Read Online Eternal Faith - Book 4 (The Ruby Ring Saga) by Chrissy Peebles - Free Book Online Page A

filled the air. His grim
expression gave everything away.
    “But
it’s not home for you,” I said sadly.
    He
sucked in a breath, obviously troubled. “No, my love, it isn’t.”
    My
jaw dropped as I processed his words. I looked away, saddened by the reality
that he couldn’t or wouldn’t stay in my world forever—that it would never be
home to him. “That really hurts,” I said. I closed my eyes and took a deep,
steadying breath, trying to clear my mind.
    “I’m
not going to give you false hope. I was born to rule a kingdom. You can’t ask
me to give that up when it’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
    I
touched his face. “Of course not. I want you to be happy.”
    “But
I want you to be happy also.”
    “I
love Tastia, and I love being a queen in your kingdom.” I smiled. “Being there
with you was...well, like living in a storybook. It’s just that your world is so
different from mine, and—”
    “Are
you saying you don’t ever want to return to the kingdom’s that’s waiting for
us?”
    “I’m
saying I-I’m torn.”
    “Torn?
How could you want to possibly stay here? Hiding our powers is exhausting. Back
in my world, we’re allowed to be who we are, Immortals. There’s no fear of repercussions
or retaliation or a government trying to hunt us down to study us like animals.”
    “Instead,
we’ll be hunted down by your archrival, Ethano.”
    “Sarah,
I am not going to argue with you about this further.”
    “I
don’t want to fight either, but we need to discuss this.”
    “We
have years to figure it all out.”
    “I
know, but I’m the kind of person who needs to plan ahead. I need to know where
I’m heading, what my future holds.”
    “I
never considered that we might have disagreements about which world to live
in.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “I only know I love you. Isn’t that
the most important thing of all?”
    “I
knew this was coming. That is exactly why I was willing to leave you and come
back here with my friends through the portal. I knew how much you wanted me to
stay, and it tore my heart in two to have to leave you. I loved you from the
second I met you, and I wondered if love was enough to conquer such barriers.
Now I’m worried that it may not be.”
    “But
then you decided to stay.”
    “Because
I couldn’t live without you, and I still can’t. You’re my world, Victor. I would
have stayed in Tastia forever if that was what it would have taken to be yours,
but then things got complicated, and we came back here. Coming back here has
stirred up so many feelings, so many memories for me, and I have to live here
knowing that the clock is ticking. It’s like some cruel prank. I’ll get to stay
for eighteen years, then have to leave. I was so homesick in Tastia, and that
was after being gone for only a year.”
    “I
know how you must have felt, for I miss my world already.”
    “I
guess a long-distance relationship isn’t going to work.”
    “It
is forbidden to move in and out of the portal every weekend.”
    I
laughed. “So this is what happens when two worlds collide. Will we make it?”
    He
cupped my face and stared deeply into my eyes. “If we love each other enough, Sarah,
anything is possible.”
    “I
don’t want to change you, Victor, but you obviously don’t fit in here.”
    “I
don’t, for this is not my home.”
    “So
what will you do if I decide to stay here?” I asked.
    His
gaze narrowed. “I beg you not to make me choose.”
    “Answer
me, Victor. Given the choice between me and Tastia, would you choose to stay
with me or go home?”
    He
blinked as he contemplated his answer. “I won’t leave without you, but rest
assured that I would be forever miserable, never able to get over the loss of
my great kingdom.”
    “I
couldn’t bear to see you in that kind of pain, especially because of me.”
    “But
you’ll be in the same kind of pain if I drag you off to live in my world.”
    “I
would miss the modern conveniences of my