Page 56 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

Liria woke to an empty bed. Panic flooded her as she remembered the last time this happened.

Had Thax finally succeeded? Dear convergence, he'd gotten up before everyone else in the house and flung himself off the terrace.

Grabbing a robe, Liria ran out of the bedroom.

But she didn't bother to pull it on as she went.

Fear made her hand clench in the fabric so that she merely dragged it behind her like a child with a blanket.

Liria kept seeing Thax on that wall, his stare as bleak as the rocky cliffs behind him.

“No. Please no,” Liria whispered as she crossed the dining room. And then she pulled up short.

Through the window that overlooked the terrace, Liria saw Thax. He was on the wall, but only partially—leaning against it with a hip. He had a steaming cup in one hand and was staring out at the ocean. He looked as if he was actually seeing it too.

“Holy shit.” Liria pulled on her robe, smoothed down her hair, and went outside.

Thax turned toward her as she opened the door. His lips parted, his eyes twitched, and then he lifted his chin. “Good morning, Liri.”

“Holy. Fuck.” Liria gaped at him.

He grimaced and turned back to the view.

“Sorry. I mean, good morning.” Liria hurried over to the wall and looked up at him. “You're up. You're talking. You . . . did you bathe? And shave?”

“I don't want to be a burden.”

“Shit. Thax, look, I'm sorry about the things I said yesterday. I'm sorry for all of it.”

“No, I'm sorry, Liri. You're right. I let you take care of me while I sank into a pathetic despondency. I'm still . . . I . . . I don't feel right yet, but I'm going to try to get better. You won't have to take care of me anymore.”

“Thax, I don't mind taking care of you. It's the silence that hurts. The distance between us. I've really missed you.”

His lips pressed together, and he turned to look at the house.

Really look. “I don't know who I am anymore, Liri.

But I know who you are, and you are worth far more than my wings.

I'm still trying to piece together my thoughts.

My mind. But I think, looking back, my pain wasn't about my wings.

Not really. It was about you. It's always been about you, destra.

I despaired because I lost a part of me that made me strong.

I felt as if I wasn't worthy of you without my wings.

I can't protect you as I could before. I can't fly you away from danger. I am half the man you fell in love with.”

“That's not true.” Liria took his free hand.

“It is. It's a fact. My wings made me stronger. But even though I became a lesser man, you stayed. You took care of me. That made me love you more, but it also made me hate myself. I thought you stayed out of honor, despite the cripple you were bound to.”

“Don't ever call yourself that. You are not crippled!”

“That's how I feel. But yesterday I realized that you don't stay with me out of duty or pity. You love me. You love me more than I deserve. And if you can love me through this, Liri, I promise you that I will get better. For you. For us. I will find a way to become strong again. I vow to you that I will become the destru you deserve.”

“Thax, you already are.” She lifted his hand and kissed it.

“I know as an Aethari, your wings were a huge part of your identity.

It would be insulting if I said I understood all that they meant to you.

I don't. I can't possibly. But I know who you are, and you are the same man with or without your wings.”

Thax shook his head. “I'm not. I can't do—”

“Stop.” She jerked on his hand. “What your body is capable of has nothing to do with who you are. You think I fell in love with your wings?” She rolled her eyes.

“Baby, your wings held me back. I fell in love with you despite them. Because you are strong here.” She let go of his hand and laid her hand on his chest. “How many times do I have to say that before you believe me?”

“Liri,” he whispered. “I love you so much. You asked me once if my wings were worth my life. No, I don't feel as if they were. But they are worth your life. Yesterday, I implied that I lost them because of you. That was anger speaking, not me.”

“I know. You don't have to apologize again.”

“No, listen to me. I need you to hear this. What I said was a lie. A terrible lie meant to wound. You were right to strike me. The truth is, if I had lost my wings because of you, I could accept this more easily. It would have felt honorable. A destru sacrificing for his destra. But I lost them because of fate. Because of hatred. War. Terrible things took my wings from me. Not you. For you, I would have gladly given up any part of myself.” He stroked her cheek.

