22. Ryder
22
Ryder
B efore I broke the silence, more than half the day had gone by. End’s Wrath and Vessa had been lost to their thoughts. I’d been left with mine; a place I often didn’t want to stir. Whatever slept in the recesses of my mind needed to stay the fuck asleep.
“If we ride hard, we can make it to The City of Donia in less than two days, reaching the city in the late hours of the night.”
End’s Wrath responded with a nod, enough for me to gather it meant “ sounds good .”
I clicked my tongue and nudged my stallion to ride beside Vessa. Her stone-cold gaze matched End’s Wrath’s. When I got no response from either of them, I knew not to pry. Last time, I’d said something ignorant, and I’d ended up paying for it.
Raven flew ahead, and it gave me sick joy knowing he and Vessa had tension. He needed to fuck off for as long as possible. There was something about him I didn’t trust.
I was vexed by Vessa, by the siren of a storm that kept me in her range but rarely ever let me into her eye. In those moments when she’d let me in, searing me with those perfect lush lips, guilt had tried to take root around my jagged heart, attempting to tear me to shreds. Our magic danced in unison, and I couldn’t help but allow my mind to wander back to those moments, of what all that could have meant. The way her waist had felt when I’d slipped my arm around it, wanting to commit such heinous crimes just to taste her on my lips again or even see her cast a glance my way. And as I watched her take off her hat and run a hand through her hair with the sun filtering through those long, soft locks, I wondered at how fucking magical she was in everything. Every time I stared at her, I was wrecked.
This was a job and nothing more, but my cock and heart were beginning to align, and it was starting to piss me the fuck off.
Come sundown, we built a small fire by the foot of a mountain that blended into rolling hills. It was a small bend that gave us cover with a fifteen-foot cliff at the mouth of it. The land was ever-changing and so was the air, feeling cooler than it had months ago when I’d passed through. It never snowed here, but the bite of this breeze was enough to make me think that maybe the world was acclimatizing to the way fae and humans were interacting.
I placed a rolled blanket between my back and a boulder, making my spot for the night as I eyed the crest of the hills.
For the first time today, Vessa spoke, her soft voice nearly ethereal, or maybe it was just the remedy I needed. My mind was playing tricks on me.
“There are a few lone trees at the top,” she observed, the canopy’s leaves a bright crimson. No doubt things in the land were changing, and that pretty little fae was so observant. There was something about her and the connection she felt to her elements. Everything seemed to come naturally. She had to put her hands on something and always had some sort of observational words to follow.
“Those trees are a little too far from their home in Blightstone Hollow,” End’s Wrath replied.
Just then, a dark silhouette swept down, sending my nerves into a frenzy the moment the bird dissipated into a dark cloud, stepping onto the ground a man, this time with ease, as there had been no imminent threat. As he emerged from the shrouds, Vessa already had him in her line of sight.
He went straight for her with four rabbits tied in a withered rope, tossing them at her feet like some sort of peace offering or gift. She smirked. It looked like his way of saying he was sorry. For what? I still had no fucking clue. Maybe another silent fight I’d never know about.
A smile curved her full lips, and she took off her hat and gloves. He sat beside her, closer than he should have, as she leaned against him and patted the side of his face.
“My favorite,” she said.
Raven groaned as he rolled his head from side to side and squared his shoulders, causing End’s Wrath to look up from the brim of his hat.
“What’s gotten into you, boy? Tough shifting back to a man?” He raised a peppered brow.
Vessa scoffed. “I can only assume it’s from what he did last night.” She darted a glare at Raven as she crossed her arms.
I sighed. This was my entertainment for the night? Umbra drama at its finest, and a front-row seat I hadn’t asked for. I leaned further into my rolled-up blanket and pulled my hat over my face.
“You were being reckless. I had no choice,” Raven snapped back.
“Elaborate, boy. I’m not too keen on riddles.” End’s Wrath’s warning was enough to get me listening again.
Silence strangled the air.
“Well?” I gruffly said, popping off my hat just a few inches from my face. “Spit it out so we can all get some decent rest tonight.”
Vessa snickered as her head tipped back, exposing the side of her neck, a place I’d love to lick again if given the chance. Her eyes narrowed back down toward me as her iridescent freckles shimmered against the flames.
Heaven’s hell, she is beautiful when she’s mad.
“ Ra-ven ”—she pronounced the “v” with a slice of attitude as she looked back to her father—“decided to butt into our dance last night and extended his power to shield me.”
“What do you mean?” I placed my hat beside me. “Are you telling me Raven’s magic was…dancing with mine?” My lips curved in disgust as I sat up and sneered his way. “Your… magic was all over my body?”
End’s Wrath and Vessa laughed. The old man’s deep bellow was so loud, it reverberated around our campsite. They were laughing so hard, I thought they’d lost their gods-damn minds.
