Chapter 17
Leo
This guy was starting to bug me.
I walked near the front, next to Slade. He led the troops with the kind of quiet authority I’d always known he had.
Just behind us, riding side by side, were Elle and Caelen—and they’d spent the last few hours chatting. Nonstop.
And it was driving me crazy.
Maddie, who was sharing a horse with me today, sighed loudly behind my shoulder.
“Stop glaring at him,” she muttered.
“I’m not.”
“Leo, if you could set fires with your eyes, Caelen would’ve been cinders hours ago.”
“Why does she keep talking to him, though?” I grumbled.
“Maybe because none of you have been,” Maddie said flatly.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, please.” She leaned into my back, voice sharp but low. “Don’t you think it’s a little funny that ever since Elle had her meltdown on the cliffs, none of you have been available anymore?”
“Hey! That’s not fair—”
“Am I lying?” she cut in.
I didn’t answer.
“You keep giving her space to grieve,” Maddie continued. “And that’s all good and well. But too much space—and don’t be surprised who slithers into the void.”
I growled, my skin twitching. “I’m not avoiding her.”
“Then why haven’t you been there?” Maddie asked. “I have spent more time in her room lately than any of you. And it’s confusing for her, you know?”
“Why, because you’re so hot?” I snarked.
She punched me in the back. “No. Because she cares about you and now thinks she’s been a burden to you.”
“She knows how I feel.” I insisted.
“Does she? How?” Maddie accused.
“I mean, I kissed her – “
“Back in Varrowmere,” she cut in. “Before everything went to shit. And have you kissed her since?”
I didn’t answer.
She stared at me, hard.
“That girl thinks she broke something in you. She thinks she’s the reason you’ve been distant.”
“She thinks I don’t want her?” I asked, stunned. “Why would she think that? Did she say that?”
“Not in so many words,” Maddie said. “But she watches you, Leo. She’s always watching—waiting for cues. And when you don’t act, she assumes you don’t feel the same anymore.”
I turned—spun—until I could see her. Elira.
She caught me looking and frowned. Not confused. Not curious.
Just a look that said: What?
“You have to be wrong,” I muttered. “I mean… after everything we went through.”
Maddie didn’t soften.
“Leo, darling, my dear friend—I love you. And I love her. But even you have to realise…”
She gave me a look.
“Elira is about the most emotionally retarded person I know. That’s just a fact.”
I opened my mouth, but she held up a finger.
“She doesn’t know how to deal with feelings. Not hers. Definitely not yours. She’s scared. She’s always scared. And you leaving her alone in it? It just confirmed every terrible thing she already believes about herself.”
“Well how do I fix it?”
She gave me a long look, like I was missing the most obvious answer in the world.
“You could try talking to her. I know, it’s crazy,” she drawled.
“Sorrowsea up ahead!” A scout on horseback rode past, urgency in his tone. The tension in the air shifted.
I looked up just in time to see Caelen gesture toward Elle.
“Come on,” he said, reaching out to take the reins of her horse—guiding her forward, closer to him. “I can’t wait to show you my home,”
She let him.
She didn’t even glance back.
And just like that, the moment was gone.