Read Kierra's Thread (Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 2) for Free Online Page A

other. And I don’t remember you were in a
particularly complimentary mood at the time.”
    For the first time in years, Kierra laughed with a warmth
rooted in true happiness and something within her changed. It was the laughter
born of good memories, of shared camaraderie, of innocent youth. “You had just
put a huge snag in my very expensive, brand new gold overdress trying to
impress him, as I recall. I hadn’t even had a chance to wear it yet.”
    Gavrielle shooed them all into the dining room. The warm
energy in the room surrounded Kierra, just as Jarek’s soothing colors often
did. It was a healing, long needed and long overdue, and Kierra felt it spread
through her. She looked around at the people present and felt an overwhelming
thankfulness that they were together.
    As they sat at the oval glass table, another emotion surged
within Kierra. It came from the power of healing. She looked at Jarek and
tentatively reached out. He met her gaze, but didn’t move. She felt his
stillness. His hand lay on the table, and she knew it would be warm, pulsing
with life. She’d felt so cold for so long without the touch of another.
    Being here with her family gave her a sense of courage and
renewal she’d thought lost to her. Tentatively, she lowered her hand, felt the
heat surge through her. A silent waiting lingered in the room, an expectancy.
And then she lowered her hand and touched him.
    An echo of pain rippled up her arm, but the pleasurable
warmth soon overpowered the twinges. Jarek tried to remove his hand—she knew
he’d surmised the pain—but she shook her head. The discomfort turned to a dull
ache, but the energy of the touch mastered it.
    Kierra looked into his eyes. “Soon,” she whispered.
    Jarek’s soothing colors washed through her mind. “I can
wait,” echoed through her thoughts. “You’re more than worth waiting for. Your
healing has begun.”
     
     
     

CHAPTER
FIVE
     
     
     
    Two weeks after the family dinner, Kierra sat before the microreader
again. She’d promised Eluria she would find a way to break down the Nanus
process that was used to prevent conception in the Twilight Companions.
    At the time Eluria had become a Companion, she’d held no
hope of ever obtaining Union with Devon. She’d therefore agreed to the
alteration made to all Twilighters. She confided to Kierra how devastated she
was to not be able to offer Devon hope of Beyond through conception. As often
as Devon assured her it didn’t matter, it bothered her. Eluria wanted to hold
his child—one they had created together with their love.
    Kierra wanted that for her. Eluria didn’t deserve to be
punished for her dedication to returning Devon, and so Kierra had assured
Eluria she would attempt to find an antidote. She was close; she was sure of
it.
    She thought back to the dinner with her family and the
breakthrough she felt she’d made. To touch Jarek was an unexpected, pleasant
surprise.
    It felt as though in accepting Devon she had breached some
of the impotent rage she held in her nightmare memories. It was a small step.
    Healing. It was like standing beneath the gentle rain of a
warm season, washing the pain away. The next night she’d reached out for him
again. He never attempted to touch her, but simply waited for her to initiate.
    The simple strength of his palm against hers, his heated
energy mingling with hers, made her seek more.
    It was difficult for Jarek, she felt it in his mind, the
iron control he maintained on his desire to hold her, to seal with her. The
twinges of pain she experienced were less and less.
    Soon. Soon the time would come when she would seal with him,
not only in his way of the thoughtwalk, as he termed it, but in the physical
sense as well.
    Each time she saw Devon it was a little easier to see her
brother and not the Enforcer. They were all thankful he hadn’t been trained by
Odon. Odon warped those he came in contact with. She had been changed by what
he’d done.
    Jarek had come away