“It’s not funny,” I growled and immediately stood, feeling violated when I’d thought it had been hers.
“Sit down, asshole. It was mine, but because we have a forced bond”—Vessa glared at End’s Wrath—“sometimes our powers can merge when desperately needed, or depending on how strong the bond is. It can vary per situation.”
“And you were too fucking desperate,” Raven cut in, but he didn’t find it any more humorous than I did.
End’s Wrath was still laughing, not even phased by this bullshit. He sighed as he leaned back against the tree, covered his face with his hat, and crossed his arms.
“Fuck this.” I took my blanket to seek shelter anywhere else but in the company of these fucking crazy western woodlanders.
I found a small, partially enclosed space far enough away to have some privacy. Not long after that, I heard light footsteps scraping against the gravel. With my legs bent at the knees, forearms resting on them, my hands remained clasped as I looked out into the desert night, watching the few tumbleweeds to see how long it would take for them to get enough kick from the wind to keep going. With the power of Nai , I gave them a gentle gale and watched them bounce away.
I felt like a mess, tangling myself up in something I didn’t understand.
Vessa placed her blanket to her side and took a seat beside me. She was dressed down to just her top and pants. The black sleeve that covered her arm had been left behind. Her boots were never removed for long except at the end of the night, cloaked beneath the luminescence of the moon; she slept with them on.
“He’s not like us,” she finally said, watching the same tumbleweeds caught in the brush. “He was raised by the Umbra Fae, but we don’t know exactly where he came from or which type of Elemental Fae he could be. We had suspicions he was from Emer Forest, the island north of Black Water Woods—our home. Yet he doesn’t have the power of Nan , earth. I think a part of his earlier memories are missing, the life he had before us.”
I guessed that explained a little more about him, why he had so many different powers. A male like me, who was stuck between two different worlds, only one of his was in the form of a bird.
I turned my head to look her way.
“He was a young boy who lived in a cage, waiting on the fate of an owner. I think this bond was a way out for Raven and a solution for Pa to try to tame my wild heart. If you can imagine, I was hard on the reins even back then.”
I hummed. Any anger I’d held melted away as my lips curved into a half grin. “I find that hard to believe.”
We shared a glance momentarily. She laughed, looking down at the soles of her boots, and began picking at a few stuck rocks.
“Pa said if I was bound, then I would have to think about the choices I made, and in return, he got a bodyguard for his daughter. Raven was chained in a cage and now to me. For the first portion of our lives together, he refused to shift back to our form. Not until we were older and, maybe, he was getting lonely. He has never been free, and we are all he’s ever known. All was merry, until one day, it just wasn’t.”
There was a long pause.
“They came on boats from The Nil Bend.” Her voice was a soft shudder.
“Who?” I asked.
Her brows hit her hairline as she struggled to keep the swell of tears from falling. Every shadow cast upon her face hid terrors. A part of me wished she didn’t have any. I wanted to be angry with myself for feeling this way, for caring when this was just a job. I was no better than the ones who had betrayed them, but here I was.
“The humans,” she whispered. “There was no warning, no sound. They came in the middle of the day when we couldn’t call upon the power of the moon to summon our ama and ano .”
With the pad of my thumb, I wiped a tear from her face. Grief was a crippling bitch. Some scars were loud and observable while others were kept hidden and preserved. No matter how one wore them, they were all the same. They were scars nonetheless, forever etched into their soul. She had both kinds, and my gods, she rode the fuck out of hers. She was braver than I could have ever been.
“We all lose in the end, Ryder. That’s just how life goes.”
My lips pressed thin as I tucked a strand of hair away from her face. “Ain’t that the truth,” I replied. Every word she spoke was an echo of my own thoughts.
“Even when you think you have something you want to hold on to, it will always be a breath away from slipping from your grasp,” she said. “There will always be that voice to remind me every time I want to latch on to anything that brings a sliver of happiness my way, things could change in the blink of an eye.”
“It is the ebb and flow of being caught in the middle of a changing world when we are still hanging on to our pasts,” I said as our eyes locked.
Though she and I were different people, I felt our souls were the same.
She leaned into my shoulder and nestled into my warmth as a comfortable silence bloomed. I allowed it to grow, just a little, enough to wrap my arm around her.
“The fact that I can get this close to you and still be alive is worth holding on to.” My heart fluttered inside the vessel of cobwebs and dusty corners.
She hummed faintly, a sleepy tone that had me gently leaning us back until we were against the rolled blanket. She nestled into the crook of my neck, and I felt her eyelashes against my skin as she closed her eyes. “You’re nice and warm, so I’ll let you live for now.”
I chuckled, closing my eyes as I placed my hat over my face. Soon, we fell asleep under the stars.