Page 32 of Cheating Fate

“Do you love her, Gavin? Do you love Zhara?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied in an imperious tone. “I love her with everything that I am.”

“Then obey your instincts,” she said firmly.

“What did you see?” I insisted, irritation seeping into my voice.

“Just follow your instincts,” she repeated stubbornly. “You only have one chance to save them all. There is a single path with a positive outcome.”

“Then tell him which one it is, female!” Vintor growled, startling me.

I’d been so focused on the conversation that I hadn’t sensed their return. A major failure on my part.

“I cannot say more without influencing him in a way that could be extremely detrimental,” Venya replied apologetically before shifting her attention back to me. “All I can say is that whatever path you choose, there will be pain, Gavin. An incredible amount of pain.”

“For Zhara?” I asked, my chest constricting with fear for my woman.

“Some for her, but an unbearable amount for you,” she replied.

I waved a dismissive hand as relief washed over me. “I don’t care about that, so long as I can bring her home.”

“Then follow your voice. You are an Augur. You will know the way,” Venya said.

“What is that?” I asked, realizing she had pronounced it in a way slightly different from Ogre.

“If all goes well, I will explain it to you once everything is settled,” she replied dismissively. “Just be steadfast, young Gavin. The lives of Zhara and her brothers are in your hands.”

I frowned. “Her Grappa Eryon saw the Great War. They live!” I argued.

My blood turned to ice when she shook her head.

“Eryon saw you, the Dervhen twins, and Lenora. He cannot see his own bloodline. None of the other Seers have seen the three siblings in any of their visions during battle. The only visions were of Vahleryon building the coalition that we now have.”

“No,” I replied with unshakable certainty. “Vahl will lead this war with his Gem and twin by his side. Ancestors take me, I will not fail.”

“From your lips to the Goddess’s ears,” Venya replied.

As soon as she finished speaking those words, I instinctively readjusted the ship’s flight path.

“What are you doing?” Khel asked, reaching over his pilot’s shoulder to type something on the navigation board. “You’re steering away from the base!”

I assumed he had calculated my flight path.

“Zhara calls to me. This is the direction I must go,” I replied with a calm conviction. “You stay on your path but be ready for us.”

“Is what you’re feeling like the rescue mission on Haven?” Ghan asked, his voice thick with tension.

I nodded. “But this time, it’s even stronger.”

The vulnerable expression that flitted over the fearsome male struck me hard.

“Bring our children home, son,” Ghan said in a slightly pleading tone.

In that instant, I got a flashback of Magnar Ravik telling my Grappa Krygor to bring his son back to him as we were heading off to the Haven rescue mission.

“I will, Uncle Ghan. On my life, I will,” I pledged. “Gavin out.”

I terminated the communication and began putting on the suit that Vintor had brought to me from the armory. That male had come a long way from his former obnoxious ways. He could still be annoying at times, but once you understood it was his way of hiding his insecurities, it made it a lot more tolerable, even endearing.