15. Chapter 15
Camille
Iwoke up in a momentary panic. The last thing I remembered was a horrible cracking noise, and Josiah saying we were going to get out of there.
I looked around and quickly recognized that we were on the ship, yet again.
Jerrod was standing with his back to me, in a quiet conversation with Jade and Kresh.
I couldn’t quite hear them, but before I got a chance to listen in, Kresh noticed my eyes on them.
He nodded his head toward me at Jerrod. His body was already moving toward me. His lips were on mine before my brain was able to catch up.
“I almost lost you,” he whispered. His forehead stayed against mine and he held me against him like I might slip away. “Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine. Josiah got us out,” I said, my eyes darting around looking for Josiah.
I wanted to thank Josiah for getting me away from that monster. From keeping him from doing horrible things to me like I was more than aware Kyril would have done. I cringed as I thought of the unspeakable unrealized alternate timeline that could have ruined me.
“He’s discussing things with The King’s men,” Jerrod explained.
His body language was rigid and stiff, his face strained with a look I didn’t fully understand or recognize.
“I’d like to see him, if that’s okay,” I admitted.
He flinched at that comment, like I had just openly slapped him. “Yes… of course.”
His voice was shaky and formal. He went to stand and move away, but I grabbed his hand.
“Is everything okay?” I asked softly, confused at his demeanor .
“It is. You are safe. That is what matters the most.”
I smiled at him softly, recognizing the reaction for what it was. “I have no regrets, about us, in case you were wondering,” I said bluntly.
Jade made a coughing noise as she quickly scurried from the area. She clearly didn’t want to be here for this conversation. I didn’t blame her. It was a sensitive topic, and to them, clearly they thought things could go either way.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Jerrod dismissed my comment with nonchalance.
“Stop being all weird and formal with me, dammit,” I said in frustration. “Just because I got captured and your brother got me back out of there, does not mean that my feelings for you have changed in any way.”
“How can you possibly say that?” he asked as he looked away from me.
“This was not your fault!” I yelled. “Is that what you think? That you could have done anything differently? Jesus Christ, Jerrod. I didn’t even know anything was happening until he was teleporting me away from you. And right in front of both of our faces, no less.”
“I should have been able to! I should have been faster, used my ability maybe! Anything but standing there in silent panic. I am a terrible mate and a failure in every aspect.”
I gripped his face in my hands and looked into his eyes, “You need to let this go and be glad things worked out how they did. Do you understand me?”
“You deserve better.”
“You’re a fucking moron. You are everything I need and want. Frankly, you’re pissing me off right now. Stop ruining the god damn moment. And also, are you being so serious right now? Thinking I might pick Josiah over you? After everything! You can't be this fucking thick!”
He looked at me with very real hurt in his eyes. “Maybe you should. He protected you when I couldn’t.”
I threw up my arms in exacerbation, “Un-fucking-believable! You must think pretty low of me if you actually think that. Actually believe that!”
I stood up, agitated, as the adrenaline surged through my body. I couldn’t believe him! I stormed passed him in pure irritation. Between Josiah being a fucking Debbie downer and now my mate thinking I was going to leave him, I was mentally spent and physically exhausted.
“Camille! Wait!”
I spun around to see him right behind me, ready to scold him further. He had tears in his eyes. My heart melted and like the absolute softy I was, I put my arms around him in comfort.
“I wanted to kill him, Camille,” he choked out.
“I’m fine,” I said softly.
I held him for what seemed like forever. Then I heard someone clear their throat from behind me and I tilted my head to the side to acknowledge them. Josiah stood there, face solemn, but he quickly tried to mask the hurt there.
“Uh… sorry for the interruption, but we are close to Croneatos,” Josiah explained.
I looked at him confused.
Had they put me under?
How long had I actually been out?
“Wait, how?” I finally spit out. “How long have I been out for?”
And just like that, the fight dissipated and all of our qualms were forgotten. Like it never even happened.
Jerrod looked at me wide eyed and smiled, “We didn’t put you out this time for the accelerated travel. You were already out, but you could have awoken at any time. We are still traveling so you must have finally acclimated to it!”
I squealed in a joyous screech. I hated that I missed the time while in accelerated travel.
I hated that I didn’t know anything until I came out of the travel state.
I hated that I couldn’t plan with everyone else.
But most of all, I hated waking up after that fucking serum.
I finally could join in on everything and no more groggy waking!
“So, uh, I’ll go back to talk with Jade. I’m sure you’d like some privacy,” Jerrod said, as he pulled away. “Come join me when you’re finished.”
He glared at his brother as he quickly walked away.
It was probably so hard for him to do this—give me this moment alone with Josiah—but I appreciated it more than he could ever understand.
I’d have to thank him later. I smiled to myself, thinking of his hands exploring my body and quickly snapped myself out of that thought.
Jesus, I was such an asshole.
Josiah had loved me, probably still loved me more than likely, and here I was thinking about his fucking brother ravaging me. All while standing here with him after he saved my life. He gave me a curious look for a moment and just as quickly, it was gone.
“Camille,” he started softly. “Listen, I’m sorry. For everything. Could we maybe… I dunno… start over?”
I smiled at him, “I’d really like that.”
