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Eli folds the note, zipping his fingers along the creases. “You’re staying here.”

Fear flips to fury. “No. I’m going to get Kelter.”

“She’s using Kelter as bait to get to you.”

“I don’t give a fuck. Let her. Kelt needs me.”

He crushes the note in his fist. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

I don’t quite know what to make of Eli’s words as I step over pieces of broken cabinet, making my way closer to him. “If you leave me here, I’ll follow you. There’s nowhere to lock me up.” I gesture to what’s left of the cell and the broken doors.

He looks away and jingles the cuffs in his pocket, a wordless threat.

“Cuffing me only offers easy prey to the guards when they show up to check the place out.” I take another step and poke a finger into his chest. “You said you’d never let me go. So don’t fucking leave me.”

He tightens his mouth and settles his pained look on me. “Give me two minutes.” He disappears on hands and knees through the collapsed hallway, returning with a dry pack and a handful of notes from his nightstand.

How…sentimental.

He slaps them into my hand. “You’d better behave, my little Never, or you’ll find yourself half-naked and cuffed in the woods like you left me.”

We leave the crumpled walls sighing and whining behind us as rain falls from the gray expanse of clouds above. I keep a steady pace next to Eli, navigating through the maze of trees. My mind teases me again, showing me the little boy’s face in the distance. I look away. I’m tired of seeing things that aren’t there.

Eli pulls a teva roll from his pack and lights it with the flick of a fire stone, not even a struggle with the wind and rain. In goes the air, inflating him, and out puffs the purple smoke. He hands it to me, knowing I need it.

I inhale, the crest of a red circle burning toward me and a metallic kiss of spice on my tongue. I exhale the fear and the hurt.

The nearby river merely whispers at my nerves thanks to the teva softening the memories of the rushing sound of Caldera Falls. Eli’s posture morphs once we’re near the circular building of the Ring. His steps become focused and harsh, body poised for battle.

“I can’t use the roof again.” Eli points with his knife. “They’ll be expecting that, and every entrance will be guarded. I’ll sneak in the back and look for where she’s keeping them.”

“How are we supposed to get in the back if it’s guarded?”

“Weare not doing anything. I need my strength…and you distract me.”

“I’m not waiting out here.”

“You are.” He pushes me against a thick trunk.

“You’re going to chain me to a tree again?” I tease.

“No, I’ll save that for when we have time to enjoy it.” His unflinching face nears mine. “You’re going to stay hidden here and wait for me to come back because you want to be alive to see your little Kelter again.”

Fine. I let my weight fall against the tree.

He pulls back, satisfied. “That note could have been from days ago, and we’ve been gone for a full week. Hopefully I’ll catch them off guard.”

“That’s your plan? Hope?” I believe in that even less than the gods. I stare at my feet. He’s going to get himself killed in there, but the way he hangs on to hope despite all he goes through reveals a strength far deeper than his layers of muscle.

“Yeah.” He positions the tip of his knife under my chin, raising it until I meet his gaze. “You might want to try it some time.”

I crack a little inside, too many emotions trying to escape.

He lowers the blade. “Don’t do anything stupid if you see Kelter.”

I shove him. “Go.”

He presses his full body into me, my back to the tree and his knife at my neck. Darkness trails down my spine, and his hips rock forward with the untamed growl he lets loose. “Fuck, Never.” He shoves his cold hand up my shirt and clutches my breast. With a pinch of my nipple and a bite on my cheek, he slides his hand over my heart. It covers my chest. Every touch has my head spinning in reckless, giddy circles, even the metal shifting at my throat.