Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
ABBY
T y stands in front of me on four legs and covered in fur. My heart races although I know I’m safe here. Quinn may not be with me, but the rest of the wolves are. They stand in a wide circle around us, ready to move in at a moment’s notice.
I focus on Ty’s eyes as a reminder that he’s in control. They’re brown, just as they should be, rather than the crimson red they become when one of the wolves loses themself to the curse that made them this way. His eyes are dark compared to the sandy colour of his fur that nearly matches the patchy bits of beach beneath him.
We’re far enough away from Marein that there’ll be minimal risk if he loses control. I also wanted to be closer to the forest. Training him on the beach won’t prepare him for the journey back to Lunae. We haven’t talked about it yet, but I know Quinn is going to go with him. It’s too risky to send a group and he can’t go alone. Quinn has already claimed this boy as one of his own, which affords him the same protections of those who have been his for years. He’ll venture into the forest with him, whether I like it or not.
Which is exactly why he’s not here with me now.
When I left him with Tess, she’d told me that his wound looked worse than it was. One benefit of the curse is that he heals faster than a normal human, but that requires rest. I know he’d rather be out here preparing Ty himself, but we only have a couple of days and in his case, those days are better spent taking it easy. I know him well enough to expect to see him out here tomorrow, but at least for the rest of today, he’ll be inside somewhere.
Ty trembles slightly, and then fur turns to flesh.
“Good,” I say. “It only took you five minutes that time, but we need you to be faster. Do it again.”
The grimace on his face deepens. “Can’t I just rest a minute?”
His breathing is shaky with exhaustion and pain and his skin is coated with sweat that isn’t dissimilar to when the fever ripped through him. The sun is low in the sky and evening clouds have moved in to grant us a considerable amount of shade, but the change isn’t easy. Having your bones break and reform over and over along with a massive fur coat is understandably going to overheat a person.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him with a sad shake of my head. “If we had more time, it wouldn’t be this way. You need to be able to do this in seconds because we can’t risk anyone seeing you shift.”
He looks like he wants to argue, but instead lets his eyes fall closed. His breathing evens out as he pulls in deep gulps of air to prepare for yet another shift. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made him do this now, but each time he gets a little faster.
This time, it only takes him two minutes to shift into the wolf again. ‘Does this ever stop hurting?’ he asks with a groan.
A wolf yips and it’s only then that I realize he spoke to me through the connection I share with all of them.
‘I heard you!’
Ty jumps back a step at the sudden appearance of my voice in his mind. This is one thing we haven’t been able to do yet, so I guess this is proof that I’m doing something right. Although I still wish Quinn could be here for this, I’m needed only for this reason. To forge a connection strong enough that I’ll be able to communicate with Ty over the miles that separate Marein and Lunae. As for teaching him how to be a wolf? I have no business being a part of that. Even with the twenty-seven of Quinn’s people who have embraced the curse, Quinn is still the most skilled in that form. Even though he fears it.
‘Is this what it’s like?’ he asks, and I feel the tangle of panicked excitement in his words. If he can hear me, he can probably hear the other wolves now, too. Maybe they can take over this lesson, or at least offer more than my unrelenting requests for him to make the shift again.
‘You haven’t seen anything yet!’ a cheerful voice sounds in my head. The wolves react to it just as I do and turn to look behind me as I spin around to see Fern racing towards us, tongue hanging out one side of her mouth and swaying with each of her bounds.
Why can’t she ever just stay where she’s supposed to? I move to block her path and she skids to a stop, nearly crashing into me. ‘You shouldn’t be out here. It’s dangerous.’
She snorts, and I’m pretty sure it was a wolf’s way of scoffing. ‘I can run faster than you. You’re in more danger than I am.’
We still have a few years before she’s a teenager, so I can’t imagine the attitude we’re going to have to deal with then if she’s already acting like one. Maybe it’s a wolf thing and they mature faster. There’s no time for me to respond before Ty takes a cautious step forward.
‘She’s right. If I lose control, I don’t want to be responsible for hurting a kid.’
‘I’m not a kid!’
I groan. ‘Now you’ve done it.’
Fern—despite being much smaller than every other wolf here—bends low and growls viciously. She darts around me and lunges for Ty, just managing to get ahold of his left front leg with her sharp teeth. Ty yelps, but he doesn’t move. That’s got to earn him some points, at least.
‘Enough! Let him go.’ She releases him and tilts her head back to me with a wolfish look of annoyance. ‘You can stay, but only if you watch. If you interfere in any way, I’ll have someone carry you back to Tess by the scruff of your neck.’
