Page 57

T wo weeks and three days.

That’s how long it’s been since I last saw Lyle, the night Ryker led the attack on yet another unsuspecting village. The same night Ryker found out he could go against what his father demanded of him, and I was able to lend him my powers.

I can feel him still, as he wanders the forest, lost to the monster Draven made him into. My body withers in pain, begging me to go to him, but I can’t, not right now.

Ryker was right. I’m not strong enough to save him yet, and I’m not sure how many more times I can handle seeing him like that.

Watching him walk away chips at something inside of me that hurts more than anything I’ve ever endured before.

Pain shoots through my shoulder, slamming into me hard enough that it knocks me off balance, and I fall on my ass on the hard ground.

Damn it.

Garrett’s there the next second, his hands glowing as he reaches for my shoulder, but even with how fast he is, my arm is soaked with blood already. His brows are pinched, eyes hard, and I know he’s pissed. I know he hates this, but it can’t be helped.

Besides, it could be much worse.

Reaching up, I rest my hand, the one that I can still feel, on his. The soft yellow glow turns black as I share my powers with him, boosting his healing and allowing him to fix the damage caused by Ryker, a chimera.

I wasn’t sure it would work, and it took days of begging them to test it before I’d finally had enough and forced his hand, taking a hit I should have been able to avoid during training.

It was nothing compared to this, hardly more than a scratch, but every one of them had just about lost their shit over it.

To the point I had to remind Garrett I needed healing because he was so busy trying to attack Ryker.

Even worse, I’m pretty sure Ryker would have taken the beating if Blair hadn’t held him back.

Boys…

In the end I was right, thankfully. Like I said, it was only a scratch then, but now… I’m pretty sure I can see my shoulder bone.

It only lasts a few minutes before Garrett has me all healed up, but even still I stumble when I push to stand, the world spinning as my vision blacks out for a moment.

I lost more blood than I thought.

“Shit,” someone says, and I feel a hand close around the back of my shirt, pulling me to stand again.

Storm.

Even as I blink my eyes back into focus, I know it’s him. I can feel him, feel our bond as it pulses like a live thing from him to me. Which also means I can feel his concern.

“She lost a lot of blood,” Ryker says from a little ways away, and I know he’s keeping his distance because of Garrett.

They don’t get along great…well, actually, that’s putting it mildly.

They don’t get along at all.

Garrett tolerates Ryker and by tolerates I mean, he pretends as if he doesn’t exist, and when he can’t do that, he spends the whole time with his face pinched like he just bit into a lemon.

It’s great, not.

But he’s trying, which is what he said he would do, so I try not to complain. Not too long ago, he would have killed him had he had the chance, so this is good for now.

“She should be fine if she eats something. It will help her regain what she lost,” Sol says, and I know he’s right, but I still groan in annoyance at his suggestion.

I don’t want to waste time going to eat; we only have so many hours of night, and by the time we go to the castle and back, it would be pointless.

As if he can read my mind, Ryker offers a solution.

“We can go to the cabin. I have soup on the fire already.”

Garrett opens his mouth to no doubt decline, but Pike beats him to it.

“What kind of soup?” He asks, and I don’t think he cares on my behalf.

“A meat and vegetable soup.” Ryker tries to explain, and I get the feeling whatever he made isn’t from a recipe book but something he created himself.

Which is fine by me because Ryker’s cooking is fantastic. Just last week, he brought me a bowl of the stew he’d had that first night I stayed with him. It had been delicious, and I’d been craving it, but even explaining it to the chef at the castle, they couldn’t replicate it.

It probably didn’t help that I couldn’t name even one of the ingredients.

I’d made all the guys try it because it was too good not to share, and I needed them to understand why I’d talked about it damn near nonstop.

Pike agreed and has been hounding Ryker to bring him more food nightly.

Storm’s hand is still holding my shirt, even though I’m fine now, and I swat him away.

He drops his hold on me with a chuckle, but doesn’t move away.

Always hovering.

“I’m fine, really. We don’t need to go to the castle or your cabin, Ryker,” I try to tell him, but my words fall on deaf ears, or mostly deaf ears.

