Chapter Fourteen
Tank
Ifound her in the training ring.
I’d been sent to fetch Alyssa for the meeting, a simple enough task that shouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes. Instead, I found myself standing in the shadows of the colonnade, watching her train with Ryder, completely unable to make myself known.
They moved together like they’d been doing this for years.
Ryder’s wind magic swept through the ring in controlled gusts, lifting debris and petals in spiralling patterns that he directed with increasingly confident gestures.
Alyssa met each display with her own power, fire dancing along her arms, water forming shields that scattered his wind into harmless breezes.
They were testing each other, pushing each other, and the joy on both their faces was unmistakable.
But it was Ryder who held my attention.
The difference in him was staggering. Just days ago, he’d been fumbling with his magic like a man trying to catch smoke with his bare hands.
Now he wielded it like an extension of himself.
The wind responded to his will without hesitation, and when lightning crackled between his fingertips, it went exactly where he wanted it to go.
There was a confidence in his stance that hadn’t been there before. A certainty.
I was relieved to see it. Truly, I was. Ryder would need every scrap of that confidence when he faced the Autumn Guardian. But underneath the relief was something else. Something I didn’t particularly want to examine too closely.
Jealousy, the bear rumbled, never one to let me avoid uncomfortable truths. You’re jealous.
I shifted my weight against the column, not taking my eyes off the training ring. “I’m not jealous.”
You are. You’re watching them grow into their power while you hide in the shadows, and you’re jealous that it seems to come so easily to them.
“I’m not hiding. I’m observing.”
The bear made a sound that was dangerously close to a snort. You should spend less time observing and more time practising. Your magic is just as new as his. Just as untested. When the time comes, will you be ready?
It was a fair question. One I didn’t have an answer to.
The Spring Court’s power hummed through my veins constantly now, a green and growing thing that felt like roots spreading through my chest. But I hadn’t tested it.
Hadn’t pushed it the way Ryder was pushing his, the way Alyssa pushed hers every single day.
I’d been too busy watching. Too busy making sure everyone else was safe and prepared and looked after.
Too busy hiding, the bear corrected.
“I’m not…”
Though I will admit, the bear continued, his tone shifting to something warmer, watching Alyssa is never a waste of time. Look at her. She’s magnificent.
I couldn’t argue with that. She was magnificent.
Fire wreathed her arms as she deflected another of Ryder’s wind strikes, her golden hair streaming behind her, her face alight with the fierce concentration that I’d come to love more than almost anything else about her.
She was a force of nature wrapped in mortal flesh, and every time I looked at her, something in my chest ached with how much I loved her.
We should be down there with her, the bear said. Training at her side. Not lurking in the shadows like a lovesick cub.
“I’m not lurking.”
You’re absolutely lurking.
I was so busy arguing with the bear that I didn’t notice they’d finished training until the ring went quiet. The wind died down, the fire extinguished, and I turned to slip away before either of them spotted me.
Alyssa was standing directly behind me.
I managed not to jump, but it was a close thing. She had her arms crossed over her chest and an amused expression on her face that told me she knew exactly how long I’d been watching.
“Enjoying the show?” she asked.
“Just came to get you for the meeting.” The words came out too quickly, and her smile widened.
“Uh huh.”
Ryder must have gone inside to change when Alyssa ducked back to catch me in the shadows.
We’d all grown close, messed into a pack so entwined that there would be no separating us.
Maybe it was the magic, maybe it was just what happened when a group of people went through what we had.
And there was still so much more lingering on the horizon waiting for us.
“Do you think he’s ready?” I asked, turning to Alyssa. “Strong enough to face the Autumn Guardian?”
She was quiet for a moment, considering the question seriously rather than offering easy reassurance. It was one of the things I appreciated most about her. She never lied to make people feel better.
“I don’t think it comes down to strength,” she said finally.
“Not really. The Guardian isn’t looking for someone who can overpower them.