Her eyes narrow on me. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’
I cross my arms and try to look as serious as I can. It’s not fair that she’s absolutely adorable when she’s angry. ‘Do you want to risk it? Or can I trust you to behave?’
She rolls her eyes and trots over to Ellis and Seamus before plopping herself down between them with a stubborn huff.
‘You won’t lose control,’ I tell Ty because I know he needs to hear it. He’s terrified of what he’s become and of everything that’s coming. ‘Now do it again.’
He shifts back and forth a few more times, and then I have him chasing a few of the wolves. He’s still unsteady in this form and his movements aren’t as fluid as they should be. Even in the rare instances he gets close to catching one of the volunteering wolves, they’re able to dart out of his reach at the last second. When the roles are reversed, he’s tackled within seconds.
The sound of heavy wings steals my attention and I look up just in time to see Jade shift back into his human form while still in the air, only to land on a large boulder protruding from the earth a few feet behind me.
“You always were a show off,” I mutter because I know he’ll hear me.
He laughs and then jumps down with a solid thud. “If you’re jealous, you could just say that.”
He moves to my side and for the first time, I get a clear view of the gashes on his chest that are nearly identical to the ones on Quinn’s. Quinn warned me through the bond, but seeing them in person hits differently.
“It’s rude to stare,” he says, without even glancing in my direction. Either he’s too interested in the poor show Ty is putting on or he just doesn’t want to look at me. Either option is equally possible.
“Quinn told me what you did. Thank you.”
He lets out a heavy breath, but still doesn’t look my way. “Don’t thank me.”
So it’s like that. “Fine. Then go away.”
He snorts a laugh. “And leave you with this mess? I’m surprised he can even stand on those wobbly legs. Is this what you call training?”
I hold back the words I’d like to spit back at him just as Quinn’s voice flits through my mind. ‘ Problem?’
‘He’s been here two minutes, and he’s already bothering me. And so are you. Go to sleep.’
His beautiful laugh fills my head. ‘I was asleep until someone started shooting waves of annoyance through the bond.’
I roll my eyes. ‘We both know that’s a lie.’
He laughs again, but then turns serious. ‘Ty needs all the help he can get and if I could, I’d be working him through the night. If Jade thinks he can help, let him.’
I groan and don’t care that Jade can hear it. ‘Fucking fine, but only if you go to sleep.’
‘Deal. Be safe.’
‘Usually am.’
I wish I could wipe the smirk off Jade’s face. “Lover’s quarrel?”
“Do you want to help or not?”
He raises his hands in front of him in submission and then cracks his knuckles. “Say no more. But you might want to stand back.”
“What are you—” I can’t even finish the question before he drops to the ground and presses his hands flat against the soil. A resounding crack reverberates from below. I feel it in my feet and up my legs as the ground in front of us splits. What starts as a single rupture spiderwebs into multiple veins of fractured earth. Birds scatter to the skies and trees at the edge of the forest in front of us topple. My heart beats a frantic pace as the wolves jump back to avoid nearly falling into one of the gaps.
Jade stands and the shaking stops. “Let’s call it dexterity training,” he says over his shoulder before marching up to a divide and leaping over. “Chasing him clearly isn’t enough of a threat,” Jade says, speaking to the wolves now before focusing entirely on Ty. “If you fall, you die, so you’d better learn fast.”
Without warning, Jade waves a hand and I swear the red rings around his green eyes glow brighter. The solid ground around Ty breaks away from the rest. He tries to run left, but there’s nothing there but a wide gap. It’s the same on all sides, with only a narrow pathway of platforms he could use to make it across to solid ground.
That is, if Jade doesn’t decimate that piece of land, too.
I can’t even yell at him before Quinn’s panic shoots through the bond. ‘What happened to staying safe?’
‘You’re the one who said to let Jade help. Apparently, this is helping.’
He hesitates, as if considering his words . ‘Do you need me?’
‘Always, but I don’t need you here. Get some rest. I’ll try not to fall into any of Jade’s holes.’
‘His what?’
I shut Quinn out without an answer. Not entirely, but just enough for him to get the point that we’re not talking about this right now. I leave my walls down enough so that he can feel that I’m safe, but I’m not about to sacrifice his wellbeing to come out here and babysit Jade. Apparently, that’s my new job.
“What are you waiting for?” Jade calls over the divide to Ty. He’s trembling on the small patch of earth, and it’s not hard to see why. It looks about as stable as a thin layer of ice coating a desolate lake. “I don’t know how long that’ll hold and, if I were you, I wouldn’t want to find out.”
Ty whimpers, and the sound mingles with the hurried words that flood my mind. ‘He’s insane! I can’t jump that!’
