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Chapter Twenty

Ena woke up before Ty and was glad for it. She loved the peace of the early morning. The simplicity and the quiet. And now more than ever, she needed some space to clear her head.

As she walked through the woods to check her traps, her mind replayed all that had been said last night, each word stabbing deeper and deeper into her heart.

Ty hadn’t been pretending. He had actually cared for her.

He had tried to get back to her. Those thoughts warmed her in ways she felt scared of.

While they made her feel slightly less like an idiot for clinging to the memory of that summer for so long, they’d also rekindled a hope in her that she knew was unhealthy and unwarranted.

But hearing about the things he’d done, the things his uncles had done…

He was bound to serve Iblis, no matter whether he wanted to or not.

Like he’d said, that’s what daemons did.

And she was a witch. She could never condone the things he was forced to do.

So it was all the more clear why they could never be together.

Why it would never work. Part of her mourned that loss, even now.

Even this many years later, and after everything that had happened.

But maybe it was a good thing that she finally knew the whole truth. Maybe now, she could finally move on.

She knew she was still stuck with him until he decided to let her go.

He was healed enough now that he’d come after her if she tried to leave.

But, like she’d shared last night, she wasn’t sure she was ready to face her Coven.

Not now. Not after everything. Maybe if she saw this through and was able to find out why they wanted the amulet—or, better yet, if she was able to take the amulet for herself—she could face them again.

Then she’d have a way to atone for the ways she’d disrupted Gaia’s balance.

A plan started to take shape in her mind.

She’d told Ty and the others only where the house was and what it had looked like.

They didn’t know about the trunk, or the box inside it.

If she could somehow get to it first, and hide it, then she could try to escape again.

Or hopefully they’d let her go when they didn’t find it.

She’d admit, it wasn’t the most well-thought-out plan.

There were a lot of variables to contend with. But it was the best she had for now.

She was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a second to sense that something was wrong.

Ty had been there when she got back to camp, but he hadn’t moved.

It was midmorning now, and he hadn’t even gotten up to drink water or pee.

She approached him to check on him, and noticed he was shivering.

She’d built up the fire, so it wasn’t that cold where he was.

She moved to touch his shoulder, to try and wake him up, and the heat of his body almost scalded her. He was burning up.

Moving around to face him, she shook his shoulder gently. “Ty? Ty, wake up,” she called gently. When he didn’t stir, she shook harder. “Ty!”

He slowly, groggily, opened his eyes. They were hooded with fever, his body sluggish as he raised his head.

“Ty, you have a bad fever. I need to check your wound,” Ena said.

She tried hard to keep herself calm, but she knew fevers like this were very dangerous.

Despite what he’d said about his healing capabilities, without access to clean conditions and healing potions, the risk of infection from his wound would be serious.

She helped him sit up and lean back against the tree stump again. She gave him some water to drink, and that seemed to revive him slightly.

“It’s okay,” he said, sounding tired. “The fever is normal for us.”

But Ena wasn’t convinced. She lifted up his shirt to reveal the bandage on his wound.

She unwound it gently, and checked the stitches.

The wound was red and swollen, but that was to be expected.

There wasn’t any pus, nor were there any red lines coming from it, so it couldn’t be that badly infected.

Still, his skin was like a million degrees, raging like an inferno. She couldn’t believe that was normal.

“Come on,” she said. “I want to get you in the river. The cold water will bring your fever down, and it’ll help clean all the dirt and blood from around your wound.”

“Ena, really, you don’t have to fuss. I’ll be fine.”

She maybe would’ve believed this if his teeth weren’t chattering in his skull like he was naked in the dead of winter.

“Indulge me. Please,” Ena said. She stared right into his eyes, giving him her most wide-eyed, pleading look. She was trying to keep her tone light, but inside, her stomach was knotted in worry.

“Fine,” he grumbled, “but don’t blame me when you’re freezing your tits off the rest of the day.”

Ena smiled lightly at his joke. He couldn’t be feeling that bad if he was cracking jokes, right? She clung to that hope.

She helped him out of his dirty coat and shirt while he was sitting, then she helped him stand and lean against a tree while he undid his pants and slid them down his body.

