Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) by Michele G Miller Page A

surveying her ‘assets’.
    When she handed Xander a scrap of paper, he looked it over and then amazingly enough, shook his head no and placed it back into her outstretched palm. I could tell that he said something, because April’s face turned crimson. She turned her head towards me, her big blonde hair flying around her face, and she stared me down. Turning back to him, she quickly said something and then walked away.
    Xander ran his hand through his hair and glanced my way before grabbing my food again and heading to the door.
     
    NINE - YOU ARE EVERYTHING
     
     
    Xander
     
    I strolled past Skye and Rioden as they stood at the counter and went right out the front door without so much as a word; starting to make my way back to the hotel. The farther away from Skye I walked the less I could feel the heat of her in my chest, and it was a relief to be able to push her out of my body, even if it was only for a few minutes.
    Her doubt in me at the diner had hurt. The realization that she still thought she would be able to live a ‘normal’ life – after all she had seen – was enough to make me feel a deep, piercing guilt. She had no idea what Rioden and I were about to ask her to do, and what she would have to give up. Her whole life was about to be uprooted, just so that she might someday be able to live without fear. Even then, she’d always have people who would desire the power she would be able to provide our kingdom. Someone would always be after her blood.
    Knowing now that McClintock had a portal at his disposal to be able to whisk her back to Tyalbrook made it even more essential for us to explain what we needed to do, and to start enacting a plan.
    “Ri!” I yelled; knowing they weren’t too far behind me once I started to feel her heat coming back into my chest.
    I glanced behind me and Rioden acknowledged me with a nod of his head. He bent his head to Skye and said something, before taking larger ground-devouring strides to catch up with me; leaving a speculative Skye following slowly behind us.
    “Ri, we have to go ahead and tell her our plan,” I told him. “I need to know what you’re thinking about right now.”
    “Xander, I don’t even know what I’m thinking. We were supposed to wait until her 18 th birthday before we started any of this, and then I had a plan to get us home.”
    He spoke in a clipped voice, which showed me he was still just a little miffed at me for pulling her into our fold sooner than expected. The news that he already had a plan to get us home was new to me though, and I immediately questioned him on it.
    “What do you mean you had a plan? Why can’t we go through with it now?”
    “Look, Xander…There are things…things I haven’t even told you…Wait, hold up,” he ordered. He stiffened and grabbed my arm as we rounded the corner of one building and entered into the parking lot of our hotel.
    The way his muscles tensed up caused my heart to stutter and I immediately launched myself at Skye, dragging her quickly under the cover of the building. I placed my finger over my lips, silently begging for her silence, and I let my senses roam out as Rioden had; searching for what he had sensed.
    “Whoa,” I muttered, as a powerful amount of energy hit me. I could tell that there were Semvon nearby, but I sensed there was something else, too.
    I looked over at Rioden, standing at the corner of the building and still tensed to do battle, and I edged up to him to get some answers.
    “Xander - you listen to me now and don’t argue, got it?” he barked, his eyes still watching the hotel.
    “Ri, what’s going on?” I asked, and his hand darted out and grasped my arm tightly as he repeated himself; his voice tight. “Do NOT argue with me, Xander.”
    I relented and he continued. “You’re gonna take my car, and then you and Skye will head west to the mountains. In my glove box you’ll find a name and a phone number. Call it and tell her who you are…she knows the