Chapter Seventeen
MERRICK - NOW
DAY FORTY-THREE
Era and I had made love every single day of her five-day cycle, sometimes more than once.
Considering I didn’t know if it would be another week, month, or year that we’d be trapped, I took advantage of the final days I could fill her with my cum.
And she’d happily allowed me to. Begged me to, in fact.
I swore to myself that I would learn the contraceptive elixir recipe when I got back to civilization…if that ever happened. Not just for the worry-free sex, but most importantly, to alleviate her discomfort. I hated seeing her in pain.
Her headaches had been few and far between, which pleased me.
No more memory-loss scares, either. She was currently dozing on my chest—her favorite place to rest these days.
The warm sun above filtered through puffy clouds, and in my solace, I realized that I hadn’t craved a smoke in forty-three days.
Artificial bliss couldn’t compare to this. Nothing could.
I smiled softly to myself, then lowered my gaze to her sleeping face, brushing my fingers along her arm. She’d been extra tired today, for whatever reason. I remained lying there patiently until she eventually began to stir.
“Hmm.” She blinked up at me, her grin growing, brown eyes twinkling with that striking shade of ochre and marigold. “Hi.”
I returned the expression. “Hi, beautiful.”
With a bright smile, she sat up, stretching her arms. “Want to go for a swim?” she asked sleepily. “Sorry for falling asleep.”
“Don’t be.” I pushed myself up, then assisted her to her feet. “And you know I’m always up for that.”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, but then her joy faltered as she glanced behind me. “What is that?”
I squinted as I turned, eyes dropping to something lying on the ground in the distance. We exchanged a glance, then ambled toward it.
A few steps closer, and we gawked at the lone pomegranate that rested before the locked steel door, split open, its red juices leaking out.
As I studied the oozing fruit, I noticed that something was wrong with it—the one side was rotting, diseased perhaps.
The skin and hundreds of seeds on the right half were black, as if touched by death’s curse.
I grimaced as I beheld it, and then as I looked at the left side, I gasped softly. “Era, look.”
I squatted down, grasping the bow of the decagram key—the bit and blade shoved deep inside the womb of the ruby-like fruit.
No memory. No story from our past. The key was just…here.
“Why did it just show up?” Era glared as she studied the dripping-red key. “Every other key came after talking about something. And this pomegranate…”
“Does it trigger any memories for you?”
She shook her head, crossing her arms as she darted her gaze back to the fruit. “No. Not at all.”
“This could be it,” I said softly as I stood. “We could be free.”
Her falling face perfectly embodied my own feelings. “It’s been worrisome. Uncertain,” she said quietly, tucking her blonde hair back. “But I’ve loved being here with you, Merrick.”
I tugged her into a hug and buried my nose into her hair, giving her head a kiss. “Whether we are free or must find more keys, I still love you. Okay?”
“I love you too,” she whispered, her arms holding me close for several moments.
When she finally drew back, I cradled her face with my free hand, softly pressing my lips to hers. “Let’s get our weapons,” I murmured. “And get this damn door open.”
We hurried to the cabin, dressing in the attire we’d arrived in, lacing up our shoes swiftly. I slung my crossbow on just as Era donned the bow I’d given her, and with one final glance inside our tiny home, at the forty-three crimson etches on the DAYS GONE parchment, we headed for the steel door.
I inserted the decagram key into the lock and turned until I heard a click. Taking a bracing breath, exchanging an encouraging smile with Era, I hauled the heavy door open.
Revealing nothing but a vast expanse of vibrant, green grass behind it.
We interlocked our hands, hurrying into the field of green. Nothing. There was nothing out here at all.
I raised a hand, protecting my eyes from the brightness. “What the—” I glanced behind me, and my words caught when I realized that the rock formation was entirely gone, the ocean waves lapping behind us in the distance.
Era cried softly as she stared at the sea. “Did…did we make it?” She gazed up at me, looking far less relieved than she should’ve been. “Are we free?”
I squeezed her hand softly, tuning into her emotions. No…she was most certainly not comforted. I wasn’t certain I was, either.
“MERRICK!” a light voice called, and instantly I whirled at the familiar voice.
My younger sister dashed toward me, our friends right behind her.
“Elowen,” I breathed, tears pricking my eyes. I rushed to her, wrapping her miniature frame in my embrace.
“Merrick,” she wept, her fingers digging into my back. “Thank Ravaiana, you’re alright!”
