StarShine (Temporarily On Hold)

24

"Elara, that's almost unbelievable," Everett sighs, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Even the Alpha's looked skeptical about her tale and she couldn't blame them. If it was someone else telling her this story, she might not think it possible either. But some things have been too coincidental to be made up.

"So how did...." Alpha Rafael trails his eyes over to Ki before looking back at Elara, the unspoken question lingering in the air.

"I honestly don't know," she whispers, her own eyes slide to Ki as he sits cross-legged on the ground staring up at the moon. The pale light reflecting off the tear stains on his cheeks and Elara gets the overwhelming feeling that Kamaria sees him.

"So what's next?" Everyone but Ki looks to her, waiting to hear what she has to say, but she feels more like a deer in headlights.

Next? How should she know what happens next? Her mate is still unconscious, vampires still threatening them and now, the God of light has fallen literally from the sky and into their laps. It's not like there's a playbook she could reference as to what comes next. 

"We should get some sleep," she's thinking out loud, not bothering to mention how hard it will be to sleep tonight, "We will be no good tomorrow if we're tired. He can stay with us,"

She motions to where Ki is still sitting and the Alphas nod silently. They leave after giving Elara and Everett instructions to meet up in the morning with Ki so that they can all talk more.

"Ki," Elara places her hand on his shoulder softly, kneeling down to be more at his level.

His eyes turn to meet hers and Elara nearly bursts into tears at the sight of the broken soul looking back at her.

"I remember," he whispers, clearing his throat before turning to face Elara more fully, "Something hit me from behind and the next thing I knew, I couldn't move. The pain was indescribable,"

Ki trailed off, his eyes moving back to the moon as he collected his thoughts. His hand went back to unconsciously rubbing his chest, right over his heart. Everett moved to stand next to his sister, both to support her and to hear the story better.

"I could see her, so beautiful even as she stood next to him crying, I remember thinking she was perfect. She said she could live without me, but I knew, I knew she was just trying to save me," tears began to swim in Ki's eyes as he looked between the siblings and his moon.

"I would rather face a hundred deaths at Sethos hands than live without her," his voice is soft, something closer to a whisper, "I knew he was punishing me for falling in love with her, but I hoped that, with me gone, he would spare her,"

Elara couldn't be sure when the tears had actually started to roll down her cheeks or when she ended up sitting in front of him, but soon Everett joined them. Ki took a deep breath, his eyes not leaving the moon.

"The rest is fuzzy, like looking through muddy water. But the one thing that is more clear than anything else, are the stars I created, reflecting in her eyes," Ki closes his eyes, breathing deeply like he is absorbing the moonlight that is touching him.

"May I have a minute alone before we leave for the evening?" Ki asks softly, not even looking at the siblings sitting in front of him.

Everett helps Elara to her feet, walking with her towards the trees to give Ki his privacy.

"I couldn't even imagine," Everett mumbles, shaking his head as he leans against a tree. The very idea of being separated from Grace is enough to make him want to run home to her, but he won't leave his sister.