“He says he can’t jump it.”
“He’s a wolf, isn’t he?” Jade summons his wings and takes to the air above the shattered earth. He flies low, forcing massive bursts of air towards Ty with each flap of his massive wings.
“Jade!” I shout, but it’s overpowered by a much deeper voice as Merrick lands beside me.
“What the fuck is he doing?”
“Training, apparently.”
“He’s going to get someone killed.” I can’t tell if that’s frustration coating Merrick’s voice or genuine concern.
“Can you do something?” I should have never agreed to this.
Merrick readies to take to the sky again just as Jade swoops low. One second he was high above Ty, and now he’s free falling towards him in a display that’s far too similar to the night he made the ultimate sacrifice. “Jade, stop!” Merrick shouts, as he fights to gather enough speed to make it over the divide, but Jade is faster.
Ty throws himself off the platform at the same moment Jade pulls up. My heart races as Ty lunges over gap after gap, all the while screaming in my mind. The other wolves pace along the edge because there’s nothing they can do. There’s nothing anyone can do.
Ty makes the last jump and my heart nearly stops. He barely makes it, landing hard on solid ground before tumbling forward and skidding into a nearby tree. I race to his side, but the two dragons make it there first.
‘Are you okay?!’
‘Never better,’ he groans, pulling himself to his feet. ‘Can I please shift back so I can punch this asshole?’
I don’t bother answering because I’m too focused on Merrick, who might, quite literally, beat him to the punch. His fists are clenched so tightly at his sides that they’re shaking as he stares down into the series of snaking pits that are much deeper than I realized.
“Is this what you’ve become, then? I knew it was worse than you were letting on. The Goddess of fire and destruction chose you. Is this how it starts?” Before Jade can answer, Merrick’s eyes flick down to the gashes on his chest. “Which one of them did that?”
“Does it matter?” Jade answers, crossing his arms and partially hiding them.
“I guess not as long as you deserved it.”
Jade scoffs, but doesn’t argue. I can’t understand why. Sure, this was reckless, but the claw marks etched into his skin have nothing to do with this. I take a step forward, and Jade snaps his gaze to me. “I don’t need you to defend me.”
I ignore him because I shouldn’t have to. “Jade saved a siren’s life. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”
Merrick flinches. “I was with Nuri. I heard about the wolf, but didn’t know…” He trails off and the unfinished statement hangs in the air between the three of us.
Without warning, Jade launches himself upwards. For just a moment I think he’s running, but then a wolf yelps.
And then they’re all barking and yelping and racing towards the split earth behind us. I turn on my heel just in time to see Fern charging towards the divide.
Oh, Gods. She’s going to try to cross it, but she’s so much smaller than Ty.
“Fern, stop!” I screech as she throws herself over the edge…and falls.
Jade dives into the pit after her and, for a heartbreaking moment, they both disappear into the blackness. Thundering wingbeats match the pace of my heart as Jade shoots upwards back into the sky with the small wolf in his arms. He sets her down on solid ground quickly and then backs away is if he’s afraid she’ll burst into flames. And then I realize that’s exactly what he’s afraid of. He was the first one to notice what she was doing and the only one quick enough to stop her.
I drop to my knees, and Fern jumps into my arms, nearing knocking me over. “What were you thinking?!” I don’t want to yell at her, but she almost died!
‘I’m sorry. I thought I could make it.’
“Are you hurt?” She shakes her head. It seems not even a single hair on her body is singed. I look up to Jade, tears pricking in the corners of my eyes. “Thank you.”
“I told you not to thank me,” he says before turning his back on me. The scars that mirror my own send the same chill down my spine as they always do. “She shouldn’t even be here.”
I can’t argue with him because he’s right. She shouldn’t have been here, and I was the one to let her stay. Seamus trots over to us and he doesn’t need to speak for me to know why he’s here. ‘I’ll make sure she gets back to Tess.’
She goes with him willingly, but races ahead just on the off chance he’ll do what I threatened and carry her.
“Are you okay?” Merrick asks, his voice gentle.
“She’s not even my kid and I feel like she’ll be the death of me.”
He laughs, but it’s strained. “I know the feeling.” I know he’s talking about Jade—who is staring down at one of the chasms he created.
As if he knows I’m looking at him, he turns his head to me. “I can’t close it.” His hands are out in front of him, palms up and fingers splayed wide. “Merrick is right. All I’m good for now is destruction.”
I close the distance between us and kneel down at the ledge. The darkness below twists my stomach, but I force myself to focus. Laying my palms flat against the earth, I summon the roots from nearby trees forward. They weave together, interlocking as they spiral into each other between the gaps. “Then it’s a good thing you have me.”
