Time to Live
T heir feet touched the ground on the humanlands. Daylight shone brightly. Birds chirped. And Bryson, after weeks of what felt like being trapped beneath a drowning surface, was finally able to breathe.
Above her, a hawk screeched, and she reached out for that connection to her familiar. Her familiar’s mind was tumultuous like a storm, but the moment Bryson touched it with her own, the hawk settled.
“You’re back.”
“I will always come back to you,” Bryson whispered.
The hawk cried out and Bryson cast her gaze around. They’d landed in the middle of the rebel camp. Their sudden appearance garnered attention, and one by one, people came out of their tents, gasping, calling out to her.
Tears pricked her eyes. She thought she’d never see them again. Even now, the steady burn of the brand on her hand pulsed with a threatening reminder of a promise unfulfilled.
She hid that hand beneath Weylyn’s so they couldn’t see the mark, and he held her tightly.
Arlo and Everette appeared. And so did the Resistance. Her magic immediately reached out for the Elementals as they approached, eyes wide as they took her in. With the lenses on her face, she could see them clearly and make out details that had been lost to her before.
Like the scars on the water elemental’s hands and bent fingers. The golden hair and bright eyes.
There were absolutely no familial features she shared with Weylyn at all, as he favored his mother, but now that she knew the truth, something in her warmed towards the other female. Bryson resisted the urge to run to her and wrap her arms around her.
“Bryce.” Malika pushed her way forward. Her gaze went down to the hand Weylyn clasped against hers and then back up to the lenses on her face. “You’re here. You’re back. How?”
“It’s a bit of a long story...”
“Bryce!”
Bryson turned and watched as Everette pushed his way through the crowd to reach her.
“Bryce!”
She jolted as he all but tackled her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.
Before, she would have relished in his touch. She would have wanted that closeness from him if only to feel a connection to someone after so long. But now that he touched her, she felt a small trace of bitter anger right next to absolutely nothing.
“Bryson, I was so worried about you.” He pulled away, and she could just make out the truth in his words. The torture in his gaze. The heavy bags beneath his blood shot eyes like he’d been buried beneath his own tears.
She did not feel sorry for him in that.
“I’m so sorry, Bryson.” His tears fell once again. “I didn’t mean to push you. I swear it. I never would have, had I known. I—” He cut off, shaking his head back and forth. “I swear to you, I will spend the rest of our lives making it up to you. I promise. I swear it.” He leaned forward then, to capture her lips in his, but Bryson leaned away before he could do it.
Beside her, Weylyn growled.
The instant and obvious rejection had Everette jolting backwards. His arms dropped from her waist, and he took a step back, then another, staring between the two of them. And Bryson couldn’t stop the not-so-subtle movement of her neck. She extended it so they could just make out the collar of healing teeth marks around her throat.
Her mating bond with Weylyn.
Everette staggered back in shock as his eyes took them in. Several emotions passed over his face at once. Shock. Disbelief. Sadness. Anger. It was the most prominent among them all, and it transformed his features. He shoved his dark hair away from his face.
“I see.” His voice was clipped and his tone said, “I told you so.” Like he’d known this would happen all along.
Maybe he was right. Maybe Bryson had been a fool to deny what Mana had set out before them. After all, Mana fated mates together for a reason. Mana had known Weylyn and Bryson were meant to be. That their darkness inside was a perfect match.
Bryson had been the fool for fighting it the entire time. For denying what was right in front of her. But now she knew him for what and who he truly was. The pain he carried inside, the terrible things he had to do and would do. She would not stop him from completing his goals. She didn’t believe in changing someone. He was who he was, and if she loved him, which she suspected she did, she would be beside him. She wouldn’t temper him.
She would let his rage sing.
“Well, you didn’t wait long at all, did you?” His bitter tone threatened to cut through Bryson. While she was angry with him for how he’d acted, she hadn’t wanted to hurt him. They’d shared a lot together in all their years and she had cared deeply for him. She did not have to like him now, though she did not like his tone. It was unfair to blame her for what she’d done to survive. Weylyn had been the only one standing beside her in Unseelie. And it had been Everette’s fault they’d been there in the first place.
“Time passes differently in Unseelie,” Weylyn said coolly as he leveled his gaze with Everette’s, the threat in his eyes obvious. “It has been a day here, hasn’t it? It was weeks in Unseelie for us.”
Bryson blinked. It had felt longer. An eternity of torture and fear. Of waning magic and shattered lungs without air.
“I see.” Everette glared at Weylyn then at her. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but Bryson couldn’t bear it.
“Don’t,” she warned. “You don’t get to judge how I chose to survive when you were the reason we were there in the first place.”
Guilt slammed over his features, but Bryson refused to feel the same.
“He is my mate,” she said, loudly for everyone around them to hear. They’d already been listening intently, watching the events unfold and eating it up like a pastry. “And I will not apologize for that.”
“No one would ask you to.” Corvina stepped forward. The shy elemental’s voice had grown hard with determination, solidarity. Her gaze was unwavering, and Bryson’s chest warmed. “We are just glad you are okay.”
“Yeah,” Iona agreed. “We would have been lost without you.”
Bryson’s eyes brimmed with tears she didn’t dare let fall. Instead, she took a deep breath. Her future had always felt so uncertain. She’d always felt like she didn’t quite belong, like she should have been doing more. After everything she’d been through in Unseelie, she was finally ready to embrace the side of her she’d never wanted to acknowledge. The darkness. The bitter anger. It was hers to accept and she was done living for others.
It was time Bryson lived for herself.
Her eyes met Arlo’s. The hard work of his jaw let her know he was not happy with what she’d done, but she was far past caring. She knew what he was. Knew the manipulation tactics he used to keep Fae and humans tethered to him. She would forever be grateful to him for saving her life. For pulling her from that wagon all those years ago. But she would not lower herself to becoming his slave for eternity because of it.
She had already paid back her debt tenfold.
So it was looking at him that she said, “I’m ready to go with you. Long live the Resistance.”