Page 20

Chapter Twenty

I didn’t realize I had stomped to the edge of the path that led to the hollow tree until a particularly large gust of wind pushed against me, and I blinked, looking up at the familiar cliff side. I stood there for some time, contemplating if the climb was even worth it. Was there peace up there still or only more disappointment?

While I bit the inside of my cheek, considering my choices, a rustling crept up behind me.

Breathless, Caelum rounded a bend and jogged up to my side. “I had to send a few crows for messages after you stormed out, but then I couldn’t find you. Your mother recommended I look here.”

I didn’t reply, not having much left to say. I needed to act .

“Eedy, where are you going?” Caelum called as I started up the cliff side path.

“To think,” I replied, not turning to watch the prince of Eyre chase after me.

“May I come?” he huffed, catching up.

“It’s dangerous.”

“Well, then I’m definitely coming.” There was a lightness in his voice, like something had been lifted off his chest and he could breathe easier. Anger rippled through me, knowing the state of my mind. The crushing hopelessness. The defeat.

It would be better if he didn’t come. It would be easier if he stayed away from me.

Caelum stayed quiet as we trekked up the mild part of the path, closer to the base of the cliff.

When the real climb began, though, he found plenty to say.

“Dangerous was a good word for this trail, Tempest. You could have also added treacherous, hazardous, potentially deadly.”

I snorted at his complaining. “That’s all basically the same thing, Caelum.”

“True,” he huffed. “But I believe using various words would have emphasized more the amount of peril I’d be in by following you up here.”

“Then turn back,” I hissed.

“I mean, you could consider a hand railing here and there,” he rambled on. “Maybe add some stone pavers into the pathway.”

His constant barrage of suggestions made me lose my concentration, and I slipped on some loose rocks.

Panic raced through me but, almost as quickly, steady hands held me at the waist, stabilizing me once more.

“You come up here alone often?” His lips brushed against my ear. “You should most definitely stop that. Someone wise told me that this is a very dangerous path.”

I pushed him off me, but a small smile grew on my lips.

Hallows be, who was I kidding? I wanted him here with me.

When we reached the top, Caelum could not help himself. He froze, staring wide-eyed at the tree, his mouth hanging open.

“It’s amazing, Eedy,” he said, circling it.

I didn’t say anything. It was amazing. Or it had been. I ducked into the carved-out center of it and sat curled into the inner wall, wondering if anything that my father had told me in this hollow space had been real. That he was sure he’d be able to convince the council when he had enough proof. That they were the key to making a difference in Eyre.

Caelum soon followed, staring at me intently. “You’re angry with him. Your father.”

“He was going to leave the council,” I exclaimed in a burst. “He was giving up. I was fighting for him, because he left .”

Caelum crouched down to my level, his brows furrowed. “He didn’t leave you,” he said softly. “He fell, right? I heard it was an accident.”

I stood then, pacing the small space inside the tree. Energy hummed around me as I tried to not fall too far into the nightmare that was that day. “He slipped, yes. But he was still holding on to the ledge at my feet. I tried to help him. I had him. If he’d only given me more time to think. If he’d just waited .”

My throat tightened, the memory hitting me like a hurricane. His fingers clamped around mine, the raw panic in his eyes, the impossible weight of his body pulling against my grip...

Caelum stood slowly, hands on hips as he turned to face me. “How long have you been this angry with him, Eedy?”

“What?” I shoved him in the chest for his stupid words. “Only now. When they told me about him wanting to abandon the council.”

He shook his head, his eyes somber. “I see your anger. It may be hidden behind your grief, but it’s still there. It’s been there for a while. I should know the look.”

I turned my back on him, the hollow walls of the tree closing in on me. “You’re ridiculous. And you know nothing of it. Or him. Or what happened.”

I felt his presence behind me, hovering, waiting.

“Eedy, was he pulling you down with him?” he asked at last.

I was shuddering, flashes running through my mind of me grasping at my father’s arm, the shuffle of the pebbles as I strained to keep my balance where I lay. “I was fine! He could have been fine. He needed to wait!”

The memories scraped against my raw heart. I had begged him, my voice ragged with desperation. I thought I could hold on...if I just held tighter, if I just didn’t blink or breathe or move, he’d be okay. But instead, he’d looked at me with a soft, resolute expression, like he already knew what he had to do.

Caelum’s hand fell on my shoulder, and I turned to face him again, eyes burning, heart burning, everything burning.

“Sometimes,” he said softly, pushing a stray hair out of my face, “we have to leave the ones we love to keep them safe. To protect them. He knew you’d never let go, so he made the choice to do it. It was his to make, but I know it was out of love.”

It didn’t compute. Love was holding on. Fighting. Love wasn’t leaving . But the look in Caelum’s eyes, a man who didn’t have anyone who truly loved him, still understood what that love looked like. And the choices that love would make. If only I could wrap my head around it too.

He stepped closer, placing a firm, slender hand around my arm, anchoring me in place.

“And even if he planned to leave the council, Eedy, I highly doubt he’d given up the fight. He just gave up on a group that was meant to serve the people when he realized they weren’t doing that anymore. You saw them just now. They’re useless and ready to join the fae.”

His words made sense, but my heart still felt numb from all the emotions I’d just dumped on it.

“So, the council will abandon us for the fae,” I murmured, “and Eyre will soon be left with no magic.”

“There are still the two of us willing to fight,” he said, his confidence shining through even now. “It’s not over until it’s over.”

“I think it’s already over, Caelum,” I whispered, tears blurring my vision, my hope lost.

He gave my body a rough shake, rousing the blood in my veins and reawakening all my senses. I blinked up at him, surprised.

“No, Eedy, it’s not. We can still figure this out. I have been far and wide throughout this kingdom and have yet to find someone who matches your tenacity, your intelligence, your...”

He trailed off, never revealing the last thing I possessed, but his gaze had turned soft and his hand on my arm tugged at me with the slightest pressure.

I threw a hand up to his chest, determined to push him away, but once it was there, once I felt his heart hammering underneath his soft linen shirt, my resistance to him fell away.

In fact, he was the only thing I really wanted right now.

“Caelum,” I breathed, a tear falling down my cheek.

“Yes, Tempest?”

“Don’t call me that,” I grumbled, turning away from him.

But he held tight, rooting me in place.

“Why not?” He tilted my chin back up toward his commanding face. “You are a tempest, a storm to be reckoned with. I feel your thunder when you’re furious. Your winds when you snap out a witty reply. Torrential rain pounding down on me when you’re sad. And when we touch”—he squeezed my arm, and snaked his other hand around my waist, pulling me in closer—“your lightning.”

“No one wants to be near a storm,” I finally whispered. All my life I was too much for everyone around me. Too moody. Too stubborn. Too everything.

He inclined his head even closer, his eyes alight, tendrils of his golden hair falling into his face. “The storm is what excites me most, Eedy. You are raw. Chaotic. Untamable.”

I bristled. “So, you wish to tame me, then?”

“No, never.” He huffed, his grip on my hip and arm tightening in his frustration. “I just want you to know it doesn’t scare me. I can handle it. I can handle all of you.”

He was kiss-close now, his piney scent settling over me, making me breathless. His lips parted, and his eyes fell from mine to gaze lower.

“Eedy,” he murmured, “I must tell you?—”

I covered his mouth with my fingers. “Tell me later.” I was done with his words. Now, I wanted everything else.

His eyes widened as I gripped at his shirt and pulled him the last few inches toward me. And when the prince of Eyre laid his delicious mouth over mine, something in my heart unlocked.

Thank the gods he wanted me raw and wild, because I could no longer tame myself.