31. Elena #2
He holds my gaze as if he can read my thoughts.
Something shifts behind his eyes—a crack in the armor he wears so well.
His jaw is rigid enough to ache, and his fingers flex once at his side before curling into a fist, as if he’s forcing himself to remain in control.
Anyone else would see the steady stare, the controlled breathing, the unshakable agent.
I see the man beneath it.
The one trying to make peace with a future where he doesn’t come home. The one who’d rather shoulder that fear alone than let it become mine. It’s why he hasn’t admitted it out loud until now.
He’s terrified of the cost. Not death itself. That had been something he prepared for the moment he signed up to be fate’s weapon. No… he’s terrified of leaving me behind.
“We’ll find another way,” I proclaim, even though fear coils in my gut. “We’ll make this work.”
He searches my face, like he’s memorizing it.
“What else did she tell you?” he asks.
I swallow. “That hard times are ahead. That I have the power, and the choices, to shape what comes next.” I let out a brittle breath. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“You’ve always been stronger than you believe,” he remarks.
“Strong enough to fight earth’s elemental power?” I lift a brow.
He pulls me into him before I can say anything else. His arms wrap around me, solid and certain. My cheek presses against his chest. I can hear his heartbeat.
It’s steady.
Alive.
“Even that,” he murmurs into my hair. “But we need to be careful. What Wendell can do… we can’t underestimate it.”
The woods flash through my mind, the ground buckling, roots snapping like whips.
“I’m worried,” I admit.
“I know.”
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering like he’s reassuring himself I’m real.
“We need to level the playing field,” he suggests.
The words spark something. An idea unfurls in the back of my mind, dangerous and reckless and exactly the kind of thing he would hate.
I don’t voice it. Not yet.
Instead, I slide my arms around his waist and let myself lean into him. For a moment. Long enough to feel the rise and fall of his chest.
Alive.
Borrowed or not, he is here.
And I am not letting fate take him without a fight.
Back in the medical wing once again, the familiar scent of antiseptic and crushed mint greets me.
Dr. Nolan’s cool hands press along my ribs one last time, his brows knitting in concentration before he finally steps back. “No fractures. Bruising, yes. You’ll feel it tomorrow.”
I already do. There’s no way I’m going to admit that, and the news gets back to Alexei.
He gives me a look that lingers a second too long, searching, assessing, before he nods and sweeps from the room.
The door clicks shut, leaving Hannah and me with privacy.
Hannah slides into the chair beside my bed the second the latch settles. She doesn’t bother pretending she wasn’t waiting to pounce.
“You want to what?” she hisses.
“Keep your voice down,” I shoot back immediately, glancing toward the door.
On the other side of that wall is Alexei, Braydon, Lance, Travis, practically an entire army to guard us. My entire security detail is acting like I might shatter if the wind shifts too hard.
Hannah lowers her voice, but her eyes stay wide. “You cannot be serious.”
I push myself upright, ignoring the protest in my side. The paper on the exam table crinkles beneath me. “I am.”
She stares at me like I’ve just announced I’m taking up juggling daggers for sport.
I drag a hand through my hair and exhale slowly.
I tell her everything.
The woods. The way the earth answered Wendell like it had been waiting for him. Trees bending, soil rising, roots lashing out like living things. The ground splitting open under our feet.
How close it came.
How Clara’s arm had been nearly crushed beneath falling debris. How Ruslan’s grunts had cut through the chaos. Alexei slammed into the forest floor, the air knocked from him as stone surged up like a fist.
And how I felt it, that moment the world teetered, deciding which of them to take from me.
“I thought I was going to lose them,” I murmur, staring at my hands. There’s still dirt beneath my nails. I can’t seem to scrub it out. “Again.”
Hannah doesn’t interrupt. She never does when it matters.
I tell her about learning the extent of Alexei’s drowning. About how he didn’t almost die.
He did die.
Her fingers tighten around the edge of the bed when I repeat Inanna’s warning.
One will fall.
The words seem to settle into the sterile air and refuse to dissipate.
“This is… a lot,” Hannah finally breathes.
She leans back in the chair, blinking rapidly. “We’re not talking about visions and heightened hearing anymore. This man can manipulate the earth around us.” Her voice pitches up despite her attempt to keep it quiet. “He can weaponize the ground.”