“I was too rough with you yesterday. I'm so sorry, destra.

The way I treated you was unforgivable. I looked into the mirror this morning and didn't recognize who I've become. I'm as monstrous as the Nethren.”

“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes.

Thax flinched and then gaped at her. “I took you on the shower floor.”

“Yes, you did. And no, it wasn't the most romantic sex of my life, but it was real, and it was ours, and you didn't hurt me, Thax.

I enjoyed it. I don't want sweet and slow all the time.

Remember? I like it when you get wild. I even liked seeing you jealous.

I shouldn't, but I did. I liked it because I was finally getting a reaction from you.

If you really love me—if I'm more important than your wings—then wake up, destru.

I don't need you to be the strongest man on Para. I just need you to be you.”

Thax shuddered, barely managing to set his cup on the wall before he spilled his drink. His breath hitched, and his chest moved in stilted jerks. “Liri.” He shook his head. “I don't know who I am anymore.”

“But I do, Thax. As I've said before, you're the same man you've always been. You just can't fly. Not with wings, at least. You have to adjust. I know you can do it.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Not just for me, destru. Do it for yourself. Don't give up on life just because your path has veered from the sky to the ground.”

“It's so good to see you two talking and holding hands,” Aga said as she came outside with a breakfast tray. She beamed at them and set the tray on the iron dining table. “Master Thaxvarien requested a special breakfast with pear cider for you, Miss. It's nice and hot.”

“He did?” Liria looked from her favorite breakfast to Thax. “How did you know?”

“I smelled the cider on you yesterday, and I've heard you request this breakfast before.”

Liria lifted her eyebrows.

Thax looked over at the cook. “Thank you, Aga.”

“You're very welcome!” She hummed as she went back into the house.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Very.” Liria didn't just mean for food. She was starved for him. And a feast had just been laid before her.

They went to the table, and Thax pulled out a chair for her. It felt so bizarre to have him cater to her after all that time. Liria knew he wasn't fully back to himself. Not yet. But this change was huge. A major step forward. Miraculous.

Liria sipped her cider as Thax dished out servings of the poached eggs with butter sauce onto their plates.

Watching him, she reached for a fluffy biscuit.

She could hardly believe that he was moving about like this.

And speaking. Nicely. The things Thax had said—she still shivered from them.

His despair had been about her? There had to be more to it than that, but Liria hated being the source of his pain.

At the same time, there was something romantic about it.

Yeah, her feelings were complicated. She needed some time to sort through this.

Part of her was angry that he had used their love as a reason to self-destruct, but she also knew that his culture had a lot to do with it.

And Liria didn't know enough about the Aethari to judge.

Whatever was going on in their heads and hearts, they needed to keep moving forward. Thax wanted to try. Should Liria push him? And if so, how far?

“Would you like to go out today?” Liria asked him.

Thax set the serving spoon down and looked away.

“We could just go down to the cove. Maybe have a swim.”

“Aethari don't . . .” he trailed off, his hands clenching into fists.

Ouch. It hurt her to hurt him, but Liria had a feeling that Thaxvarien needed to find new ways to use his body. He needed to be reminded that he was still strong. She wanted to show him that he hadn't just lost something. There were gains to be had.

Liria waited a few moments and then said, “I could teach you how to swim.”

His shoulders twitched. “Fuck, it feels as if my wings need to stretch. As if I can't get them wide enough.” He bent his head. “How can I still feel them? It's as if they're haunting me.”

“Remember what the healer said? It's normal for people who lose a limb to feel it sometimes.

The brain thinks they're still there or something like that.

Your nerve endings get stimulated and they process the sensation as if they're . . .” she trailed off when he lifted his hollow stare to her.

“Uh, yeah, it's normal. It will go away eventually.”

Liria was saved from stammering by Aga. Or maybe not saved. She came over to them with Thax's vidco.

“Your father would like to speak to you, Master Thaxvarien. If you're up for it.” Aga held the vidco out to Thax.

