Chapter 26 Elijah
ELIJAH
Mate, my beast hissed in my head.
Yes, I replied. Patience.
Mine. Ours.
Yes, ours. Soon.
This was my fault for bringing the basilisk to the surface so I could track my dove’s every move.
It was Friday, so we’d been excused from combat tactics class in the afternoon and sent off to play sports like real summer campers.
Avery had been whisked away by her brother and the cats to play flag football with the Support Squadron trainees, while my quad had been left at the sand volleyball courts with the rest of our Guardian class.
We won every game. Boring.
So boring that I’d resorted to engaging in my favorite activity—watching my dove.
She was a speedy little blonde demon out there, her long legs on display under her tiny shorts, her ponytail whipping with her every move.
I was salivating.
So was the beast.
Mate.
Wyatt nudged me. “Anyone touched her in a way that means I should beat the shit out of them?”
“So far, no,” I replied. “If it happens, you’ll have to beat me over there.”
“Behave, both of you,” Heath said, sounding grouchy. His wolf had really been riding him these past few weeks. The revelation that Avery knew everything about Clara had sucker punched him hard.
So had finally tasting her sweet lips, I would imagine.
And I sympathized because the basilisk had decided that Avery’s tentative new openness to us meant that it was time to bond.
To burrow under her skin and become one with her.
To follow her around forever, whether she wanted us or not.
A thrilling, tantalizing fantasy.
“We’re finally making progress with her,” Heath went on. “Don’t fuck it up by maiming one of her Support Squadron friends.”
“Spoilsport,” I said, grinning. He rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide his enjoyment of my thirst for violence. “Fine. I’ll save it for Cash and the cowards he calls his quadmates.”
Aiden stepped off the court and joined us on the sidelines.
He grabbed one of our assigned sport bottles, squirted water into his mouth, and wiped the sweat from his face with the hem of his shirt.
He was excellent at volleyball and had subbed in for a trio who’d needed a fourth.
“Ward is doing the best he can,” he said, “but unless the higher-ups in the Guardians remove Cash’s quad from the training program entirely, it’ll be impossible to keep them from interacting with Avery eventually. ”
“Fuck them and their ‘best in class’ wraith kill count,” Wyatt muttered. “They’d have been tossed to the curb a long time ago if it wasn’t for that.”
Indeed, and Cash and crew were back at camp after a week of mandated vacation. At least Ward had rearranged training assignments so that they were working with the gold shirts, while Ward and Commander Moss were stuck with our class.
I, for one, was nearing the end of my restraint. Plenty of our fellow Guardians weren’t fans of Avery’s presence here, but most of them had grown to at least begrudgingly accept her if not been won over completely by her stellar performance.
But there was something more insidious about Cash’s quad and their hatred of her.
The basilisk had marked them for death.
One more wrong move, and I’d let him have it.
The beast nudged me.
Yes, back to our dove.
Avery had finished up her game and was standing on the sidelines, drinking her water and chatting amiably with Brody and one of the avians.
A wave of gold shirts crested the hill behind them, returning from their water sports activities on the lake.
Kellan Crimson sighted Avery immediately, and a hungry smile crept onto his face. It was rare that my dove was without us hovering nearby, and Kellan was no fool.
His quad veered away from the pack and marched straight toward her.
“We’re done here,” I snapped at my quad. “Crimson is going for it.”
“Damn it,” Heath growled. “I’m about to let you kill him.”
I whistled. George unfurled from where he’d been sunning himself on a nearby rock. The basilisk radiated possessive violence, and my python caught on instantly.
He zipped away, winding down the sloping grass and across the athletic field, amethyst scales glimmering in the afternoon sun, eager to be reunited with Avery. Campers in his path shouted in alarm and sprinted as fast as they could in the other direction.
I jogged after him, the rest of my quad at my back.
We arrived to find Kellan and Ari not so subtly chatting up Ian and Brody while Teegan looked on stoically. It was Hank the jolly bear shifter who had the death wish today as he sidled up to my dove, making sure he took a long, hard look at her ass before he got her attention.
“—were wondering if you wanted to go out on the boat with us,” he was saying, beaming a big hapless smile down at her. He reached for her hand. “Come on. We just took one of the ski boats for a spin. You’d love—”
George shot forward, reared up, and struck.