They’re looking for someone worthy. Someone who deserves to carry the court’s magic.
” She glanced in the direction that Ryder must have gone, warmth softening her expression.
“And I think Ryder has always been worthy. He just needed to believe it himself.”
He’ll do well, the bear said. When the time comes.
I hoped he was right.
But when Alyssa turned back to look at me, there was something in her expression that I couldn’t quite read. A tension around her eyes. A tightness in her jaw.
“Am I neglecting you?”
The question caught me completely off guard. “What?”
“You. Dean. Maddox. Ryder.” She said each name like a weight she was carrying.
“I feel like I’m not spending enough time with any of you.
There’s always something else that needs doing, someone else who needs help, some other crisis that demands my attention.
And you’re all just... there. Patient. Waiting.
Supporting me. And I’m not giving anything back. ”
I stared at her for a long moment, trying to understand where this was coming from. Then I closed the distance between us and took her face in my hands, tilting it up so she had to meet my eyes.
“You have a lot on your plate right now,” I said firmly.
“More than any one person should have to carry. You don’t need to worry about me.
Or the others, for that matter. We’re not waiting for you to give us something.
We’re here to support you. To see you through this.
To see all of us through this.” I brushed my thumb across her cheekbone, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my touch.
“There will be plenty of time to live life and enjoy each other when Arik is in the ground. Right now, you focus on keeping us all alive. Let us worry about everything else.”
Her eyes searched mine, looking for something. Reassurance, maybe. Or permission to stop carrying yet another burden.
I pulled her into my arms.
She came willingly, her body softening against mine as I held her close.
I took a moment to just enjoy the feel of her there, the warmth of her pressed against my chest, the scent of her hair beneath my nose.
Smoke and flowers and something that was uniquely, indefinably her.
The bear rumbled with contentment, and I felt the Spring magic pulse between us, a gentle reminder of the bond we shared.
I kissed the top of her head. “I love you,” I murmured against her hair.
“More than I have words to express. And nothing about this war is going to change that. No amount of distance or distraction or crisis. You’re stuck with me.
With all of us. So stop worrying about whether you’re giving us enough, and trust that we’ll tell you if we need something. ”
She laughed softly, the sound muffled against my chest. “You’re annoyingly good at that.”
“At what?”
“Knowing exactly what I need to hear.”
I smiled. “It’s a gift.”
She pulled back just enough to look up at me, and I saw that some of the tension had eased from her face. Not all of it. There was too much weighing on her for one conversation to fix. But some of it. Enough.
“I should probably confess,” I said, keeping my face carefully neutral, “that I’m only here because I was sent to bring you to the meeting.”
She stared at me for a beat, and then burst out laughing. The sound rang through the colonnade, bright and clear and so desperately needed that I found myself grinning in response.
“Of course you were,” she said, shaking her head. “And here I thought you’d come to sweep me off my feet.”
“I can do both.”
“Apparently.” She took my hand, threading her fingers through mine. “All right, lead the way. Let’s go see what fresh disaster is waiting for us.”
We walked through the palace together, hand in hand, and for a few precious minutes, the war felt very far away.
The Spring Court was beautiful in the afternoon light, golden sun streaming through crystal windows and casting rainbows across the living stone walls.
Flowers bloomed in every corner, their sweet scent filling the air, and I could feel the land’s contentment humming through my connection to it.
This place was coming back to life. Slowly, painfully, but undeniably.
“What do you think it’ll be like?” Alyssa asked. “After? When this is all over?”
“Quiet, hopefully.”
She laughed again. “I don’t think either of us would know what to do with quiet.”
“We could learn.” I squeezed her hand. “Find a corner of this realm where no one needs saving. Build something. Plant a garden. Watch things grow instead of die for a change.”
“That sounds...” She trailed off, a wistful expression crossing her face. “That sounds wonderful, actually.”
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“Do you think we’ll ever get there? To that kind of peace?”