Consumed Read Online Free PDF Page A

bond’?”
    Her mom gave her a wry smile, barely visible in the dim room. “Like everything in life, there are consequences to having a magical bond. It cannot be perfect. Rarely can you get pleasure without pain.” She shifted on the bed. “When you are separated from your chosen, you are going to experience physical pain until you are reunited.”
    “What? Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this?” Keegan pulled the blankets up to her chin with a grimace. I’ll have to deal with this often?
    “And ruin the excitement of meeting your chosen?” Emerald ran a hand through her short hair. She stared at Keegan, her brow furrowed. “There usually has to be great distance between you to cause this much discomfort. Rourk doesn’t live that far away.”
    “You’re telling me that if Rourk came back the pain would go away?” Keegan eyed at her mother skeptically.
    “Yes. The closer he gets, the more the pain lessens.” She brushed Keegan’s hair back, her eyes shiny in the dark. “I always know your father is on his way home long before he arrives.”
    “Dad is gone so much! I’ve never noticed you to be in pain.”
    “I am a healer, Keegan. My body heals itself, although it cannot heal the heart. So, my heart aches—much like yours is now—until your father comes back.”
    “Well, that’s just lovely,” Keegan said sarcastically. She pulled the covers higher with a humph . “Is Rourk in pain now?”
    “Yes, Keegan.” She pursed her lips. “You may not have realized, but Rourk was in pain the whole time you were separated.”
    Keegan’s heart skipped a beat and a flood of anger filled her. She hated that she had caused him physical pain. “Why didn’t I feel pain before?”
    “He was always close by before your bond broke. If you recall, you went into that slump once you couldn’t see him again.”
    “I can’t believe he’s been in physical pain since he left to join the military.”
    “Your father is glad for the pain. He says it makes him never forget me. Rourk probably feels the same way.” Her mother’s eyes softened. “He loves you, Keegan.”
    Keegan was silent as she processed all the information her mother had given her.
    Her mom put a gentle hand to Keegan’s face. “Do you want me to give you a healing?”
    “No. I’m going to call him. To see if he will come back. I want him to tell me that what you say is true. “
    Her mother laughed. “You always have to see things to believe them. Call him.”
    Keegan made the call and within minutes, the pain had subsided. She waited impatiently in the kitchen with her mother, pretending to drink hot chocolate. Her heart fluttered when she heard the knock from the front hall.
    Keegan hurried to let him in. She flung the door open and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so glad you came. Were you in pain?”
    Rourk pulled back and looked down at her. “You were in pain?”
    “You weren’t?”
    Rourk’s hair was tousled as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He was wearing the same pair of pants and shirt as he’d worn the night before.
    Keegan thought he looked beautiful. But then she felt guilty for pulling him out of bed and all the way to her house in the country after neither one of them had gotten much sleep. I’m so selfish , she thought.
    “Not really pain,” Rourk answered, cupping her face in his hands. “There was a slight discomfort, but nothing like when I am far away from you.” Rourk glanced over at Emerald.
    She met his eyes but said nothing.
    “How much pain on a level from 1-10?” Rourk demanded, his eyes on Keegan’s.
    “I don’t know. Maybe a 6? I’m not good at measuring pain.”
    Rourk wrapped his arms around Keegan and pulled her to him before saying, “Emerald, is that normal?”
    Her mother shrugged. “No, Rourk. Not as far as I know. However, since my healing energies heal me, I never feel the full affect. Maybe we should call Katrina or Brigid. They would know better.”
    Rourk nodded.