Page 45 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

This place hurts.

It’s wrong.

If I touch it, I will not be destroyed.

But I will never be only myself again.

Jayce.

His face flutters into my mind, slamming me back to the present.

The memory of him cuts through the hum like lightning through a storm. His hands, steady and grounding, linger on my waist, his lips against mine, his smile… his faith.

The way his eyes search mine as though I am something worth protecting, not consuming. The way he anchors me when I spiral.

I close my eyes and pull my hand back.

No.

The whispers rise in agitation, the ground trembling beneath my feet as the egg right at the core of whatever this is pulses harder, faster.

Come.

I shake my head, breath shuddering in my lungs.

I won’t!

The drakaths step forward as one, their claws digging into the barren earth, their glowing eyes narrowing.

The energy around me shifts, and for the first time since I entered, I feel the egg’s displeasure.

I gasp and blink as the dream disappears, and I’m left trembling. My fingers brush Jayce’s nose as I remove them before my hand drops onto my lap, and I look away. I didn’t mean for him to see that last part. I wasn’t trying to show him what he means to me.

“So that’s it,” I say softly, my voice cracking. I avoid looking at him.

He’s watching me; I can sense it, and it makes my heart pound, consumed by too much.

“I’ve seen them before.”

I look at him sharply. “What?”

“Those things, the drakaths, there’s mention of them in the tomes.”

My eyes widen. “You mean they’re one of the mentioned beasts?” I ask.

He shakes his head, and his next words make my stomach twist with unease.

“Not beasts; they’re a species, mentioned amongst the other immortals of the Gods’ Realm.”

Proximity

Jayce

“Idon’t recall much about them, but they’re in the Book of Immortals.” I rake my fingers through my hair, not missing the way her eyes darken as they trail over me. She swallows and averts her gaze.

Even now, she can’t hide how she feels; I don’t even need my intuition to figure that out.

“Do you remember anything much?” she asks, her soft voice sending a shiver through me. She can’t even fucking turn off the seduction.