I looked down at his arm and gasped. His hand was wrapped up tightly and I finally realized what had happened back in that cavern.
"Don't worry… it's nothing," Josiah said with a soft smile, moving his arm behind him and out of my view. "We heal quick."
"You broke your hand… to get us out?" I asked in horror.
"It was nothing. Seriously," he said awkwardly.
We stood there uncomfortably and I wasn’t really sure what else to do. I mean, what do you do in a situation like this? Do we hug? Fist bump with the non-broken hand?
What a fucking mess.
I looked away from him feeling perturbed. Things used to be so intense between us and now, they were just a messy catastrophe of emotions that I wasn’t sure how to handle anymore. Every moment with him felt unnatural and it left behind so many unexplored emotions—so many 'what if' type questions.
I thought we might be stuck in this awful limbo forever, until I heard hurried footsteps from behind me. Veshkru jogged up to us with an intrigued look on his face.
“Sorry to disturb… well… whatever this is,” he said, acknowledging the very obvious tension between us, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of us.
“But we are getting ready to land, so… you should both probably make your way over here. Looking at the two of you, I’d say, I just did both of you a favor. ”
He gestured for us to come along without saying anything more and moved quickly to the main part of the ship. Everyone was waiting for us, but the intensity of the room was all wrong. They were all gathered in one area and their attention was preoccupied on the surface.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Something’s not right here,” Jade said, as her eyes locked on mine.
“What do you mean exactly?” Josiah questioned.
“There is no movement down there. None,” Kresh responded, the look of anguish on his face was apparent.
Jerrod motioned to the pilot, “Can you pull up heat signatures?”
“Sir, we’ve already done that. There is nothing,” the pilot responded.
“What does that mean?” I asked in horror.
“There are only two options here,” Veshkru said bluntly. “Either, there was an emergency and they had to evacuate to the tunnels below. This would explain the heat signatures being hidden—or everyone is dead.”
I gasped in panic. How could everyone be dead? That was a pretty large stretch to assume they were all dead, wasn’t it? I looked at everyone’s faces, trying to determine what everyone else thought. My eyes locked with Jerrod’s, his gaze stony and impossible to interpret.
“I mean, guys, come on. Vina can’t be dead. Have you seen that woman fight? She just… can’t be,” I continued to softly mutter.
I wasn’t even sure if I was trying to talk them into what I was saying or if I was trying to assure myself at this point. I just couldn't understand how anyone could possibly think that everyone down there had been killed. That just didn't make sense to me.
I felt a pressure on my shoulder. “We shall find out soon what is going on down there,” The King said and softly gripped my arm in support. “Though I will agree, Vina is not a woman I would want to be in a fight with.”
I smiled at the thought. She would rip The King apart in a matter of seconds in a one-on-one fight scenario. A small spark of hope ignited within me. She was fine! She had to be. They all had to be.
Without another word, I quickly ran to the deck to wait by the hatch door.
I wanted to be the first one out. I wanted to validate my feelings of hope.
I grabbed my sword, the very one Vina had gifted to me at the end of our training, right before we left the last time I had been on Croneatos.
It seemed like it had been a lifetime ago, but in reality, we had just been here meer weeks ago.
“Camille, wait,” Jade yelled from behind me. “Let me at least accompany you! Jerrod’s coming as well. He said he needed to grab a few things. Do not go out there without us!”
I rolled my eyes at her, “Oh, come on, Jade! I’ll be fine! I’m sure everyone’s fine. Maybe… maybe it was just a false alarm and everyone's over reacting.”
“Don’t be rash, we have no idea if there is actual danger out there,” she scolded. “Regardless, three is always better than one.”
“I mean, I guess,” I scoffed.
Jerrod came sauntering in finally, strapped with an arsenal of weapons.
I suddenly realized that he thought we were in real danger and he wasn’t fucking around in the slightest. His hair was tied up high and he was not worrying about any of the customary dress, or lack thereof, that I had learned about during our last visit either.
Thinking back to our last stay on Croneatos, my face reddened in both embarrassment, but also lust. Considering the possible scenario we could be walking in to, my reaction wasn't exactly ideal.
He eyed me noticing the sudden color on my cheeks and gave me a quick smirk.
The nudity on the planet had been a lot to get used to.
It had been the first time I had seen Jerrod completely naked, before I had even realized we were destined to be mates.
“Don’t you think you’re being a little over the top,” I asked him, trying to get my mind off of the memory. “Vina will probably be offended if you walk out there like that.”
“As much as I’d love for both of us to walk out there to honor customs, I think that would be a mistake,” Jerrod said, eyeing me hungrily. “Once everything is clear, I’ll undress you myself, if that’s what you want.”
“Duly noted,” I said, raising my brow at him.
“Ummm… guys… I hate to interfere in your sexual foreplay but… uh… gods… this is really highly uncomfortable,” Jade said awkwardly, stumbling over her words. “What I’m trying to say is that this isn’t exactly the time for that.”
She was right of course. I quickly apologized and told myself to stay on task. I heard the sound of the hatch opening up and I gripped the hilt of my sword just in case. I sucked in a sharp breath, praying that all was well, that everyone was just fine on the other side of that door.
There was nothing that could have prepared us for what we saw. Nothing at all.