[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

around her body shackling her to the chest of the captor who now stood behind her.
"It is good to see you again, Jardia." Lips whispered against the lobe of her ear, speaking
to her in the ancient Tertian language.
"You!" Jardia was instantly irked. She knew that voice. "How dare you seek me out
after
all of these phases, at a time such as this."
"At a time such as what, She'ami?"
"When deliverance is upon us! The disintegration of the Sh'emati's ability to link to
control us, to destroy their ability to brainwash us into the mating."
"Is this what you believe?" Jer shook his head. "I would think your wisdom to be far
superior than to misinterpret this fable of old."
"It is not a fable, Pontiff." Jardia returned, obstinacy stressing her voice. "The
appearance of the skybird is augured in the prophecies."
She tried to pull free of him, but his grip tightened.
"It is augmented in the prophecies, She'ami, fallacy built upon fallacy."
"You fear the liberation of Trigon tradition, do you not, Pontiff." Jardia flashed a sly grin.
"For such a thing would force you to surrender what lingers with futility in your own mind's
wicked desire."
"No liberation transcends these lands, Jardia." Jer turned to face her, his voice low,
almost menacing. "Your interference breaks with Trigon tradition."
"I am rescuing the virgin offspring!" she protested.
"It is not your place to rescue her, Jardia," he warned. "She is the Tina of Calem and
Arjim. The hunt can only be engaged in by those who are mated."
"Your reminder is putrid!" Jardia growled as old, hated memories surfaced. "You pour
brine in my wounds!"
"Wounds you let not heal, reshena& little princess."
The pain stabbed her, but Jardia refused to heed the truth in his words, instead allowing it
to peak her anger. "What do you know of wounds when you only know how to inflict them?"
She felt his body stiffen, and he released her. Jardia whirled around, while lifting her
talon to strike. Silver rimmed irises met silver rimmed irises and sparks of passion passed
between them. Jardia gasped. Now face to face with him, seeing him for the first time in more
Trigon Rituals III: Dominance Fury Angelia Whiting 95
than fifteen phases, her determination to ignore her heart faltered. Though he'd aged, the phases
had been kind to him. He was as handsome as ever. Yet, there was angst in his expression that
reflected her own torment. She ignored it, preferring instead to concentrate on the bitterness
she'd thrived on since the dawning they both lost all.
"The wounds you self-inflict are far worse and dwell with even greater devastation than
any I've ever felt within myself," he said to her. "Finding closure in your heart with what cannot
be changed will be the only thing that brings you solitude, She'ami."
"Don't call me that," Jardia growled through gritted teeth as she paced in a slow arc
coming to stand behind him. She dared not let herself look upon his handsome face overlong,
dared not let the false sincerity in his eyes woo her forgiveness. "The Divinity must remain a
virgin. It is the word of the ancient prophets."
"Ka! Divinities be damned."
"Blasphemous!" Jardia returned. "You, Jer! You claim to be of a holy Tribunal and
yet& "
The Pontiff turned to face her. "You know full well a spirit bird no more coughed her up
than it did you or me, woman. You create a fallacy to suite your own trepidation and grief."
"But the Divinities& "
"Ka! The woman was Divinity sent, uyo." Jer stared at her coldly. "But not for the
purpose you believe, Jardia. She is to be mated."
"Over my dead body!" Jardia lowered her talon arc and poked the point of it at Jer's chest.
Jer's gaze dropped and he fingered the crudely honed blade as if admiring it. A sullen
smile appeared briefly on his lips, a flash of aggrieved emotion, but it vanished quickly. "Your
interference with the Trigon Rituals is ill-timed, Jardia."
"What do you insinuate?" Incensed, Jardia pushed the point of her weapon harder into the
Pontiff's chest.
"No cruel reminders." Jer wrapped his palm around the shaft of the talon just below the
blade and moved it aside. "But it was almost over your dead body once, so many phases ago on
this very dawning, reshena."
"I am no longer little, Jer." She commented.
"I can see that." He crooked a finger beneath her chin, studied her face, and then smiled
tenderly when she didn't pull away. "But a princess all the same."
His thumb skimmed over her lips and they parted. She released a slow, quivering breath,
arousal stirring, reacting to his gentle stroke. "Your bitterness of what was meant that never
came to be cannot be the driving force of your hate for this tripling Jardia. Let your heart find
redemption."
Her heart& her heart& Oh woe& oh woe&
Jardia searched the Pontiff's face, his eyes. She lowered her gaze to watch his chest rise
and fall with every breath. She remembered how he'd touched her, how he'd& Ayn! Jardia
stiffened. Ayn, never! He would never be that to her again. She forced her heart to harden and
she snarled at him. "It is my obligation to protect the divinity bird's offspring, a duty to the
She'amatina!"
"Your duty is with self-preservation and spite." Jer lowered his hand slowly and gave her
a sullen look. "I too carry the burden of guilt and blame."
"I live with no such thing, Pontiff& " She emphasized the sanctified title as if it were
bitter on her tongue.
Jer pulled the hood over his head allowing it to drape over his face. He began to back
Trigon Rituals III: Dominance Fury Angelia Whiting 96
away from her. "I will be watching you, evala'luso. I am always watching you."
Jardia's eyes closed. The duality in the words she was about to say were well understood
before she even spoke them. "And I will run& always I will run."
"I am counting on it," Jer answered, his voice carrying to her like a ghostly whisper on a
distant breeze. "I am counting on it."
* * * *
"Oh this is wonderful." Sydney tipped her head back allowing the taw bubbles from the
falls to cascade through her hair. "It feels like I haven't had a good bath in weeks and weeks."
The effervescent property of the taw that swirled around her nude body was amazingly
soothing, or at least it would be under other circumstances. Outwardly, she was trying to remain
calm. Inwardly, after what Alea revealed about how her beloved Calem and Arjim were using
the hunt, she was fuming. How dare they play with her body, tempt her, lure her, use their life-
long friendship, make love to her for ulterior purposes.
"The taw here is much more refreshing than earth water." Alea skimmed her arm across
the pink liquid surface. Scooping some it with her cupped hand, she tossed it in the air watching
it coalesce into bubbles and then burst as they hit the pool's surface. She chuckled. "I love it
here."
Alea pushed up to sit on the edge of the pool, and Sydney studied how her long auburn [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • supermarket.pev.pl

    •