“I know.”
The memory of soil rising like a tidal wave makes my stomach twist.
Hannah presses her fingers to her chin, thinking. She does that when she’s trying to solve something she doesn’t like.
“You really think going back down there”—her gaze flicks toward the floor, as if she can see through marble and stone to the caves beneath the kingdom—“will give you anything more?”
I shrug, but it feels hollow. “I don’t know.” The admission tastes bitter. “I can already see fragments of what’s ahead. I heal faster than I should. I hear things I’m not supposed to.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t add up.”
“But you think there’s something else.”
I lift my eyes to hers. “I think there has to be.” I swallow.
“Inanna said I have the power. And the choices.” The words echo inside me.
“Maybe touching the stone wasn’t the end of it.
I felt something when Wendell was using his power.
Maybe it was… proximity.” My pulse quickens.
“Maybe the source is deeper. I can’t explain this feeling; this need as if I am being drawn back to where it all began. ”
Hannah exhales slowly. “And how exactly do you plan to get down there without Alexei finding out?”
That’s the part that’s been circling in my head since I left his arms.
I press my lips together, then bite down on the bottom one. “Tensions are already high,” I explain faintly. “Trade negotiations are stalling. There’s unrest with our people after the attacks.”
None of that is exaggerated. Abby has been providing hourly reports.
The news manages to find any Zurdonian willing to talk and capture another juicy sound bite about how I’m letting the country go in the wrong direction.
Talks about whether I am in over my head.
Whether the country was too quick to back me after learning about my history, instead of considering someone with more experience.
They don’t say Wendell’s name, but the silence is deafening.
Promoting fear while encouraging people to overlook his past sins.
“I could propose a visit. Something that won’t draw too much scrutiny.”
Hannah’s eyes sharpen. “You’re thinking about the old days.”
I nod.
“A stop at For Youth,” she catches on slowly, understanding my thoughts. “Like when we used to sneak out of the orphanage.”
“Exactly.”
For Youth sits near the tournament fields. Close enough to feel like we’re slipping out all over again.
“I know what I’m asking,” I begin, guilt tightening my chest.
She cuts me off with a soft scoff. “Are you kidding me? I’m in.”
I blink. “Hannah?—”
“You are finally asking me to do something reckless with you.” Her grin spreads, fierce and bright. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for that?”
Despite the weight pressing on my ribs, I laugh quietly. “I promised you,” I reminded her, “I wouldn’t leave you behind again.”
Her expression softens at that. “And I love you for it.” Hannah grins. “I might have fallen first??—”
I smile, recalling our promise living in the orphanage all those years ago. “I’ll fall last.” “Because we always have each other’s backs,” we finish in unison.
The smile the memory brings is overtaken by a shadow that creeps back into my thoughts.
“When Alexei finds out…”
“He’ll be furious,” she finishes for me, completely unfazed.
“There’s more.” Her brow lifts. “The only way this works,” I continue carefully, “is if Braydon is on security detail.”
That makes her pause. The humor drains from her face, replaced by consideration.
“I don’t want to complicate things between you,” I add quickly. “If this puts you in a position?—”
“We’ll be fine,” she asserts, more firmly than I expect. “Braydon understands the difference between duty and personal feelings.” Her lips twitch. “Even if he pretends he doesn’t.”
The relief doesn’t exactly loosen in my chest. Braydon is a lot like Alexei and won’t be happy about our lone-ranger ways.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and I mean it.
She waves a hand dismissively. “What are sisters for? If not to help you break into ancient caves in the name of saving the kingdom?”
I smile at her, but beneath it, my thoughts churn.
If Alexei is on borrowed time… If the fates are waiting to collect… I cannot sit idle.
“So,” Hannah broaches, leaning forward conspiratorially, “when do we embark on this epic and probably ill-advised adventure?”
I meet her gaze.
The answer has been settled in my bones since the moment the idea formed.
“Tomorrow.”
Her grin widens, all teeth and fire. “Tomorrow,” she echoes.
On the other side of the wall, I hear Alexei’s voice murmur to one of the guards.
Steady and alive…
For now.