Pike seems to hear me, his lip pushing out in a pout about not getting to eat any of Ryker’s food.

Blair stalks toward me, hooking a finger under my chin, forcing my head back until our eyes meet. For a moment, all he does is look at me, but whatever he sees, he clearly doesn’t like it, as a frown pulls at his lips. “Castle or cabin, you choose, but neither isn’t an option.”

I make a face at him, but as usual, it doesn’t even faze him.

Cheater.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to argue with him, but honestly, that will just waste more time, and that’s the whole reason I don’t want to go in the first place.

“Fine—”

“Let’s go back to the castle,” Garrett says, cutting me off and, not surprisingly, saying the opposite of what I was going to say.

“The castle will take too long. Let’s just go to Ryker’s cabin so that we can still fit some training in. Besides, if I have to eat, I’d much rather it be his cooking.”

Pike is nodding his agreement so aggressively I’m not sure how he’s standing upright; honestly, he looks like he’s head-banging—it’s kind of ridiculous.

I meet Ryker’s gaze where he still stands a handful of feet away, watching me, and I swear his cheeks have a slight hint of pink, but I’m too far away to know for sure.

“For once in your life, just listen to me, Rena. We can stop at the cabin if you absolutely need his cooking, but I think we need to go back to the castle…”

Nobody talks as we wait for him to explain. The whole point was for me to eat, so if I get food from Ryker’s, I wouldn’t need to go to the castle.

Right?

Or am I missing something?

Looking around, I’m happy to find the guys look almost just as confused as I feel. Except Pike, he looks happy as fuck, but I think that has more to do with the food than this conversation.

Believe it or not, I’m not trying to fight with Garrett, but I swear he makes it so easy.

What is so hard about words, communication?

“What are you talking about?” I ask, trying and probably failing to keep my sass to a minimum.

Garrett stares at me for a long moment, and I’m not sure what’s going on in his head, but I see the battle in his eyes. He looks away, carding a hand through his bright red hair, eyes fixed on the ground where he toes at the dirt with his shoe.

With a sigh, he finally looks back up and meets my gaze again.

“I think it’s time we took Ryker to the castle,” he says in a bit of a rush, almost like he was worried he’d bitch out if he didn’t say it right now.

“What?”

I’d thought Garrett was joking; turns out he wasn’t.

We did go to the cabin first, mostly because I’m pretty sure Pike would have cried if we didn’t, but I’m so glad we did.

His soup was amazing, enough, so that Storm asked him about the recipe.

Turns out a lot of his research on the forest has led to him finding a lot of herbs and spices.

Ryker said Storm could borrow his book if he wanted, but he declined for now, telling him after everything settled down he’d come and steal it.

Ryker seemed confused for a moment, and I had to explain it was just a phrase; he didn’t actually intend to steal it.

By the time we make it back to the castle, dawn is just around the corner.

Ever since the guys started accompanying me, I’ve been taking turns who I travel with to stop their arguing.

Today I’d rode back on Sol’s beast, and while I loved how soft his fur was under my fingers and being so close to him, I couldn’t stop myself from looking back at Ryker every few minutes to ensure he was still there.

You should have flown with him, Rena. Sol says in my head, not sounding even a little upset by the idea.

I swear he’s so sweet; I’m not sure where that darker side came from, the one that had him telling me he was going to tie me to the bed…

Crap, I need to think of something else.

Sol vibrates between my legs, a low growl that tells me it’s already too late.

Never mind, you can stay right where you are. Laughing, I smack him, and I hear his chuckle as well.

What’s so funny? Pike asks, and I feel my cheeks heat, which only makes Sol laugh harder as I shake my head and try to change the subject.

Before he can push too far and have Sol explain, we come up on the castle wall, and I sigh in relief.

No way do we need to have a conversation like that right now.

The guards open the gates without hesitation. When we’d first arrived, there were issues, but the guys have slowly won over not only the guards but also the people.

All but Nero, that is. The captain of the guard still hates me for my powers and isn’t a fan of the guys ever since Lyle broke his nose.

Thankfully, he’s been able to keep his opinion to himself since then. The most I have to worry about is a mean side-eye, but I’ve dealt with much worse, and he’s easily ignored.

