Page 23 of Moonstriker (The Summertide Chronicles #4)

Chapter 23

Kit

Thankfully, Aubrey didn’t mention my having to stand on my toes to help him roll up his sleeping bag.

The man was just too fucking tall for anyone’s good.

On the other hand, maybe he hadn’t noticed. Small favors from the universe.

Aubrey set up his own pack, slowly but with confidence, apparently having watched me closely the day before. Since his independence seemed important to him, I kept my mouth shut about how much time it was taking, and let him do it. It wasn’t like we had a plane to catch...

Just a volcano to keep from exploding in a fit of anger.

But Nikka wasn’t buzzing in my head that we needed to rush, so maybe we were doing okay. Or maybe she didn’t know.

I sure as fuck didn’t.

When Aubrey managed to close the clasps over his own chest, that held the pack, frame, and sleeping bag on his back, I was impressed with how quick a learner he was.

He ate another of those ridiculous fucking granola bars as we went, and for some reason, it made me want to retroactively slap his father. Every time he took a bite of dry, crumbly oats and honey and chocolate, and smiled about it, I thought that if Oberon Gloombringer had been any kind of decent person, Aubrey would have always had all the granola bars he’d ever wanted.

He’d have never thought a relatively inexpensive thing was a luxury.

Oberon would have married Aubrey’s mother, and they’d have been a family.

And maybe the world never would have been in danger.

Or maybe Aubrey would have bonded a stone as a child like the rest of us, and there would be no one who could do what he was doing now, so we would all die. I didn’t know for sure why he hadn’t bonded as a child, or how he was able to bond Slate now, so there was no way for me to be sure.

If there was one thing I’d learned from planning with Nikka over the years, it was that sometimes small changes had consequences you couldn’t properly foresee, because you couldn’t predict how people would react. People like Caspian’s uncle, Victor Berents, were always a problem to properly predict, because while he was a criminal, he also did have a conscience, and cared about some things.

People like you , Nikka pointed out. It was always hard to see what you’d do, if you didn’t tell me .

I had to hide my smile at that, lest Aubrey think I was amused by something he was doing. I’m confusing, am I?

Not confusing , she hedged, just...you think differently from most people. Frost is always logical. He thinks in a straight line. Other people are emotional. They think in circles. Somehow, you manage to do both, sometimes all at once. I struggle to follow .

Well, I’d always confused everyone else, so why not a stone who could see the future?

Aubrey tucked the plastic wrapper from his granola bar into a pocket on the backpack, and when he caught my eye turning around again, he ducked his head. “I know, glutton. How much can one guy eat?”

I blinked at that for a moment, because I’d been thinking nothing of the sort. I didn’t think I’d ever contemplated how much Aubrey ate, in any way, other than maybe “how much food should I bring on this hike?”

So I tugged the jerky out of my own pocket and stuffed a piece into my mouth. It took forever to chew and swallow, but I thought it made an important point. “I brought like fifty of the damn things,” I finally said, still trying to get the last remnants of beef from between my teeth. “And I told you I don’t like granola bars. So who else is gonna eat them? Besides, you’re like seven feet tall. Aren’t you supposed to eat a lot?”

“I’m not seven feet tall,” he said, laughing and shaking his head, so mission accomplished. “Barely over six. Not as tall as your brother.”

“Yes, and Frost is a giant. He eats at least four meals a day, because he’s enormous and needs extra food for all that bulk. And he’s a mathematician, so he’s smaller than you in other ways. Not all brawny.”

Aubrey made a face at the word mathematician—the same face the majority of people made, like the very existence of such a thing was incomprehensible and maybe a bit painful to consider, then he winced and looked back to me, checking if I’d noticed.

I laughed. “I don’t like math either, don’t look at me. I’m not the family super genius.” I pulled up my arm and flexed the muscles there. “I’m a jock like you, even if my muscles aren’t as impressive.”

That, finally, fully distracted him and got him laughing.

He seemed lighter on his feet than the day before, so it seemed that his ankle had healed some overnight, but he still stopped and leaned against a tree for a second, his shoulders hunched as he laughed so hard he shook.

It hadn’t been that funny, so I stepped in a little closer, in case this was the precursor to another seizure.

I wasn’t going to let him fall again.

I hadn’t insisted on tying us together that morning when I’d pulled out the rope and he’d made a sour face at it, so I needed to be extra careful in other ways.