Liria got a glimpse of his father's anxious face on the small screen. “I can take it.” She held out her hand.

“No!” Thax snatched the phone. “Thank you, Aga.”

She blinked. “Uh, you're welcome.” With a quick look Liria's way, she hurried back inside.

Thax sat there with the vidco in his hand, screen pointed down at the table, his breath rough.

“Son?” his father called out.

“It's all right if you're not ready to speak to him,” Liria whispered.

Thax made a wordless sound of fury and frustration. Liria leaned back in her seat, watching her lover vent and not knowing what to do. Hopefully, this was just another step in the right direction. It's a process, right? He needed to process.

But then another miracle happened. Shit, at this rate, they'd run out of their allotted amount.

As Thax roared and shook the vidco, the device filled with light. It glowed brighter and brighter until he finally noticed and went silent. As Liria and Thax stared at the thing, the components moved, sliding out and transforming. Growing. Gathering.

“Dear sweet convergence,” Liria whispered and leaned forward. “Thax! Thax, shape it. Send your will into it.”

“How?” He gaped from her to the vidco.

“See it change in your mind and project that image onto the vidco! Just try.”

Thax narrowed his stare at the vidco.

“Hello? What's happening? Thaxvarien? Liria?” the Speaker of Icara kept calling out, but his voice went hollow.

Going liquid, the screen melted the Speaker's image, but then it stretched.

Everything metal on the table shook. Parts of platters and silverware went molten and flowed to the vidco.

Except it wasn't a vidco anymore. It was about the size of a loaf of bread.

The case smoothed out. The screen settled.

Holy fuck, that was tech. Thax had summoned technology.

And the lights within, the glow that fueled his creation, was magic. They melded and reformed the vidco.

Thax had converged!

The image of the Speaker of Icara filled the new, larger screen. “Son? Thaxvarien, what's wrong?” His eyes were huge. “What has happened?”

“Father . . .” Thax just gaped at the screen.

Liria burst out of her chair and crouched beside Thax to look over his converged device. “Whoa.” She touched the metal housing of the giant vidco. “Huh. You made it into a house model.”

“Liria, what is happening?!” the Speaker shouted.

She grinned at him. “Your son just converged, Speaker. Thaxvarien changed his personal vidco into a home model.” Liria looked at Thax. “You see? Source hasn't abandoned you. It merely welcomed its brother into the fold. Baby, you can converge!”

Suddenly, Thax lurched backward out of his seat, his wide eyes locked on the giant vidco.

The screech of the metal chair against the stone floor made her wince.

Liria stood up as Thax shook his head, still staring at the screen.

But he wasn't looking at his father. He saw only his convergence. His. Convergence.

“Thax, this is good.” Liria laid her hand on his shoulder.

He jerked away from her as if she had burned him, and then ran into the house. Liria stared after him, her heart racing even though she'd barely moved.

“Liria?” his father called to her.

“He's going to be all right,” she answered as she stared after Thax. “He just needs some time.”

“He converged? My son converged?”

She met the Speaker's stare at last. “Yes.”

“Dear Magic,” the Speaker whispered. “What does this mean? Is he a Medean now? Can Aethari become Medeans?”

Her mouth opened and closed without a sound. Finally, Liria said, “I don't know. That wasn't your everyday convergence. But I don't want to label this yet. This is Thax's journey. The Source of Magic is leading him. We just need to see where it goes.”

Thax's father nodded. “Take care of him, Daughter. And tell him we love him.”

“I will.” It took her a few moments to find the button to end the vid. Thax had moved it to the side of the housing. “Goodbye. I'll vid you soon.” Then she pushed the button. The screen went black, just as it was supposed to.

No, it wasn't the most creative convergence to take something and make a larger version of it, but it was his first time.

It was unplanned. And it was a miracle. Not to mention it was a lot like what she'd done in the Nethren tunnels.

Convergence and yet something more. She was certain the same could be said for Thax.

He was like a Medean now, but something more.

Something between an Aethari and a Medean.

Hovering between the ground and the sky.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “He really is going to change the world.”