There’s a sadness in his eyes, but I can tell he’s relieved that no one else will fall in so long as Terranous’ magic holds. And I have no doubt that it will.
When he doesn’t say anything, I gesture behind us to the gathering of wolves. “You’d better get back to work. Just no more pits this time.”
He nods once and then jogs back to them. When I turn around, I find Merrick has moved to the large rock Jade landed on when he arrived. He’s sitting casually atop it, wings gone and his head in his hands.
“Are you okay?” I ask when I reach him, mimicking his earlier question.
He laughs and then reaches out a hand to help me up. I make myself as comfortable as I can beside him and find it’s a pretty nice view of the wolves from up here. I can’t hear what Jade is saying to them, but none of them are looking like they want to kill him, so that’s a good sign.
“I don’t know how to answer that.” Merrick’s answer is more honest than I expected.
“Is it Nuri? Is something wrong?”
“No, no,” he says quickly. “She’s good. They both are.” There’s a small smile playing at his lips, and it seems to erase some of the hard lines that have formed around his eyes after years of stress.
“I haven’t seen her in a while.”
He points behind us and to the left. “We moved into one of the larger buildings on the far side of Marein. By we, I mean all the dragons. There’s enough room for all of us, and it’s easier to protect her there.” He doesn’t need to add that he means all the dragons except Jade. I don’t know where Jade has been spending his nights, but I’m willing to bet that it isn’t there.
“Does she need protection?”
He sighs and rubs at his eyes like he hasn’t slept for many nights. He and some of the others were patrolling the beach last night, but this kind of tired goes beyond that. “It’s a dragon thing. So long as she carries the heir, we have to protect her. It’s part of the magic in our blood. It’s the same reason any of them would give their lives for me. Even for Jade. It’s just stronger when they’re young.”
“How long do dragons…?” I let the question trail off because I suddenly realize it might be rude to ask.
“Cook?” His answering chuckle calms my nerves. “A little over a year, usually. You know, I can’t say I ever really wanted to be a parent. It was always just another duty to protect the bloodline. But now that I actually have a child on the way, I can hardly think about anything else. We have to win this war.” The joy in his eyes turns serious.
“We will.” I let that statement settle between us as if it will only strengthen the truth in it. “I never thanked you. Any of you. For giving Quinn a night to be human.”
“You can thank Rhett for that. He was unusually insistent, but it wasn’t hard to agree. If Quinn needs another night after everything that happened today, just ask.”
“Oddly enough, I think today may have been good for him. He may not have been himself mentally, but he didn’t lose control. Not in the way he thought he would. And besides, you look like you could use the rest.”
He rubs at his head again. “I wish I could.”
“Is it the dragon thing, or…?”
He shakes his head. “It’s a me thing. Can you keep this between us?”
“Of course.” The last thing I was expecting was a heart to heart, but I guess we’re close enough for that now. If he feels like he can’t talk to his own people, maybe I’m the next best thing.
“I’ve hardly slept since I felt the spark of another dragon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that I’m going to be a father, but I’m also scared shitless. I’m terrified that something is going to happen while I’m asleep. Fuck, even while I’m awake. I had a dream that she lost the baby and ever since, I’ve just been…” He pauses, deciding on the best choice of words. “An absolute fucking mess.”
“If it makes you feel better, I had no idea. You look like you’ve been keeping it together better than the rest of us.”
“Thanks.” His voice is gruff, but I know he means it.
“You should have Tess check in on her.”
“Tess?”
“I know Marein has healers, but she has experience and there’s no one I’d trust more. Even if it’s just for your peace of mind.”
He looks as if he’s thinking it over. “Do you think she would? I thought she hated us.”
“She hates Jade, not you. And certainly not your unborn child. Besides, with Kaylee and Rhett bonded, in a weird way, you’re practically family.”
“Family.” He says the word like he’s tasting it. He looks back out over Jade and watches him work with the wolves. His methods may be unusual, but Ty is certainly better on his feet. He doesn’t have to say it for me to know what he’s thinking. Jade is his family in every sense of the word, and yet this Jade is still a stranger. He may never get his memories back, but we can see that he’s trying. He saved a stranger today, as well as an overly-rambunctious wolf pup. He brought us the Guardian that will hopefully be the key to saving thousands more. And now he’s helping to train him to make sure we don’t fail.
“We’ll survive this,” I say, because I know Merrick needs to hear it as much as I do. “Whatever’s waiting for us in Lunae. We’ll get through it together.”