Return of the Ascendant (The Ascendant Series) Read Online Free Page B

means that you are the one meant to save and rule worlds,” he said.
    Her mouth opened, but for once, she didn’t speak. He knew this was a lot to take in. Normally, he could use his mental abilities to bring forth at least some of her latent Alametrian memories. Even one would have probably convinced her. With this odd block in place, however, that was proving impossible.
    “Kyra—” Sem began, moving closer to her.
    “She is Ma’jah Kyr to you now, SemDane,” Ty interrupted. “It’s time you begin affording her the respect her position warrants.”
    Sem’s expression darkened. “In her current mind, she’s a simple college student and one of my best friends. Until she believes otherwise, I’ll treat her as such, cousin.”
    Ty stood straighter and gave Sem a cool glance. “It seems Ma’jah Kyr isn’t the only one receiving less respect than deserved.”
    Flushing, Sem glanced at Avana and Kyr and muttered, “Apologies, Dem-Shyr .”
    Because Ty’s mental connection with everyone but Kyr was still functioning perfectly, he felt Sem’s resentment over having to use the title. That didn’t bother Ty. He knew his cousin wished he had become the Ascendant’s Mynder rather than Ty. What did surprise him, however, was the power and nature of the feelings Sem had developed for Kyr.
    He thought himself in love with her.
    “Apology accepted,” he said brusquely, pushing aside the less important issues at play. He looked again at Kyr. “Will you leave with us now, Ma’jah?”
    A look came over her face at the use of her title. A smile started to pull at the corners of her mouth. Had she begun to remember, after all?
    “I get it,” she said. She laughed and wagged her finger in the air. “Oh my God, I get it now! You guys planned a surprise party for me for my twenty-first birthday. This is all an elaborate ploy to get me to come with you to the party. Since my birthday isn’t until next week, I almost didn’t make the connection. Freaking fabulous!”
    Ty shook his head. “You believe you’re only twenty because that’s how the lesson was designed, but you’re actually—”
    “She’s on to us, Ty,” Sem interrupted. “Damn it, Kyra. You weren’t supposed to figure it out! Do you know how hard we worked on all of this?”
    Kyr laughed again. Her relief was obvious, even with Ty’s connection to her not functioning like it should.
    “Sem, what—?” Avana began, getting up from the bed.
    “She’s figured it out now, Avana. We might as well stop pushing the whole alien story. I told you it was too insane to believe, but you thought the whole frat party ruse was too boring ,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You said a twenty-first birthday needed to be really memorable, remember?”
    Ty frowned. Kyr needed to be aware of the danger when they left the building. Making this all out to be a hoax was not a wise plan.
    “Now Kyra, you have to play along,” Sem hurried on, taking her hand in his. The action made Ty’s frown intensify. “I’ve got most of my frat brothers wearing dark suits and hanging out in the shadows acting like Shelvaks. You’ll disappoint a lot of people if you don’t pretend to buy into all of this.”
    Kyr’s smile radiated from her face, her happiness directed at Sem. Something tightened in Ty’s gut. He stepped forward, intending to insist that Sem tell her the truth. Then she turned her smile to him.
    His thoughts dematerialized.
    “This is Ty Dane,” Sem said, waving at him. “He’s the…entertainment for the evening.”
    Kyr’s eyebrows rose. She gave Ty a head-to-toe once-over that had him wanting to tug at a nonexistent collar.
    “Is he now?” she murmured.
    Sem glanced between the two of them. Ty knew the moment his cousin realized his plan was backfiring on him. He wanted Kyr showing him that kind of attention, not Ty.
    “Well, we’re running really late,” Sem said, giving her hand a tug and pulling her away from Ty. “The guys are probably all