Take Me

Garret turned his face away, staring out over the forest. “Then all of this was for nothing. We’ll be left pining for her until we crumble. And we'll never win the war. You must know that.”

“Don't pretend that's all you care about.”

“Will you ever tire of starting trouble? Why do you have to do this? Isn't it enough that I'm—” His voice broke.

Even I couldn't bring myself to torment him once I realized the pain he was in.

Whether it was right or not, whether I agreed with it or not, the truth was plain: he loved Elliot, and now he felt betrayed by him. While I couldn't identify with love, I certainly had known the bitter sting of betrayal. What would that sting feel like when complicated by love?

“For what it's worth, I believe him.”

A bitter laugh burst from Garret. “Spare me. I've never found your humor particularly funny.”

“I wasn't trying to be funny. I mean what I say, and you know as well as any how it gives me no thrill to admit it. But I don't believe Elliot had evil intentions.” I stole a glance at him from the corner of my eye. “And there's nothing wrong with the way you feel. I spoke out of anger. I don't particularly enjoy feeling helpless, as we are now.”

“You realize I'm still waiting for the punchline to your joke.”

“No punchline. No joke.” I heaved a sigh, the truth as plain to me as the rock beneath my feet and the clear sky above the mountain in which we hid. “If there's going to be a way forward, we need to stop snapping at each other's throats. And any lingering resentments or misunderstandings must be dealt with.”

I cast a meaningful look his way, and his furrowed brow told me he understood. Whatever was amiss between the two of them needed to be righted—if Elliott and Jaide ever returned.

“I suppose this isn't the time to remind you Jaide wouldn't have stormed out of here if it hadn't been for the way you lashed out at her?” Garret asked.

Damn him.

Here I was prepared to be the bigger person, and he had to dig the knife in deeper. I turned toward him, ready to throw him off the mountain, when a rush of warm wind blew over us.

A rush of warm wind which somehow carried our mate.

She was here. Alive and in one piece, looking relatively well except for what appeared to be a wound on her head. The scent of her blood—old and dried—told me she was healing. I could have wept with relief and even joy, something I didn't believe myself capable of until this very moment.

Yet with all of this blooming inside me, lighting up my world, the first thing from my lips was an admonishment. “What did you think you were doing wandering off like that? Where were you? What took you so long to come back?”

Before she could answer, I whirled on Elliot. “And what about you? Where have you been?”

“Good to see you too, Parris.” He remained close to her, and it was clear he was taking pains to avoid Garret’s penetrating stare.

“I've kind of been through it today, and Elliot's the only reason I'm still alive, so maybe we should stop throwing blame around.” Jaide shivered in the thin garments Elliot had scrounged up from deep within his cave, which sent him scurrying around to find her something more substantial while Garret stoked the fire to keep her warm.

“What happened?” Garret asked once the fire blazed warmer. “Where did you go?”

She accepted the robe from Elliot, wrapping it around her trembling frame before sitting cross-legged and holding her hands out to the flames to warm them. “For one thing, I met Healynas. He's a great guy, definitely worthy of the whole god status his cult gave him. Oh, and he threw me off a cliff to see if I could fly.”

It wasn't often I was left speechless, but this announcement did the impossible. My mouth hung open, but Garret was quicker to recover. “He threw you off a cliff?”

“He knows we're here?” I asked, my question nearly overlapping his.

“You mean he didn't announce himself to you?” Elliot sighed, casting a scowl toward the mouth of the cave. “Right, because why show himself when he can instill far more fear when you learn how close he was to where you were hiding? It makes him feel powerful. He knows from now on, you'll be wondering whether he's nearby watching you.”

“He's going to test me. The whole flying thing was the first test to see if I could control the air.” Jaide's purple eyes darted back and forth between Garret and me. “Oh, and my brother's going to kill me, or I'm going to kill him, so I’d better sharpen my skills. Healynas supposedly saw all of this already.” Her disdain spoke volumes about what she thought of that.

Garret waved his hands around. “Back up. You saw Healynas?”

“Yes, in the forest. As soon as I stomped off after this one pissed me off.” She jerked a thumb in my direction.

To his credit, Garret ignored that. “And he knows you have power?”

“I didn't even know I had power.”