It’s late, or early, I guess, which means there’s pretty much nobody outside, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it completely deserted.

It starts with whispers.

“Is that…?”

“No, they would never bring him here.”

And despite the early hour, the whispers turn to conversation, and we have an audience before we reach the castle.

Garrett and Ryker could have been there in seconds, but hung back with us as the guys moved through the city walls. I hadn’t thought anything of it, but I should have. These people are no different from Garrett; their belief that Ryker is a monster is something they won’t be able to just let go.

Someone throws something, a rock, maybe.

It doesn’t really matter what it is as it flies past my face, right toward Ryker.

Whoever threw that had fantastic aim, but there’s no reason Ryker couldn’t evade it.

I’ve seen how quick he is when we train, which is why I’m shocked when the rock hits his shoulder, and while it wasn’t terribly big, it’s enough that he staggers in the sky.

“Hey!” I shout, looking around to see who the hell threw it, but as I scan the now growing crowd, I can’t pinpoint where it came from.

“Leave!”

“You’re not welcome here, monster!”

“You killed my sister!”

“He burned our houses!”

Shouts begin to grow, and I know they won’t listen, but the need to defend him, to make them understand, bubbles up inside of me like it has a mind of its own.

I move to get off Sol’s back, but my feet never hit the ground. The next thing I know, I’m airborne.

“Put me down! They don’t get to treat you like that,” I huff, trying to wiggle free from Ryker’s grip, but he’s not having it. His fingers tighten, and I can feel the way his nails dig into my skin.

“They’re right, though, Serena. I did do those things. I am the monster they believe me to be. You don’t need to argue with them or try to change their view of me. If anyone is mistaken, it’s you, Darling.” He looks down at me, a sad smile on his lips, and it breaks my heart.

I fight harder, kicking and flailing, and while he still doesn’t let go, I can see the struggle on his face.

“Serena,” he grits out as he struggles to hold me.

Fine.

Calling my shadows, I feel the weight as my own wings cling to my back, pushing Ryker away.

I hear his groan of annoyance as I turn around, headed back toward the people who are still yelling, but this time it’s not only about him.

“I bet she brought him here to finish us off.”

“Of course she’d be friends with him. We all knew she was no good. She tricked the prince. Dark magic, I’m telling you.”

“How could he ever pick her?”

Their words make me stop halfway between them and where I just left Ryker, unable to move.

Is that really what they think? Even after all these years, after all the times me and the guys have gone running to save them, putting ourselves in danger.

Sol almost died to save them, and Lyle…

My vision blurs as I hover in the air, a tear running down my cheek that I quickly wipe away. I’m high enough up that they won’t be able to see, but I refuse to cry over their opinions.

“No, she saved my daughter a few weeks ago, and her mates helped to rebuild her village.”

“She and her mates found a way to put the chimera’s fire out. They saved us.”

Slowly, others join in with their accounts of us helping, but it doesn’t outweigh the bad; it just makes it less loud.

“People believe what they see. Talk is cheap. Anyone can say they’ve changed, but if you give people proof, it’s harder to argue,” Ryker says from beside me, his wings brushing mine and making me shiver.

“I won’t let them talk to you like that. I know who you are.” I turn away from the crowd of people, done with them and their shitty opinions. Ryker turns to meet my gaze, and I hope he sees how serious I am.

“I know who you are even if they can’t see it or you lose sight of it.” I tap the side of my head and then rest a hand over my heart. “Nobody deserves to be treated like that, Ryker. I know you grew up with that asshole, but I can’t watch you hurt. It breaks my heart.”

His eyes go wide at my words, and I can see the shock written on his face.

Nobody’s ever cared about Ryker, but he’s stuck with me now, so he better get used to it.

For a second he seems too stunned for words, but he quickly gets himself under control again, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, we can’t have that now, can we, Darling?” he teases, but I hear the warmth in his words all the same.

He can try to hide from me, but I see him.

I dart forward, my hand closing around his wrist before I drag him behind me down to the castle garden, choosing to ignore the mix of voices around me. The hate, the love, the appreciation, and fear—they can think what they want.

I know who I am, who we are.

At least I thought I did…