Page 29

SETH | EKEZ

S pring is only a couple of weeks away, and despite Mother Nature’s attempt to bury us one last time in snow and ice, her most willful flowers are already in bloom. Newly hatched butterflies, free from their chrysalis, flit around the snow, looking for those flowers to pollinate.

“Seth…what the hell are you doing?” Khalil gripes when I stop for the third time.

Crouching by a bed of perennials, I study the yellow flowers peeking out of the snow. “What does it look like?” I toss back. “Picking flowers.”

“For what ?”

I smile as I gently finger one of the dew-dropped petals. “For Sunshine.”

After selecting the best ones, I add them to the bunch I’ve already collected and stand. “You think Aurelia likes flowers?”

Khalil glances down at the colorful bunch clutched in my fist and then the flower bed I just picked. “I think they’re poisonous, Seth.”

“Dude, you don’t have to sell me on them. I already know they’re perfect for our girl.”

Khalil sighs and rubs at his brow. “Seth, we need to talk.”

Raising the flowers, I sniff them and bask in the different smells. “About what?”

“Your attachment to Aurelia for starters?”

I sniff the flowers again and wonder how I’m going to get them back to her without ruining them. I’ve never given flowers to a girl before, and neither has Zeke. I’ve searched his memories backward and forward, but the most romantic gesture he’s ever bothered to make to a girl is to remember her name. That part doesn’t bother me so much because I know Sunshine is territorial, but this is our first time giving her flowers. They have to be perfect.

“What about it?”

“You need to slow down. We still don’t know if she can be trusted, and Zeke is still an issue. You’re going to split eventually, and he’s still very fragile.”

“Stop saying that,” I snap unintentionally. “Zeke’s stronger than you know.”

“Sure, but what’s going to happen when he’s ready to wake up? Have you thought about that? Have you figured out what you’re going to do if you have to choose between them?”

“What do you mean?”

“When Zeke wakes up, and he can’t handle the fact that she’s around, you know what we’ll have to do, Seth.”

“Thanatos?” Khalil nods solemnly instead of rolling his eyes like he usually does whenever I mention the God of death, and I feel the blood drain from my face. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No, fuck that. Zeke won’t take her from me. He owes me that much. I took his pain! I did!”

“I know that,” Khalil snaps, his face tightening a moment later with guilt and pity.

Khalil reaches out to try to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I move away. “How can you even say this after all that’s happened? Aurelia’s ours. She’s one of us.”

“She doesn’t want to be.”

I shake my head only to realize he’s right. She doesn’t. “We can change that.”

“How, Seth?” He looks down at the flowers in my hand with scorn and then raises his brows. “It’s a little late for hearts and flowers, don’t you think?”

“No.” Shrugging off my pack, I pull out the fantasy book I’d read to Sunshine last night and find the last page I’d read before slipping the stems inside so that the heads stick out the top like a bookmark. It’s not foolproof. The petals might still be crushed, but it’s the best I can do.

As I’m closing the book, the winter aconite catches my eye.

The even number of golden petals reminds me of Sunshine’s hair, so I remove it from the bunch before closing the book and stuffing it back inside my pack.

Khalil and I start walking again while I stare at the flower in my hand.

Before I can stop myself, I’m plucking the first petal.

She loves me.

It floats away in the wind, but I don’t watch it go.

She loves me not.

The second poisonous petal follows the first.

She loves me.

One by one, the petals fall until I reach the last.

She loves me not.

Frowning down at the empty pistil, I don’t realize I’ve fallen behind until Khalil glances behind him and calls my name with a sigh. Throwing the flower stem down, I crush it under my heel as I catch up.

Aurelia may not love me yet, but that can change.

It has to.

Because I’m already in love with her.

“Seth,” Khalil calls when he notices my despondency.

I swear, even the sky darkens, the gray clouds blocking some of the sun.

Sunshine, don’t go…

“We always knew this was temporary,” Khalil says, but I’m only half listening. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but there will be other girls. I can promise you that. We won’t be on this mountain forever.”

“I don’t want anyone else, and neither do you.” I turn my head to study his profile. Khalil’s jaw is clenched as he stares straight ahead, refusing to meet my gaze. I’m right, and he knows it. He doesn’t want to give her up either—not even for Zeke. “Maybe instead of telling me I need to move on, you and Thor should start owning how you feel.”

Khalil’s shocked gaze flies to me, and his mouth falls open like he wants to deny that he’s not completely gone for Sunshine, but I beat him to it before he can utter one syllable of bullshit.

“The snow is going to melt soon,” I remind him. “She could still leave. You won’t be able to use the weather as an excuse forever.”

“There are plenty of other things in these wilds that can kill her.”

