Chapter 50
50
T risten had already set down Rachelle by the threadwell when Callum and I arrived. Callum set me down by the edge of the glimmering water that was being dusted by the early rays of morning light. Around us were marble pillars that were broken at odd angles, as if they had been cut down halfway. A relic of a temple or small ruin that once covered the pool.
“We have to pass one at a time into the threadwell for it to work,” Tristen said. “Rachelle first.”
Rachelle’s face looked ghost white from blood loss. “If you insist,” she said. “What do I do?”
“Just jump in,” Tristen said. “Keep your arms close to your chest, hold your breath, and don’t let the current scare you—it will drag you through the island’s underwater tunnels and spit you out in the attached threadwell pool by the Stone Coliseum.”
Tristen helped her to the edge of the glowing waters that seemed to ripple with a humming energy. Rachelle turned to Callum and I, and stumbled a dramatic bow. “Illumia be with you, my companions.”
Then, she crossed her arms across her chest and fell backward into the pool. I stepped closer, watching as the ripples smoothed on the water’s surface, and Rachelle was just… gone.
“Did she make it?”
“She did,” Tristen said. “You next, Saffron.”
“No,” I said, turning to Callum. “You go, Callum. I don’t trust leaving you two alone.”
“I don’t trust leaving you with him ,” Callum said.
I glared at Callum. “I have Pepper. It will be okay.”
Callum’s gaze softened when he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I just… I’ve come so close to losing you too many times to count today.”
I felt a tug in my heart at that. “I know. Please go. I’ll be right behind you.”
Callum nodded, but he stepped closer, tilting my chin up to him. He bent down, brushing a kiss to my lips. Then, he leveled a glare at Tristen, who was standing stone still a few paces away. “If I don’t see her come through in sixty seconds, I’m coming back for her.”
Tristen’s gaze was murderous. “The woman has a godsdamn dragon, Callum. She can handle herself.”
Callum looked back at me, then turned to the water and dove in. Once more, the water’s ripples smoothed, and he was gone.
I looked up at Tristen, whose body was still tight with tension.
“What I saw,” I said, taking a step toward him. “It’s true? We fought together?”
Tristen opened his mouth—as if he was trying to form words that wouldn’t come. “We—” suddenly, he cut off, coughing. He wiped at his mouth, blood on his hands. “I keep not learning my lesson trying to share these things with you.”
“What… what is that?” I asked. “What’s hurting you?”
He brushed the blood off on his sand-dusted leather pants. “Don’t worry about me.” He paused, as if thinking through something. “Even gods of madness can’t promise something they can’t give. If they promised you a memory, they gave you a memory.”
“So that’s a yes?” I asked softly. “I saw you. In my memory. You kissed me.”
A war raged behind Tristen’s gaze. In that moment I wished nothing more than to be in his mind, to know what he was thinking.
Tristen took my hands in his. “Do you love him?”
The question took me off guard. “What?”
“Do you love him? Callum?”
“I…” I trailed off. “I think so.”
Tristen’s hands tightened around mine. “Don’t think. Know . Love isn’t something that sneaks up on you. It’s a truth that you feel in your bones. Not with your head.”
I nodded, feeling warmth spread under my skin. Being so close to Tristen—it was like a drug. His presence was intoxicating. It was more than just his finely cut features, his dark beauty. There was something about him that struck deep. He felt like destiny in a way that I couldn’t explain. Couldn’t process.
“You’re next,” Tristen said, nodding at the pool. “And you probably should keep Pepper away from the palace for now.”
I looked at the baby dragon, who seemed to understand. It let out a sad cry, and landed on my shoulder. Why did it feel like I was saying a string of goodbyes?
My words were hard to say, but I forced them out anyways. “You have to go, Pepper. I’ll come for you again when this is all over.”
Pepper gave another sad yowl, then jumped into the skies, flapping away.
I couldn’t stop a tear from rolling down my cheek, feeling weirdly attached to the small creature that had saved our lives.
But as I turned back to Tristen, I had more to say. “Tristen?—”
“Go!” Tristen shouted, and suddenly I saw a group of shadows emerging from the dunes. Not just shadows—but the silhouettes of nearly a dozen people, about to converge upon Tristen.
“Wait!” I said, but it was too late.
Tristen had pushed me into the threadwell pool, and I was yanked underneath the surface by the current as he was left alone to fend for himself as the shadows surrounded him.