Maybe she hadn’t thought this through. His back was facing her and she saw…

a lot. Her eyes roamed his broad, muscular back and shoulders, and lower…

Oh, Gaia. The muscles of his ass were rock hard and perfectly sculpted.

Fuck, was he made of stone? Maybe that was why he always smelled like stone…

She was openly staring now and caught in some sort of trance, almost forgetting why she was making him do this in the first place.

Even all those years ago when they swam, and when they were…

together, she’d never seen this much of him.

It made her regret the way they’d done it frantically and half-clothed like the hormone-crazed teenagers they had been.

She must’ve made some sound because Ty turned around and caught her staring. Their eyes locked for a second before an extremely mischievous grin came across his face, despite his feverish state. “You know, some people think staring is rude,” he said.

Broken from her reverie, and her face heating in embarrassment, she rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, hush,” she said. “Just wait right there for a minute and try not to collapse while I take off my dress, and then I’ll help you into the water.”

He did as he was told while Ena shimmied out of her worn black dress, boots, and cloak. She kept her shift on. It wasn’t ideal, since she’d have to take it off and hang it to dry afterward, but there was no reason they should both be naked for this. Things were bound to be awkward enough.

She walked over to Ty and grabbed his arm, keeping her eyes firmly on his face and torso, before leading him to the water’s edge.

Together, they stepped into the bitter-cold water.

The stream wasn’t very deep. They navigated carefully over the rocks, which were slippery and tore slightly at Ena’s feet, while she took Ty’s weight on her shoulders to help him balance.

Ena shivered as the water reached her thighs, then her hips, and eventually her waist, but Ty’s arm was so burning hot around her that it was manageable.

They stopped in the middle of the stream where the water came to Ty’s hips. Blessedly, it covered his manhood now, so Ena safely turned to him with her arm looped around his waist to support him.

The river swirled around them as it rushed to the ocean.

For a second, Ena was transported to a much warmer night, in a much warmer river, many years ago.

Ty had held her then, coaching her through her fear.

She looked up at him and saw the same ghost of a memory in his eyes, both of them feeling the ways the past was still present.

Ena dipped her free hand in the cold water and lifted it to the back of Ty’s neck.

He closed his eyes as the water cupped in her hand ran down his back, then she did the same over his chest. She gently wiped the water over his arms and torso, washing away dirt and blood from the attack, while taking care not to get any in his wound.

She brushed her wet hand over his cheeks, across his brow, and through his hair, feeling the rough stubble growing on the shaved sides of it, until soon she became lost in the majesty of his beauty, of his strength.

The way the muscles of his arms sloped under her hands, the way his chest rose and fell with each deep breath, and the way his heart beat steadily underneath.

She wanted to run her fingers through the hair on his chest, and brush her thumb over his lip.

She wanted to trail a finger down his neck and place a kiss on his eyelids.

He was so painfully perfect, she wanted to do so, so much more than she should.

“How does that feel?” she asked, her voice coming out quiet after their long silence.

He opened his eyes to look at her, and the same feeling of longing that throbbed in her chest was reflected in his eyes. “Better,” he said, his voice low and rough. “Much better.”

She saw his eyes flick down to her lips, and the way he was looking at her was too much. Everything she felt was too much. She knew what this could easily lead to, and that it would only bring more pain and heartbreak for them both, so she looked away and removed her hands from him.

They stood there in the water for another minute or two, until slowly, slowly, she felt his body temperature come back down, and she guided Ty out of the water.

After they’d both gotten dressed again, Ena built up the fire as big as she dared to try and warm herself up.

Ty resumed his spot by the fire, laying on his side.

He was asleep again in minutes. Everything was quiet as Ena watched him sleep.

She didn’t need to—she knew he was likely fine, just as he’d insisted—but she couldn’t help herself from reaching over to him and touching his shoulder lightly.

His temperature was still warm, but better now, and she felt thoroughly relieved.

She finally dragged her gaze away from him, wondering how they both might feel about this tomorrow, and the next day. She knew that they were walking a very dangerous line now, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.