Fashionably Dead Down Under(103)

“I swear by the Creators of All that peace will return to you soon,” Dorian said with conviction, stepping cautiously across her threshold even though the invitation to enter had not been given.
Ania turned her face away from the male she had taught to read her hundreds of years ago. She would never be able to hide her true feelings from Dorian, so it was just as well she did not currently feel the urge to do so. “Peace? I have not had peace since I met the one you still call your truest friend. Tell me, Dorian—did you ever regret setting aside your spiritual vows to take a life mate?”
Compassion flowed through Dorian for Ania’s emotional pain, which was much greater than Liam was allowing himself to know. He sent her all the vibrations of kindness the demon inside the woman would allow her to receive. Her sad facial expression eased a little as she absorbed the energy of his kind thoughts. The healing was surprisingly more than he had expected. Dorian silently thanked the Creators as he intuitively calculated the enormity of Ania’s pain. Seeing the extent of her personal devastation, his own role in helping cause it totally shamed him.
“Yes. I admit that after both times I mated I regretted setting aside my spiritual vows. Yet as contradictory as it seems, I never regretted a moment of the actual time I spent with my mates. It is a paradox that I often meditate on,” Dorian said, rubbing his chin with one hand. “Which reminds me of the second offer I wish to make to you. I have created a meditation space on the ship that you are welcome to use for your spiritual work. The room is guarded, so nothing will disturb you there.”
Ania turned away again and bowed her head. Of all her former students, she hated admitting her spiritual failures to Dorian Zade. He had once told her that her enlightenment was the ideal he sought to emulate. It was just one more reason to mourn what she had lost.
“I thank you for your consideration of my spiritual needs, but I no longer meditate. The moment I close my eyes, I fall instantly into a dreamless sleep. Projection is also impossible now. My spirit seems bound to my body in new ways, and true introspection also eludes me. I have come to see these as penalties. They are the price I paid for rescinding my vows and mating, though it only happened after Liam left for good. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that eight hundred years of my life are gone.”
“Of course it matters, Ania. Everything you feel matters. My spirit grieves for your spirit’s pain,” Dorian told her, coming fully into the room and easing the door partially closed behind him. “May I touch you to read you?”
“No one has touched me but my mother and father in a long time, Dorian. You may try, but do not be disheartened at the absence of my spirit. My parents say it is like I am only a shell of who I once was.”
Dorian walked to Ania and placed his hands on her arms. He felt the dark energy pushing back on him, but he sent only compassion and understanding into her body. To his pleasure, Ania closed her eyes and breathed out raggedly.
Amazed, Dorian felt the demon within her step aside and relinquish his hold enough to let Ania be comforted. He thanked the entity and immediately was shown an image of her spirit sleeping as if in a trance. It was sad, but also reassuring.
“I feel such an agony of longing all the time,” Ania whispered. “Why does all peace elude me, Dorian?”
Shame and guilt at her words enveloped him again. Dorian bent and touched his forehead to Ania’s, something rarely done by her people except by close mates. To match the third eye chakras was a very intimate experience for both Pleiadians and Sirens, yet he would hold nothing back from Ania Looren ever again that could help her genuinely heal. He was deeply sorry now that he had not forced Liam to do better by his mate.#p#分页标题#e#
“Close your eyes while I offer solace,” Dorian ordered, his voice a husky whisper in the near silent room.
Ania did as Dorian asked and felt his compassion warm her. It cleansed her body like a wave of full spectrum light passing over her. It was the first comfort she’d had in a long time. She whimpered at the relief, but refused to allow herself any further emotional displays. Tears hovered, but receded as she refused to let them fall.
Dorian felt both the demon and Ania ripple in relief. Extreme loneliness and fear emanated from both. It was most unexpected to learn that even the demon had missed Liam. There was obviously much his friend did not understand about the creature he’d inherited, as well as about the female he had mated.
Then unexpectedly, the Creators opened up Ania’s destiny to him with rolling images of what was to come. Knowing the demon could prevent him from seeing, Dorian had no time to process his own shock.