Free Shadow Visions: Shadow Warriors, Book 2 by Gabriella Hewitt Page B

Huitzilopochtli.”
    He looked directly into her beautiful brown eyes. “You are my spirit mate.”
    She shook her head. “You don’t know what you are asking. I’m not good enough. I can’t save your soul. I can’t save anyone.”
    “Yes, you can. You will need to embrace your heritage and your power.”
    He heard her breath hitch in her throat. She pushed out of his arms. She rubbed her hands lightly over both arms. “Oh no. You don’t know what you are asking me to do.” Once more a breeze flowed through the room.
    “Yes, I do.” He held out his hand to her. “You have to trust me.”
    She backed away from him. “I trust you. It’s me I don’t trust.” The wind picked up and whipped her braid over her shoulder. “Manuel, because of me, my family is dead. I wanted to save them from the fire and blow out the flames, but I couldn’t control my power. All I did was make everything worse. I made the fire grow bigger. I fanned the flames that consumed my mother and sister.”
    He could sense her loss of control and the deep grief that clung to her heart. “I understand you better than anyone. My arrogance cost me my family, and for that I paid the ultimate price, but it is not your fault, Ixa—you were a child and not to blame. Galante stole your family away, not you.”
    She shook her head, her braid coming undone in the wind.
    “Please, I need you to stay with me. Your emotions are feeding the wind. You must remain calm.” He reached over to pull her into his embrace but she turned and fled the cabin. His eagle screeched. Manuel took off after her.
    “Ixa, wait!”
    She came to a halt and turned around. “No, you wait. All my life my abuelo believed my abilities were a gift, but they are a curse. Everyone I love dies because of me. What you are asking me to do will ultimately get you killed.” Color leached from her face. Fear shone in her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
    Ixa wrapped her arms around her torso. A cold blast of air cut through the desert heat, kicking up dirt and tumbleweeds.
    A cloud of sand gathered on the horizon. He could sense the eagle’s restlessness. Irritation at himself bubbled in his chest. He was botching this mission. He had to convince Ixa that she was capable of controlling her power. Failure meant his enemies would get the best of him. He’d vowed never to go down that road again and he’d meant it.
    He stepped toward her with purpose, leaning into the wind. Bits of sand pelted him. Frustrated and afraid the damn woman would manifest another tornado, he pulled her into his arms. Her body pressed against the length of his. He took her hand and placed her palm over his heart. He looked deep into her eyes, willing her to feel everything he felt for her. “Ixa, you can’t hurt me. You are a guardian. You bear the hummingbird mark and you are my spirit mate.”
     
    The air whipped around them. Anguish built inside her. Surely there was another way to fight against this evil, one that didn’t require her to tap into her power. She wanted to believe, but every time she unintentionally used her powers, people got hurt. They died. Why couldn’t he understand that?
    She stared up into Manuel’s eyes and saw his trust and acceptance. She barely knew the man. And yet, he was willing to believe in her.
    Her abuelo believed in her and she had let him down. She had chosen to fit in over accepting her heritage, and she may have put her abuelo at risk because of it. Worry, confusion, guilt all collided within her, pulling her to a place she feared to go. She felt like she was teetering on the edge of an abyss. Below her, a dark, fathomless pit awaited. She was terrified of falling into it, of never being able to find her way out. What if it sucked her up and she found herself with nothing to hold on to? What if she lost herself in that darkness?
    Around her, the air grew stronger as if pushing her towards that edge. Pebbles hit the windowpanes of the cabin and debris from