Chapter 35
35
Esther
E sther was stunned silent by how quickly and drastically her decision had turned for the worst.
Thank you for reminding me why I’m better off alone .
Esther had done that.
She could say she was confused and pressured, but at the end of the day, she’d been sure this was the right choice. That giving the witches the necklace solved all of her problems and Ashley’s as well.
And now she had nothing to show for it.
“Let’s go.” August had caught his breath and was pulling himself from the water. “We can catch up to Meg and Gwen at their place and start work on the potion. It should only be a couple of days to finish, but more hands will make it go faster.”
Esther felt a burning sensation in her stomach that she was unused to.
Rage.
She wished she had Ashley’s strength and speed or August’s magic. She wanted to destroy something. To mark the occasion in an irreversible way. She let out a scream that started at her toes and threw it out across the water reaching as far as her human strength let her.
When she was finally out of breath, she sank into the water, the weight of her wet clothes and full boots anchoring her to the ground. The small waves from the lake lapped at her fingers, her arms, but she wasn’t moving from this spot.
“I’m not going to help you,” she said.
“They still have Uther. If we don’t finish this potion, all of that was for nothing.”
Esther bit the words out between her teeth. “I’m not going.”
“Esther.” Whatever his comment was going to be, it was interrupted by a ringing in his pocket. He pulled out his phone, shook off what water he could, and answered it. “What?”
His entire body shifted when whoever was on the other end spoke. He turned from her to face the trees. Esther only heard one side of the conversation, but it was clear who was on the other side.
“You’re all right? Jesus, love. I’ve been worried sick over you. Well, yeah, we just found your car abandoned here. What was I supposed to think? You walked ? That’s… How many miles is that? Where was your phone? All right, stay there. I’ll be over soon.”
“How’s Uther?” asked Esther.
Because of course, after all of this, Uther was fine.
She gazed out at the lake. The sun had set, and the moon cast a streak of glittering white across the black water. “Are the vampires treating him well?”
“So,” August said, “I might have overreacted.”
It wasn’t an apology. She didn’t know how they’d fix this, but she knew she needed to be alone.
“Just go,” she said.
The sound of insects threatened to drown out her words, but she was confident August understood her. There was splashing, then she was being lifted, warm hands under her legs and back and her head cradled against a strong shoulder.
She punched said shoulder but was too tired to put up a good fight. “I’m not going to the witches.”
“I know,” he said. “But I’m not leaving you out here to catch a cold. Uther’s back at my place. You can dry off and take one of the guest rooms.”
He carried her to the parking lot before setting her down to call a car. They were waiting in silence when August walked over to Uther’s car and pulled something dangling from the front hood. A dead vine.
“Damn it, Gwen.” He crushed it in his fist and growled before stomping back. “Esther, I–” His fist with the vine shook, but she wasn’t going to comfort him. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I involved them without your notice. I was just…”
Esther shook her head. “I’m not ready for this conversation.”
“Right.” He met her gaze a second longer before turning back to the car.
They returned to August’s place, and she went through the motions of showering, borrowing a large shirt to sleep in, and crawling into bed. A few minutes later, the door creaked open, and someone crawled in with her.
“Hey there, friend,” whispered Uther. “I heard you came to my rescue.”
Despite all her anger from earlier, it all washed away hearing her friend’s voice. She wrapped her arms around him, letting him be her little spoon. “I love you, Uther.”
“I know.”
She held him tighter, trying to hold in the tears. “That tough guy Star Wars nonsense will not be accepted here.”
“I know,” he repeated then chuckled. He took her hand in his and kissed a knuckle. “I love you too, Esther. I’m sorry you’re hurting.”
She snuggled into his neck, and they lay in silence for a while.
“I shouldn’t have given up the necklace,” she said. “This is all my fault.”
“It didn’t help that my car and phone both died at the same time. I swear I charged it. It just died out of nowhere. August says it wasn’t my fault, so I’m going to have to get that in writing when he’s not as huffy. The whole thing really did a number on him.”
“Yeah, I saw that.”
“I think he has a crush on me.”
“Oh, you think?”
They both laughed, but there wasn’t any real heart to it.
“If it counts for anything,” Uther said, “I think you made the best choice with the information you had.”
Esther didn’t believe that for one minute, but it was nice to know at least one person wasn’t disappointed in her. “Where’s your boyfriend now anyway?”
Uther shifted and pulled the blanket over his mouth before answering. His words were mumbled but clear enough to understand. “On his way to the island.”
“He’s still going through with it.” It wasn’t a question.
“After what you two gave up? Yeah, he’s going to see this through.”
“They told us the vampires had you. They took advantage of that missing person situation you were looking into to scare us into acting. What makes him think they wouldn’t trick him again?”
“Because it’d all be for nothing if we didn’t try. And if he’s there, he’ll make sure they do it right. That it’s safe. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt Ashley.”
“We already did.” Esther swallowed back a sob as she recalled Ashley’s closed-off expression, standing over her in the water. “I’m not letting my choices hurt anyone again. I’ll buckle down and mind my own business like I should have from the start.”
“Doing nothing is still a choice.”