Free The Space Beyond (The Book of Phoenix) by Kristie Cook Page B

for a while. If the Lakari suspect an influx of Guardians in the area, they might jump the gun and swoop in on the soul before you even know who it is.”
    “We can do this,” Leni said confidently.
    “I still don’t like it,” I muttered.
    Leni squeezed my hand again. “We chose this, remember? It’s time to step up and make ourselves useful. And like I said, I’m doing it with or without you … but I’d much rather with you.”
    I cut my eyes down to her and huffed my breath through my nose like a bull. The woman was stubborn. And a pain in my ass. And would always get her way when it came to me. No fuckin’ way would I let her go out on her own.
    “Remember to believe , Jeremicah,” Mira called after me as we headed for the door.
    I’d remember. I really had no choice now, did I? I had to believe in our abilities if I was going to keep Leni from getting herself killed. The silver lining: At least we were getting away from everyone’s stupid expectations and judgmental glares here at the manor.

Chapter 6
    As we prepared to leave the manor for the first time in months, the only thing that had me doubting this decision was that the mission pulled us away from the Gate … and possibly from Nathayden. We were setting out to hopefully find Rebethannah, but what if she was near here, and that’s why Nathayden contacted us, and now we were traveling hundreds of miles away? What if she was in the Gate, too? For all we knew, she wasn’t even on our world.
    I didn’t know if my instinct told me one way or the other. Not something I’d admit to Jeric, especially not right now, because when needed, my intuition had been loud and clear for us. I didn’t have that strong pull right now that told me what to do. Options bounced around in my mind, but I didn’t know if my preference was by instinct or mere desire. I wanted to get away from the manor. I wanted to prove to myself and to Jeric—and to everyone else—that we were ready to be the warriors and the leaders we were meant to be. I wanted to do a mission more than I’d wanted almost anything since we’d been here. I just hoped this strong desire was truly my intuition.
    And I hoped we’d somehow be able to help Rebethannah and Nathayden.
    “You really believe we know what we’re doing?” Jeric asked as we packed our few belongings, the sarcasm dripping over Mira’s favorite word.
    “Of course,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. I still had it—the ability to mask my true feelings. Jeric stopped shoving clothes into his bag and eyed me. Okay, so hiding feelings from him was basically impossible, since he could pretty much feel them, too. He turned toward me and placed his hands on his hips.
    “Don’t lie to me,” he growled.
    “We can do this,” I said.
    He took a step toward me, and I backed away from his predatory advance. Another step had him right in front of me again, and another of my own steps backward had me pressed against the wall. Each of his hands landed on the wall next to my face, and he leaned his head in so close, I could see every speck of indigo in his royal blue eyes. His warm breath fell on my lips, followed by his gaze. His eyes slowly lifted to mine.
    “I will follow you into the dark,” he said, his voice low and edgy. “I will do anything for you, babe. Just know that if anything happens to you, it will destroy me.”
    “Jeric,” I murmured as I placed my palms on his narrow hips and slid them up to his chest, where I fisted his shirt in my hands and pulled him even closer, “if you can’t believe in anything else, at least believe in us .”
    His eyes bore into mine as he considered my meaning, then his gaze dropped to my lips again before sliding back up. When his eyes reached mine, he nodded slightly. Then he crushed his mouth against me, taking me under with a kiss full of urgency and passion and life itself. I parted my lips, his tongue thrust inside, and I met it with my own. My hands released his