.
Stepping into the beam, I closed my eyes, as I always did when the rush of power surrounded me. It swept me across the water, depositing me gently on the sand, the crowd now ten times what it was when I left.
A roar went up, the evidence of my bonding to the stones obvious by my new mode of transportation. A royal gift.
"You did it!" my mother said, hurrying forward to throw her arms around me. My father was right behind her, and for the first time, they hugged me together.
And I didn't pull away. That darkness, it had stopped me from ever truly trusting a male, but as the stones expunged it from my soul, I was free to trust again.
I was free.
My mother wasn't the only one with shiny eyes when we finally separated.
"I feel different," I admitted, my voice barely able to be heard over the cheering and shouts around us. "I can sense the burning heart of the gems across our land. Their energy is filling me with heat.”
Jepati took my face in his hands, cradling it gently. "If you search, you can find us in that bond as well. We’re all connected to the same source of power."
He was right. Digging deeper, there was