Chapter 12 Elodie
ELODIE
The late evening air whips around us as we head toward The Vale, fluttering my purple locks around my face.
I wish I had pulled it into a ponytail so it didn’t keep getting on my nerves, but it’s too late now.
It doesn’t help that neither of my hands are free.
Carrying the bag Ocean asked me to bring takes up one, while the other is laced with Rion’s.
The heat from his palm against mine is grounding, and I don’t dare let go.
Not after that.
Whatever it was.
I’ve never felt so intimate and raw all at once, and now I’m struggling to pull away from him, even if it’s just for a second so I can think, or brush my loose curls off my face.
He’s quiet, as am I, and I’m more than happy to bask in the silence that threads between us, almost like it’s tightening our bond. Which sounds ridiculous because silence usually means there’s a threat coming, but here, in this moment, I’ve never felt safer.
His fingers clench around mine, as if he can sense my thoughts, and I match the action, silently conveying that I’m here too.
Making it to the edge of The Vale, we head to the left, the gleaming grounds of Institute One shimmering in the distance. Every step I take becomes heavier, weighing me down with impending doom as we slow to a stop.
The sky is mottled with the whispers of dusk, orange, pinks, and reds coloring the sky as The Vale slowly begins to settle, but there are enough people about for me to question my decisions.
“Maybe it’s too early,” I murmur, peering up at Rion, who shakes his head in response.
“Petal, there’s never going to be a right time.
We may as well make the most of the adrenaline coursing through our veins and get on with it.
At least this way, if we’re wrong, we can get straight back to the drawing board for the right answer.
” He runs his thumb across my cheek, and I lean into the touch, taking a deep breath before I slowly exhale.
He’s right.
Looking down at myself, I’m reminded I’m not in my glaringly obvious Institute Thirteen uniform, but my purple hair is still a dead giveaway. No matter how much I try to blend in with my normal clothes, these damn locks are undeniable.
“What’s the best way to get to the basement?” I ask, and he squeezes my hand, infusing me with strength I didn’t know I needed.
It flusters me at the same time as it comforts my soul. I’ve never been dependent on others, and I don’t understand why it’s taking hold of me now.
Another sharp inhale, and I feel my resolution course through me. Instead of letting my mind wonder over things that don’t matter right now, I focus on the goal at hand.
Getting to the basement of Institute One.
I lift my foot, ready to storm down the open pathway to my target destination, when my cell phone vibrates in my pocket. Rion’s must go off too because as I pull my device out, he does the same, revealing a text message from Thorne.
Thorne: Take the rear. Stick to the tree line. There are too many bodies up front, but it’s quiet around the back.
Slipping my cell phone back away, I cast my gaze across the grounds of Institute One, looking for the shadow fae in question, but if he can see us, we definitely can’t see him.
“Come on, Petal. I know the way,” Rion murmurs, tugging me against his side as he draws me back toward Thirteen.
He must sense my confusion when we backtrack down the familiar path that leads us to our rooms, but he doesn’t acknowledge it until we’re around the rear of the building and breaching the tree line.
“If we go deep enough, it will bring us out along the back of them,” he explains, and I frown.
“So there’s no barrier separating the two buildings back here?
” I clarify, and he nods. “Wait, does that apply to all of the institutes?” I add, and he hums in agreement, leaving me to gape at him in disbelief.
“Are you telling me that every time I tried to run, using Institute Twelve as my getaway, I could have done this instead of climbing the awful wrought-iron gate?”
He grins with amusement. “Pretty much.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I snap back, gaping in disbelief, and he gives me a pointed look.
“Do you really want to have this conversation right now? I’m more than happy to answer. Unless it’s going to piss you off, in which case we’ll save it for another time.”
My lips purse. Frustration doesn’t even cover what I’m feeling, yet he manages to shatter the tension that threatens to coil me tight.
“I’m good.”
He cocks a brow at me, but he must sense the ease because he shrugs, turning to focus on the foliage before us as he speaks.
“Fact one, I didn’t know you were going to do that the first time, especially not when you injured your leg like a mad woman,” he states, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
My thigh burns as if the metal is piercing my skin all over again, but I manage to keep in step with him.
“I wasn’t thinking,” I grumble when he doesn’t speak, and he snickers.
“No shit. That’s why I made sure to leave the gate unlocked for the next time.”
“You knew there would be a next time?” I blurt in surprise, and he shrugs, glancing at me coyly.
“You are hands down the most determined person I’ve ever met, that part was obvious at least, but recommending you come this way alone wouldn’t have been safe,” he explains, using his free hand to wipe down his face.
“Why?”
His lips form a tight line. “Wolves stalk the trees all the time. I can’t say that everyone here has that part of them under control. There have been a fair few deaths in these trees at the paws of a feral beast,” he explains as my eyes widen. I’m not shocked, but bewildered to say the least.