“Thank the Gods you’re alright.” I flicked my eyes to Torrin, who ran a stressed hand through his short, white hair. “All of you.”
“Well, that’s two out of four,” Roland commented as he caught his breath, shielding his hazel eyes from the sun as he scanned the environment.
Era stepped up beside me as El and I broke our hug. “Where is Silas? And Lena?” she asked, scanning the group.
Oh shit.
Sure enough, those two were missing.
Were they gone for as long as we were?
Together?
None of our friends had time to reply to Era’s question before Dani exclaimed, “Look!”
We all looked off to the side just as Elowen cried out, “Lena!”
Our Supreme and the Otacian Prince stood together in the near distance, their eyes wide as they beheld us all. El sprinted to them, and Lena’s gaze grew wider as my sister tugged her into a hug. Lena’s body stiffened before she ultimately wrapped her arms around my sister.
And then I felt like dying, like my heart had been ripped from my body as Era hurried over to Silas, stopping in front of him before giving him a gentle hug. There was no denying the guilt-ridden look the Prince gave Lena, or that fact that she quickly averted her gaze in return.
“You’re all okay,” Lena uttered quietly. When her eyes met mine, I knew I was doing a shit job hiding my pain, as my friend gave me a quizzical look. I quickly avoided her stare.
Edmund ran a hand through his wavy blond hair. “We all got separated when we plunged into the water,” he explained to her. “Well, some of us. Merrick and Era disappeared, also.”
“Something happened to my magic. It forced me back into my standard form, which is why you all plunged into the sea,” Dani chimed in. “Thankfully, we've only been separated for an hour.”
An HOUR?!
Lena's face mirrored the disbelief twisting inside me. “An hour? That’s impossible.”
Hendry exchanged a look with Roland, then asked, “Well, how long would you say you were gone?”
“At least a day and a half, maybe two.” Lena shot a look at Silas, who nodded in agreement.
Only a couple of days?
“Yeah, it was certainly far longer than an hour. We almost got killed by this blizzard, and that’s when we found—” Silas turned, the words getting trapped in his throat. “Where… where the fuck did the cabin go?!” he exclaimed.
Blizzard. Cabin. Holy shit.
Era’s eyes darted to mine immediately. Had Lena and Silas gone through what we did? How did they get out so quickly?
Era and I remained quiet. “Uh…what cabin?” Roland questioned, crossing his arms as he narrowed his gaze behind them.
Lena offered a scowl in return. “The cabin we just emerged from. What do you mean?”
“Lena…” Torrin frowned, his voice soft and wary. “We just saw you and Silas standing out here. Never once did we see a cabin, and we’ve been walking in nothing but these fields this entire time.”
Lena’s wide green gaze went back to mine. “How long were you two gone for?”
My jaw tensed, and I shifted my stare over to Era, reading her, wondering what to say. But she quickly broke our eye contact, crossing her arms as she said, “Only an hour or so.”
An awful pain crawled up my throat at her lie, or perhaps it was her return to Silas’s embrace as our friends spoke that caused the discomfort.
I didn’t hear a word any of them said; their voices were nothing but background noise.
Instead, I panicked, worried I’d fabricated the past forty-three days.
How can she so easily find herself back in his arms?
Doesn’t she want me?
Was any of it real?
A faint ringing tore me from my reeling thoughts. Our hands flew to our ears at the high-pitched sound, and in the distance, a line of people clad in cerulean and cream robes appeared.
Mages.
“Lena Daelyra,” one of the women in the center called. “We’ve been expecting you.”
My jaw dropped as the background behind them distorted, revealing a magnificent city made of sandstone buildings in the distance, tall palm trees swaying in the wind.
The robed Mage grinned as she greeted, “Welcome to Nereida.”
Era had avoided me ever since reuniting with our friends, and it was driving me mad. I couldn’t fully marvel at the gorgeous scenery, or at the fact that not only Sea Nymphs existed, but apparently Angels did, too, in another realm. If said realm truly existed.
No, I could only focus on Era’s absence.
Just yesterday morning, she was cradled in my embrace, and last night she slept beside another man. I knew things would be complicated if we ever found our friends again, but this? This was hell.
I should’ve been happy that I had made it through, but I couldn’t help feeling haunted.
Era had been cold toward me before we passed the ocean, her guilt and shame over our kisses in Faltrun compelling her to stay away.
Now, it was as if nothing had changed. It was as if those passionate, intimate moments between us had never happened.
I needed answers.