Chapter 22 #3
He stops inspecting the wounds to look back at me, something like wonder and utter shock in his eyes. His pupils are blown wide and as dark as a forest after the storm. “Here I am indeed.”
For a moment everything fades away, until…
More branches break and the sound of crunching snow echoes loudly. I jump up, taking up a defensive stance, fearing the animal who did this has finally found us. The only thing that eases my aching heart is the fact that my last act in my life was helping another in need.
But when I hear footsteps coming our way, a lot of them, I relax and know my time isn’t there just yet.
A team arrives with a stretcher and I make way, my knees and thighs suddenly screaming in protest. The moment I shift, a wave of dizziness crashes over me and my knees buckle, adrenaline leaving my body.
I barely register Aramis catching me before I hit the snow.
“Easy there, gorgeous,” he murmurs, guiding me to a rock on our left. “Take a deep breath.”
I put my head between my knees, taking deep and slow breaths in the hopes it will chase away the nausea.
Wait.
Did he just call me gorgeous?
In my bend position, I can only see his shoes and part of his legs. He is crouching down pretty close to me.
“Will he be alright?” I ask, distraction might help to calm my hazy mind.
“I’m not sure.” he pauses. “I hope so.”
“Me too.”
When my head feels a little steadier, I sit upright and force myself to stand. Aramis supports my elbow, but releases me as soon as he realises my legs won’t give out. The team has already carried Arlo out of here, but the blood hasn’t disappeared. I can’t suppress a shiver.
Aramis guides me away from the gruesome scene. When I blink, we’re on the path that leads to the Academy, my mind somehow blocked out the walk back to it. Within minutes, the grand doors come into view. We’re all alone and since I am completely covered in blood, it isn’t a bad thing.
I tug Aramis’ coat closer around me, inhaling his comforting scent and when I look at him, there is one question that I can’t seem to shake off. “How did you find me?”
He leads me towards the restaurant and turns towards me. “What?”
I have no appetite in the slightest, but since I nearly passed out not that long ago, eating something isn’t the baddest idea.
“How did you find me? You didn’t know where I was or that I was going to the greenhouse.
I was completely off the path and you couldn’t have possibly seen me through the trees. So, how did you find me?”
Aramis pulls a chair back and gestures for me to sit on it. “I’ll be right back.”
He orders all sorts of pastries and a cup of hot chocolate and places it in front of me. For a moment, I think he’ll ignore my question and I’m about to drop it, when he starts speaking.
“It’s true, I didn’t know you were going to be there, but we did know Arlo was in the woods, gathering herbs and plants that only grow in the wild.
They only grow in certain places, but Arlo’s used to look for them, so it never takes that long for him to return.
” He sighs, taking a sip from the sweet drink in front of him.
“When he didn’t return after an hour, we grew worried.
It’s not like him to wander around, especially not if it’s something we urgently need.
That’s when I went out and started searching.
Finding you…well, that was an unexpected lucky coincidence. ”
His words make sense, yet something inside me tells me there is something he is hiding from me. Blaming it on my paranoia, I resist the urge to ask more, I’m too tired either way. I pull the pastry to me and take a small bite, tasting cinnamon and sugar on my tongue.
“Why were you alone in the woods?”
I halt mid bite, his words sound tense, angry even.
The expression that goes with it, the worry I see in his eyes, is…
unexpected. “I told you, I was on my way to the greenhouse and heard a bellow of pain. What was I supposed to do? Ignore someone obviously in pain? Let him die?” I place a hand on my chest. “Hate to break it to you, Aramis, but that’s not who I am.
I will always help someone in need. Always. ”
His frown softens, the tension in his shoulders easing. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m just relieved you’re okay.”
I close my eyes, massaging my right temple to ease the throbbing pain that is building there. A sharp clink of glass on wood makes me crack an eye open.
“This should help with the pain,” Siri says before she sits down next to me. I didn’t even hear her nearing us. There is a small vial standing in front of me. “You look awful.”
“Thank you, and what pain?” I ask warily.
“The one that is cracking your head open. Drink up, I heard you had quite the eventful morning. Are you alright?”
I don’t bother asking how she knows any of that. Maybe Aramis briefed her earlier.
“I think so.” I mutter, reaching for the vial.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
And to my biggest surprise, I do.
Aramis grabs another mug for Siri and I start talking.