“Fuck.”
The man sat down in the grass, looking dazed. I offered him a cautious look but decided to leave him to his thoughts as my gaze moved back to Maya. My chest squeezed as she began to move, her eyes slowly blinking open.
Even from here, I could see their golden warmth, relief exploding across her face as she caught sight of me. I knew she couldn’t see the man on the ground next to me, but she immediately stood, walking up the valley towards us.
I felt everything still inside of me because…my peanut was glowing. Literally.
Her golden skin appeared to be sparkling, and her hair, which had been long before, reached nearly below her hips and wrapped around her like a protective veil. No marks or scars covered her skin except for the mating marks on her neck—outside of that, absolutely nothing. It made me want to pull down my own shirt to check my scars. Her lips parted into a smile as she moved closer, her mouth moving but no noise sounding.
I couldn’t hear her.
I spoke her name out loud as the man next to me looked up in realization, but Maya came to a stop, her mouth dipping into a slight frown as she realized she couldn’t hear me either. My mate approached the wall of magic, more cautiously this time, her gaze moving down to the man that had just gotten to his feet, surprise still stark across his face. His baffled expression turned only more confused as Maya offered him a beautiful smile that caused even my heart to beat double-time.
“Don’t touch it,” I warned her, pointing towards the barrier and shaking my head. I knew it wasn’t her magic. I didn’t know how I was so sure about that, but I could tell.
She nodded, and her eyes grew watery as she mouthed ‘I love you.’ I immediately returned the phrase, making her smile before her eyes moved to the man staring at her in shock. She opened her mouth to say something—but suddenly thunder cracked overhead.
I snapped my head up, looking at the clear skies in confusion, and when the man next to me cursed, I looked back down to see the barrier growing foggy, Maya’s concerned gaze the last thing I saw before the space turned completely dark, like an onyx wall had been erected in the golden barrier’s place.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demanded. The sky and the area Maya was in seemed to be merging, obscuring my view of her.
“I don’t know.”
I could tell that upset the angel—he sounded nearly as panicked as myself.My mom had said she would be alright.I had to trust her—I did trust her—but that didn’t stop the frustration. I began to pace, willing to wait as long as I needed for Maya.
My fingers tugged the collar of my torn shirt. I breathed out a sigh of relief to see Maya’s mark still there…but the scar from my father was gone.