He finally got his breath back, though he was still a bit wheezy, and leaned his back against the tree, meeting my eye. “You’re the best duelist in the Summerlands. You said that. You weren’t exaggerating. I don’t...I don’t think you do that. I think you’re easily a bigger ‘jock’ than me. My muscles are just from?—”

“Work. Just like mine. And my job is now literally illegal in the entire country. Yours is not. So who’s the real winner here?”

He cocked his head at that, considering, then nodded. “I guess that’s a fair point. Do you, uh, have a plan? I really could get you a job on the docks. The state finally figured out we hadn’t been able to pay the taxes on Grandma’s old farmhouse for years, and took it. I think they were planning to knock it down. So I might be begging you to keep this sleeping bag when we’re done. Maybe I’ll be the one without a home.” He winced again, clearly still thinking about our discussion of homelessness the day before.

Good. It was good that he cared.

Because as much as he still thought he was a dockworker—“Aubrey, you’re never going back to The Banks. Titania needs you, and even if she didn’t, there’s Slate. I mean, Nikka and I never discussed it, but there’s a decent chance you’re going to be living in the chalet to be close to him, don’t you think?”

His brow drew together, a line down the center as he considered. “But...but it’s not my house. And it’s so cold up here.”

“But you’ll be doing a service to the whole Summerlands by taking care of Slate. It’s a job. You should be paid for it. Why not be paid in part with a house? Besides, your aunt already owns a quarter of the chalet. It exists because of the need to appease Slate. For the cold, I promise, you’ll get used to it.”

He considered that for a long time, staring off into space. Just when I was worried he was going to come up with some reason that no, people shouldn’t take care of him in exchange for helping to protect them, his eyes went unfocused and his face went slack.

That look.

For the first time, I reacted properly to it, before anything started to shake.

I hit the mental button in my brain to activate Nikka’s power—the one I actually used, rather than her awkward ability to see into the future, and everything slowed down around me. Or maybe I sped up—I was never sure which it was, and I wasn’t Frost, to care that much.

I leaped forward, putting my hands on Aubrey’s shoulders and holding tight, lowering him gently to the ground just as he started to shake. A moment later, the ground beneath us started to shake as well. It was even more surreal when slowed down to a crawl, but it let me react as necessary, keeping his hand from smacking into the tree, or his ankles from twisting out from under him.

I held him against me for the long moments it took him to stop shaking, but when he blinked his eyes open, so very slowly, I realized...no, it hadn’t been that long. It had been much shorter than any of the other times, I’d just been activated, so it had felt as long to me.

Was that good, that it had been shorter?

I cut the power, reaching down to squeeze his hand. “You okay?”

He sighed, but he didn’t yank away or seem angry. Just a little resigned. “I think it’s getting easier? Maybe I’m just getting used to it.”

I scowled at the idea of getting used to seizures but shook my head. “No, this was shorter. Maybe...maybe once the bond is settled, it’ll stop?” Fuck, I hoped it would. I didn’t think he’d live a long, healthy life if he kept going like this.

Maybe...Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this at all. Maybe I should be taking him as far away from Slate as we could get. Give him a chance at a safe, healthy, seizure-free life. Why should he have to deal with this, all because one mountain wanted to throw a damned tantrum?

That wasn’t fucking fair.

While I was in the habit of quoting Delta’s words to me when I was a child, that life was never fair...I wanted it to be. For Aubrey, I wanted life to be fair. I wanted this to be fair.

I wanted him to have the life he wanted, not just the one we needed him to have.

Fuck me.

I cared about him.

I hate you a little right now , I told Nikka.

Nikka, of course, was all sympathy. I know. I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, I think he’s smarter than you, so he’ll figure things out quickly. That’s why I’ve been working on you all these years, so you wouldn’t go all stubborn on me and refuse to love him even when you do. Even after he realizes he loves you too .

Little early for that , I shot back. I like him. I want...I want him to be happy. I’m not doodling our names inside little hearts in my notebooks .

She only scoffed in reply, because she didn’t need to say anything else.

Because I might be a stubborn asshole, but I knew myself, and she knew me. I was never going to be the heart-doodler. I didn’t even own notebooks. Caring about Aubrey was...so much more than I gave almost anyone in my life, ever.

I was well and truly screwed.

I fucking cared about him.