I shake my head. “She’s passed every test. The mountain won’t kill her.” It’s going to sound batshit crazy coming from me, but over the years, we’ve gotten the sense that our mountain was sentient. It throws everything at you to either forge something it can wield or let nature take its course. It looks into the soul of anyone who trespasses and decides the trials you’ll face. If any. No one’s ever been tested more than Aurelia George. When Khalil doesn’t respond, I add, “We still have time to make her want to stay, Khalil.”

“Doubtful.”

“God, you’re a fucking pussy. I should have smothered you in your sleep when I had the chance.”

Khalil stops dead in his tracks, so I wind up a few steps ahead of him. “When would you have had the chance?” he sputters incredulously.

“Oh, plenty of times.” Spinning around, I close the gap between us despite the warning in his body language to keep my distance. Khalil’s not the only apex predator, so I forge ahead. “And let me clear. If I find even a single hair on Sunshine’s head out of place, I’ll show you just how unserious I was all those times I tried to kill you. I’ll flip that fancy kill switch that Zeke doesn’t think I know about and wake Bane.”

“Cura, what the hell are you—”

“Chrysa—”

“Stop,” he barks and then shoves me immediately. “What the fuck is your problem? How do you know about that?”

Raking Zeke’s fingers through his hair when it falls free of the careful coif I prefer to his messy bed hair, I say coolly, “Don’t worry about it. You just remember that I do, and never mention killing Sunshine again. How can you when you’ve seen how perfect she is for us?”

“Because she’s a fucking loose end who’s going to outlive her usefulness, and you’re the dumb fuck who can’t see that she’s using you.”

“She’s just trying to survive. Any one of us would do the same.”

“Don’t be such a fucking simp, Seth. Aurelia’s no damsel in distress. She’s the evil queen you save the damsel from.”

I step into his face and the deadly tension between us skyrockets. “She’s also the only reason I tolerate you breathing her air. If Zeke wakes up, he won’t be able to take care of her on his own. We might be using her, and she might be using me, but I’m using you .”

Instead of looking worried that I’ve threatened his life twice in a matter of minutes, he smirks. “I guess you better back up off me then.”

I hold his stare for a few seconds longer before I back out of his reach. Only then do I give him my back before continuing our trek to the rescue camp.

Not a minute after Thorin and Aurelia’s weird yet sexually charged fight this morning, we’d gotten the call from Sheriff Kelly that it was safe to resume the search. It was either a genius move or a terrible one, leaving them alone together. I guess we’ll see soon enough since I am more than a little eager to get out of the cold and home to my girl.

I quickened my steps, ready to get this pointless day of searching over with so I could see her again. After my argument with Khalil, I trust Thorin alone with Sunshine even less than before.

What if Thorin and Khalil had already decided they were done with her? What if Thorin staying behind was a ploy to get me out of the way while he disposed of her?

What if he’s hurting her right now?

My gut roils while my hands become fists. I’m ready to turn back and run all the way to Big Bear and the cabin when rational thought sneaks up on my murderous rage.

No…

I saw the way he looked at her this morning. Thorin’s not done with her yet. If anything, his obsession’s grown. Aurelia’s gotten under his skin and clawing her way into his heart. I know it. Maybe Khalil knows it too, and that’s why he’s trying to reinforce this rift by convincing himself that all she is to us is a loose end.

Aurelia’s safe at the moment, but for how much longer?

Khalil has a fucking point. Even if we convinced Sunshine to stay, when Zeke wakes up, it all comes crashing down on us. I won’t be around to protect Aurelia, while Khalil and Thorin will be forced to choose between their best friend and the woman who hates us. Letting her go isn’t an option either because she’ll almost certainly be back to ruin us in return.

“You’re supposed to be on our side,” I hear Khalil call after me.

“Newsflash, I was never on your side. Zeke might think you care for him, but I don’t. Friends don’t leave.”

Khalil sighs. “Seth…stop.”

“Why?”

“Stop!”

Scowling, I slowly turn around to see what the fuck is so urgent and find Khalil no longer looking like he wants to murder me. He looks like he wants to hug me.

I can’t decide which possibility makes me hate him more.

“What the fuck is it?”

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to convince you to come on the road with me when I asked, and I’m so fucking sorry I let that much time pass without us speaking. If I hadn’t…” He lets his sentence hang as he drops his head. His broad shoulders tremble, and I have the feeling he’s holding on by a frayed thread. “If I hadn’t, I would have known something was wrong. I could have gotten you out sooner. I’m sorry I took so long to remember my brother. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better one to you.”

Swallowing past the emotions knotted in my throat takes some effort. “Why are you telling me this? I’m not Zeke.”

It’s the only thing I can think to say because I can’t let him off the hook that easily. All I know is my resentment. Burning hate is the only way I know how to connect with them at this point. That…and Aurelia. And Khalil just told me he’d take her from me, too, one day.

Fuck him.

“I know that,” he says quickly. “I just…” Khalil’s chest expands when he breathes in and out deeply. “I don’t just think of you as being a part of Zeke. You are real, and I care about you, Seth . That makes you my brother, too, even if you don’t feel the same.”

