Gemini Asunder by Artemis Crow

Author:Artemis Crow [Crow, Artemis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Artemis Crow
Published: 2019-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

24

Silence held until Audrey cleared her throat. “You were created, not born?”

“Correct. When my brother, so to speak, underwent the ritual, a part of him was torn away. He was split apart and that half of him became me. Unfortunately, I can’t stay outside of the emerald permanently; I have to go inside it periodically to recharge or I could die. That’s what you saw.”

“You weren’t in there very long,” Willa said.

“No, and I will have to return to it soon, but hopefully not before Gem is back.”

She glanced at Tread; the intensity with which he was watching her stole her breath. She was mortified to feel her face flush and looked away quickly.

“Where is your brother?” Allie asked.

Gemma looked at Taur. He shrugged his shoulders and downed his drink.

“He’s been taken by dragons.”

* * *

A knock sounded on Gemma’s bedroom door. She jerked into awareness and ran her fingers through her hair as she looked at the unfamiliar surroundings. How long had she been sitting on the end of the bed? An hour? More?

“Yes?”

Tread poked his head in. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” She waved a hand. “Come in.”

He entered the room and shut the door.

Gemma patted the bed. “Sit, unless you’ve concluded I’m a super freak, too.”

He sat next to her then scooted over until he was right up against her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “If it’s any consolation, I think you had them up until you said dragons.”

She snorted. “I think that’s wishful thinking. They know I’m crazy.”

“Not crazy.”

Gemma flashed him a side eye.

“Okay, maybe a little crazy, but you have to admit that they handled it pretty well.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t run Taur and me off the moment I came out of the stone.” She looked down and gasped. She picked up his left wrist, placing his palm against hers, the connection causing a tingling throughout her body. A deep, red mark had been burned into his wrist, an unfamiliar symbol in the center. “You’re hurt. Did the cuff do that?”

“Yeah. Not as bad as I would have thought based on the pain.” He pointed to his wrist. “There’s a mark of some kind, but it doesn’t look like the one carved into the emerald.”

“I’ve never seen this before.”

“I asked Georgie to look through her books to see if she can find out what it is.”

“Why isn’t your wrist wrapped? It could get infected.”

“It’s been cleaned and my grannies applied some homemade goop to it. Feels pretty good.”

Gemma released his hand, pulling away emotionally, as well as physically. “If you came to reassure me, I’m okay.”

“You are one of the strongest women I’ve met; I wouldn’t presume.”

“Compared to your family, I’m a quivering mess.”

He leaned close to her ear.

She shivered when his warm breath tickled the sensitive shell.

“There was a time when all of us were a quivering mess. It happens. It’s what you do afterward that matters.”

“You all picked yourselves up.”

“Yeah, with time…a lot of time and a long, bumpy road.

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