Hank hardly had time to register the open jaw headed for his throat. “What the f—”
George sank his teeth into Hank’s thick neck and whipped his long body around Hank’s rotund frame. The momentum knocked Hank over, and he hit the ground like a felled tree, shouting expletives as George constricted around him.
“George, come on,” Avery said with a sigh that was equal parts exasperated and affectionate.
Kellan stormed up to me. “Get that snake the fuck off Hank, or I’ll finally fucking kill it.”
The basilisk shot to the surface. Scales bloomed on my arms, and my vision sharpened into monochrome. “Try it,” I hissed.
Heath was engaged in a similar standoff with Teegan and Aiden with Ari.
Hank’s huge bear burst from his struggling body, but George adjusted, still wrapped around that big furry neck. The bear lumbered off, roaring and tossing his head around.
Wyatt barked a laugh, let his own bear out, and ran after Hank. That would be fun for him.
Kellan jabbed me in the chest with his finger. “I’ve had enough of this, Harrow. You don’t have any fucking claim on Avery beyond the fact that Gale is playing favorites by sticking her with your unit.”
“Wrong,” I hissed. “So unbelievably fucking wrong.”
Kellan’s eyes flashed orange, and whispers of feathers appeared along his neck. Beastly aggression saturated the air, coming from all directions.
I prepared the basilisk for battle.
“Hey, that’s enough,” Avery snapped. “All of you—”
“Harrow, I need to talk to you,” Ian said suddenly.
I stuffed the beast back inside and turned to face him. He had his phone pressed to his ear, and he looked grim.
“About?” I asked cautiously.
“You know.” He looked at his sister. “You need to come with us, Aves.”
Everyone deflated. Ian didn’t often look so serious, and it had apparently thrown even the Crimsons.
“What?” Avery looked between Ian and me. “Is this about whatever has had you two acting weird with each other?”
Had we? “I suspect so, Dove.”
Brody wrapped his arms around Ian and whispered something in his ear. Ian nodded and straightened his spine. “Let’s go, both of you,” he said to me and Avery.
Heath clapped me on the shoulder. “Go. Aiden will retrieve George, and I’ll get control of everything else here.”
My quad leader was a saint. “Thank you.”
I reached for Avery’s hand and threaded my fingers through hers. She wore her swords and a look of confusion, but she didn’t pull away.
Maybe she could tell that I needed her.
The taste of her trepidation was bittersweet on my lips, so maybe she needed me too.
I squeezed her hand, and then we followed silently after Ian.
Ian led us to the front of the campgrounds.
We rounded the side of the main building, where Ward had his office and we our classroom sessions, and then we stopped on a small covered patio attached to the back of the building.
The patio contained a single long picnic table and several circular metal tables and had a view of an idyllic meadow, the tree line, and the mountains in the distance.
“Ian, what is going on?” Avery asked, her voice full of concern.
She still held my hand, and I relished it.
“I promise I’ll explain, Aves,” he replied gently.
I certainly had an idea of what our fox might have to discuss with us, and the basilisk slithered under my skin, agitated and bloodthirsty.
The door to the building opened, and Ward stepped out.
He was followed by Joseph, Avery and Ian’s fox father.
The pharmacist. The one with the apothecary affinity, like his son. He had kind green eyes, and his long golden hair was tied in a messy knot on the back of his head. He was about Avery’s height and had the same leanly muscled body as Ian.
The basilisk coiled tight at his presence. Bracing. Avery’s father didn’t travel all the way here for no reason.
Avery gasped. “J? What in the world—”
He smiled at his daughter, pausing his lively conversation with Ward. The two of them were friends already, it seemed. “Hi, sweetheart. How are… things?” His eyes twinkled as he cast a pointed glance at where Avery’s hand was in mine.
She didn’t seem to notice, releasing me to go throw her arms around his neck. “Is everything okay?” she asked him. “Is something wrong? Why are you here?”
He patted her back and gestured for her to sit down at the table. She set her sword harness on the ground and then did as he asked. I slid onto the bench next to her and made sure our thighs were touching. I pulled her hand into my lap under the table, and she didn’t protest.
“Everything is fine, Aves,” Joseph said. “As fine as ever, anyway. I’m here because Ian asked for my help with something that affects both our family and Elijah’s.” His kind gaze slid to me. “Hello, Elijah. It’s nice to see you again.”
“You as well, sir,” I replied, forcing a smile through the tension in my chest.
“Well,” Ward said, frowning at the scene. He turned to head back inside. “I’ll leave you all to it—”