“What does ewal emninumam mean?”
He smiled down at her. “Sweet goddess. Now close your eyes.”
She turned her head into his chest and closed her eyes tight. Sandu didn’t hesitate but took to the night sky. He would share the night sky with her once he got away from the city. The blaze of city lights could easily drown out the beauty of the reality of the stars and moon.
You’re a blend of all the elements. Earth. Air. Fire. Water. She whispered into his mind. The magician wields so much power because he understands the true meaning of above and below. You do, don’t you?
He was Carpathian. He was elemental. He was of the earth. She sang to him, called, healed him when he was wounded. Cared for him when he sought solace in her arms. Yes. He answered her.
You can bind with elements.
He felt her struggle to understand. Did your cards tell you this? I am more than your magician, Adalasia. Much more.
She moved in his arms. It was subtle. She didn’t lift her head from his chest, but she did shift as if she might try to put distance between their bodies.
You didn’t say if you can bind me to you. There was real fear in her mind.
You did not ask this question. You stated that I can bind elements. I asked if your cards told you this. You did not answer me. He had distracted her. He felt her frown.
The magician card is always present in my readings for myself or for you, but no, it is there in the history. We are playing word games here, Sandu. Can you bind me to you in some way?
You already know the answer to that question, or you would not be trying to scare yourself, Adalasia. You are the keeper of my soul. Are you aware that you are?
She was silent for so long he wasn’t certain she would answer him. He let her be as he moved away from the sprawling city. San Diego was deceptive in that it didn’t appear to be as large as it was. He preferred the mountains, and he especially preferred to be as far as possible from cities.
The San Bernardino National Forest was three hours away by car, but far less than that when flying straight and rapidly. Eight hundred thousand acres of forest and cave systems gave Sandu a feeling of being home. He could set up safeguards and protect his lifemate from any trouble—human, vampire or otherwise—while he slept beneath the soil.
I am not sure what you mean.
There was both truth and untruth in Adalasia’s carefully guarded words.
Have you heard the term lifemate? Was that used in this history you refer to that is no more than a legend?
Again, she fell silent for some time. I am going to open my eyes. I don’t want to continue this conversation right now.
She was honest enough to avoid something that was upsetting to her. He much preferred that to her lying to him.
We are in the air. Fairly high up and moving quickly, heading for the San Bernardino National Forest. Your enemies will not easily find you there. We can make our plans for our journey and how best to start it. Let me drop lower and slow down so you won’t get dizzy. I’ll tell you when it is safe to open your eyes.
Her fingers tightened around his neck. I can’t believe we’re actually in the air, but I can feel the wind rushing around me. I can hear it. Why don’t I feel cold?
I would never allow you to be cold.
His assurance seemed to buy him more trust with her. The fingers at the nape of his neck began to knead into his skin like a cat, but there was a wholly intimate component to it. Just as there was an intimate factor to speaking mind to mind. Each time she spoke to him, her voice brushed that whisper into lonely places he thought would never be filled. His soul might still be torn in half, the blackened remains tattered and filled with holes, scarred in too many places to count, but already he felt lighter just having her close.
“Try now. If the wind is too much, let me know and I will shield you more.”
She shifted just a little bit more, one hand curling tightly around his neck, anchoring her, the other fisting his shirt while she turned her body, careful of her satchel. Sandu!
For a moment he was seeing out of her eyes, a dark world streaking below them, passing too fast. She shifted her gaze to the stars above and gasped again.
It’s beautiful. Scary but beautiful. She clutched his shirt tighter and dug her fingers deeper into his skin. Is this real? I feel as if I’m in a dream.
There are many things I wish to show you, ewal emninumam. The earth is a beautiful and exciting place.
He had forgotten the beauty of the night sky until he saw it through her eyes. He wanted to see the forest and the caves, gemstones and waterfalls, so many places he’d traveled that had all been colorless battlegrounds to him. He would view them so differently with her by his side.