“I could have handled myself,” I splutter, determined not to look weak to him, and he winks.
“Of course. It was them I was worried about.”
I can’t tell whether he’s lying or not, but I don’t get to call him out on it as movement up ahead pauses us mid-step.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, but before I can acknowledge the rustling growing closer in the shrubbery to my left, Rion is already moving.
I feel the cool breeze where his palm had rested against mine a moment ago, and now, I spy the man as he shifts in the air. Gone is the tall beast of a man, and in his place is a four-legged, fierce wolf.
The ground trembles as his paws hit the earth beneath him, but he’s too focused on the other wolf prowling toward us.
Rooted to the spot, my eyes widen in disbelief as my heart hammers in my chest. Their snarls mingle together and fill the air, flooding me with dread.
Instinctively, my hands lift an inch, palms raised away from me as I try to remember what that lady taught me back in Jude's Castle.
Not just any lady: my mother.
Inhaling sharply, I press my feet into the ground and feel my magic thrum through my veins. I’m poised, ready to attack if necessary, but the alert inside of me quickly dwindles as the brown-furred wolf snaps at Rion, but he's not waiting around to see what their first action will be.
He moves at the speed of light, charging toward them in a flurry.
I can't turn away.
Not as his claws slice into their flesh, or when his teeth pierce their throat, sending a splattering of blood through the air as they lie limp on the overturned soil.
They didn’t get a chance to move, their presence and demeanor was enough of a threat to send him into action.
I can't catch my breath. My gaze is fixed on Rion as he hovers over the wolf.
Dead.
Rion’s front paws press into the ground and I can see his whole body constrict with every breath as he tries to get himself under control.
Another confusing instinct has me taking a step toward him, ready to aid him however he needs, but in doing so, I step on a branch. The sound of it snapping cuts through the air, and earns me the attention of the man in question.
With his gaze set on mine, he exhales, slowly pulling himself from whatever trance he was in.
I don’t dare move as he takes a few backward steps, but he doesn’t come barreling toward me as I expect.
Instead, I watch in awe as he shifts once more, standing before me just as he was a few moments earlier.
“Rion,” I rasp, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I take in his naked form.
Confusion flickers through my mind when I finally acknowledge just how naked he is, and I quickly search the ground for his clothes. It doesn’t take long to find them shredded a few feet away, in the spot where he originally shifted.
His clothes may not remain now, but the blood that coated his wolf's fur clings to his face in splatters.
It should not make him hotter, but it does.
Clearing my throat, I try to get his attention again. “Are you okay?” I ask, and he sucks in a breath.
“Good. You?”
I nod before tilting my head and taking him in. I wonder if this is what it was like for him the moment he came down into the basement after I bludgeoned the man I thought was my father.
He held me as I sobbed.
He guided me back to the light.
And now, as I stand here blinking at him, I can't help but want to offer him the same thing.
Yet he doesn't look sad, and he doesn't seem to need guidance, so I’m not quite sure how to help.
As if sensing my inner turmoil, he cuts the distance between us, cupping my face in his hands as he stops right in front of me.
“I’m okay, as long as you don't hate me for that,” he states, and my eyebrows pinch in confusion.
“Hate you for what?” He looks at me bewildered, eyebrows rising to his hairline as he points over his shoulder at the dead wolf. “Oh.” I rub my lips together nervously, eager not to sound heartless, but the words part my lips regardless. “I don't hate you for that.”
If anything, my insides curl with emotions over the fact that his instinct was to take a primal protective stance over me. Would he have done that if I hadn’t been here?
I don't dare ask. I'm too caught up in the idea that it was for me.
I’ve spent most of my life on the receiving end of brutal force. Having someone defend me against harm is enough to sweep me off my feet.
“Two seconds, okay?” he breathes, pressing his lips against my forehead, and I nod before quickly feeling the cool breeze of emptiness as he disappears again.
My gaze latches onto the dead wolf as my senses heighten, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees consuming me. My attention snaps around the area, expecting another surprise to jump out from behind the foliage, and as if summoning it myself, a creak comes from behind me.
Whipping my gaze around, I find the source is a fully dressed Rion. I gape at him, and he stares at me in amusement.
“What?” he asks, and I blink at him a few times before I manage to clear my throat.
“I guess I forget that you have other powers and strengths, like speed, since you're always walking so casually at my side,” I state, and he hums in agreement.
He’s back to cupping my face a second later. “It seems when I'm with you, I like to slow it down.” My breath lodges in my throat as my heartbeat whooshes in my ears. “Now, ready for the basement?” he asks casually, and I clear my throat, eyeing the lifeless wolf.
“What about—”
“Someone's already coming to take care of that, Petal,” he explains, running a hand down my arm in comfort. “Now, the basement?” he reiterates, and I nod as the adrenaline rushing through me starts to calm.