He reaches for me, but I take a step back as my gaze narrows. “How do I know you’re not just saying this so that I won’t let you hurt Sunshine?”

“Because you were right, okay? I don’t want to be rid of her.”

“I knew it!” Forgetting the heavy topic of my imprisonment and daily torture, I grin triumphantly when the discussion returns to Sunshine. “You feel her too, don’t you? She doesn’t just have us by the cock and balls, Khalil.” I tap the side of my head with my finger. “She’s in here too, pressing against your skull.”

Khalil gives me a dead look. “I think they call that a tumor, Seth.”

“Oh, yes, I know.” I continue to grin until it feels like my face will break. “Love. It’s gloriously gory, isn’t it?”

And Aurelia, our gorgeous little tumor, is quickly spreading and working her deadly magic on us all. I love her so fucking much.

Two down, one to go.

Thorin’s a stubborn bastard, but Aurelia doesn’t give up easily—not that she’ll admit what she’s doing to us. Aurelia’s a ruthless queen who wants to burn the world. All she needs is us. Her loyal fire-breathing dragons who will protect and avenge her.

Someone should tell her.

No, that might scare her off.

Better to lay low and let her conquer us one by one.

It takes another hour for Khalil and I to reach the exfil point where we’re choppered to the camp. Once our boots are on the ground, we track down Sheriff Kelley, who’s speaking to one of the rangers. Spotting us, he ends his conversation and walks over.

“Appreciate you boys making it down so quickly. I know it was last minute.” The sheriff’s gaze bounces between Khalil and me before searching behind us and realizing it’s just the two of us. “It looks like you’re missing one,” he observes slowly. “Where’s Thorin?”

“Sorry, Sheriff. We got caught up in that squall last week, and Thor caught a nasty case of pneumonia,” I say, delivering the excuse we’d rehearsed to explain Thor’s absence before Khalil and I took off. “He stayed at home to finish recovering.”

After Aurelia’s failed escape attempt, we’d be morons to leave her alone again, so Thorin volunteered to stay behind and keep an eye on her. She’s been on her best behavior ever since we saved her, and I’d like to think she’s finally settling in, but I know it’s more likely that she’s feeling discouraged after almost dying.

Her feelings of defeat won’t last, so Thor, Khalil, and I have been on guard all week, keeping her mind inside our cabin so that she stops thinking of the life she lost.

“Oh, hell,” the sheriff says grimly. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’d normally turn you around to go look after him, but we’ve already lost too many vital days, so we need all hands on deck. What do you say I send my wife to check on him? Her homemade soup could heal anything. One sip will have him right as rain in no time.”

“We appreciate that, Sheriff, but it’s looking up. His fever is down, so he should be back on his feet in a couple of days.”

“Good, good. That’s great to hear.” Despite his words, his expression becomes pinched. “Although, it makes what I’m about to ask difficult.”

Khalil keeps a straight face. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

“We need you two to stay at the camp for the next couple of days.”

“Why?”

“Because this is it, boys.” The sheriff removes his hat with a grave look on his weathered face. “We’re searching every square inch of these mountains round-the-clock, and if we don’t find Aurelia George in the next forty-eight hours, we’re calling off the search. Permanently.”

I nod my agreement. “You did everything you could, sir. This isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, you might be right about that, son, but it won’t keep me out of the bottle tonight.” He starts to trudge off when he pauses and peers at us. The scrutiny would make lesser men squirm. “You know…she’s the only one we haven’t found. All the others, every single soul who was on that plane—dead or alive—has been found except her. We even gave what pieces were left of that poor girl we found near a wolf den back to her family. But Aurelia George? Nothing. Gone. Vanished into thin air. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

Khalil and I make eye contact, though we’re careful to keep it brief. “About what?”

Sheriff Kelly’s expression is stricken as he glances past us toward the imposing snow-capped peak that rises above the one we’re standing on. “If the stories we’ve all heard about these wilds are true.” When his kind but somber gaze returns to us, he says, “By the way, I know you said it’s unlikely Aurelia made it that far, but the Westbrook kid finally woke up two days ago, and he’s claiming she was with him when the avalanche hit.” Fuck, fuck, fuck. “I wanted to give you a heads up. We’ll be focusing our search primarily on your mountain. Because it’s a high-profile case, and we don’t need those overbearing Americans pointing the finger at us—no offense—the CAF can’t risk leaving any stone unturned.” When Khalil frowns and parts his lips to argue, Kelly holds up a hand. “It’s over my head, Poverly. I’m sorry. This isn’t my call.”

Khalil and I hold our breath as the sheriff walks away, and the moment he’s out of earshot, we exhale harshly.

“So that’s bad,” I deadpan.

Swearing viciously, Khalil snatches our personal two-way from its clip and starts trying like hell to reach Thorin.