Page 84 of Change

I almost couldn’t breathe, and my face exploded in an uncomfortable heat.

She’d asked.

She wastrustingme to take care of her. Me. When she’d been fighting back for weeks with everyone else. I was filled with a renewed sense of purpose.

“Okay.” I trailed my fingers across her shoulders, pulling her closer.

How should we sit? Was it better for me to be holding her, or maybe we should stay as we were? I’d never felt more uncertain despite having done this a dozen times before. But as she suddenly gripped at the front of my shirt, I knew nothing else would feel more right. She fit against me perfectly, and here, within the privacy of a place that straddled both worlds, we were alone in our elements.

There was no need for words—this was about healing; for both of us, it seemed. And even though it would take far more to erase our pasts, we could at least take refuge in this moment.

A low rushing sound filled my ears, and a light shadow fell over my eyes as I delved into my practice. Water was deep and nurturing—although not without a deadly element of its own—and the slow-moving current washed over me, thrumming under my skin until I was cloaked under the force of tranquil serenity.

Like this, I could feel her heart beating as if it were my own, and I was overly aware of every breath she took and any movement.

Bianca relaxed against me, muscles uncurling as she was pulled further from the anxiety that seemed ever-present in the back of her mind. With that, I found myself more at ease too, and my eyes felt heavy as the early morning sunlight finally began to pierce through the trees, offering a miniscule measure of comfort.

We should probably be communicating, but why ruin this moment?

So we sat in silence, the sound of water rippling over stone lulling at my senses until I, too, allowed myself to drift into darkness.

It was warm when I woke.

I’d moved to my side, my head pressed against something soft and that smelled of newly shaven wood and flowers, but it was not thick enough to cushion the hard ground.

A blanket… And the slight scent of Bianca’s perfume.

I opened my eyes, pushing myself onto my arms. Bianca’s sweater had been rolled into a ball and placed under me for a pillow, and the afghan that I’d snagged for her fell to the ground.

But where was she?

The stirrings of panic gripped at me. I was about to leap to my feet when I spotted her.

She sat still as a stone along the edge of the stream, not reacting in any way to my presence. Her long hair was swept into a wild mess behind her, and her moss-colored skirt was bunched above her knees as her legs were stretched out in front of her. Her bare toes touched the top of the water as her attention remained fixated at her feet.

The water had to be cold—it was November, after all—but she didn’t seem to notice. And I should have gone to her immediately. I was supposed to be taking care of her. But I didn’t.

I was overcome with emotion. Even though we were all, technically, creatures of legend, I couldn’t stop staring.

The events of the last few days—the last twomonths—were forgotten as a familiar sense of longing caused my pulse to race and the hair on the back of my neck to stand. We’d been like this before, although all the memories hadn’t entirely caught up to me yet, and everything in me told me things could be the same again.

I needed it to be. So, so badly.

But then her tired eyes bored woundedly into mine, and my heart sank.

Not yet. She wasn’t ready.

“Julian?” Her voice was soft, non-commanding and unsure. My resolve steadied. She wasfarfrom ready. “Are you okay? Did you get enough sleep?”

Sleep…

Now that she’d mentioned it, I did feel better. “How long was I out?” I’d left my cell in the car and couldn’t quite see the sun from the cover of the trees.

Bianca twisted, reaching into her pocket for her own phone. “Three hours. I told the others that you were fine and to leave you alone.”

A surge of annoyance passed through me. Even after I told them to stay out of it, they still couldn’t hold back. “They asked?”

“No.” Bianca was still looking at the screen. “But I told them anyway, because I knew they would be worried.”