Chapter 33 Vidorak
Chapter thirty-three
Vidorak
The clenching in Vidorak’s chest worsened with each passing minute. He felt his mate’s distress pulse along their bond, which only made him even more desperate in his search. The grounds were extensive, and Calypso was good at hiding when she didn’t want to be found.
Vidorak had been searching for her for nearly an hour with no success. He left the stables, scanning the area carefully as he crossed the estate. He’d already searched the small building nearby, which turned out to be staff quarters.
Located past that building were the gardens. The plants were growing peacefully in the sun, oblivious to the impending danger. Seeing the calm around him did nothing to soothe the pang in his chest.
“Damn it,” Vidorak muttered and marched toward the forests beyond. He wasn’t sure if she’d run that far, but he didn’t have any other ideas.
Abnormal warmth radiated from his right and drew his attention toward the garden shed in the far corner. Frowning, he changed directions and stalked toward the lone structure. The warmth increased as he got closer, giving a shimmer to the air.
A sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead, and his eyes burned as he got closer. His body braced for what he might find there.
He rounded the corner and spotted his fearless mate sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest, face hidden from view. While her body was completely still, flames danced upon her skin, moving around her arms and down her back. The fire had blackened the surrounding grass.
How she could look so small and fragile and yet be completely dangerous, he couldn’t understand.
“Calypso,” he called, but she didn’t answer. He ignored the slight blurring of his vision as he approached her and kneeled at her level.
“Are you real?” The question was quiet, but he heard her clearly.
“I am.” He reached out, but before he could make contact, she stiffened.
“Don’t. Just leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Her head tilted up, and he saw her eyes were completely flooded with gold, pupils lost in the flames that swirled. “If you do not leave, I will hurt you. Do you understand?”
It dawned on him that she wasn’t holding herself together. She was holding herself back.
He understood too well the feeling of one’s mind betraying them. The fight for control, when the thing being fought was oneself, felt like a loss either way. That was even more evident in his mate, who liked to teeter on the edge of madness.
First, he would help her regain control. Then they would talk.
In a smooth motion, without thinking of anything else, he picked Calypso up. The flames scalded his flesh as he carried her away.
“Stop! I’m burning you!”
He held her tighter. “It’s only skin. It’ll be over soon.”
She stopped her struggles, seeing it only burned him more, then said through clenched teeth, “I just need time. I will control it.”
She didn’t look like she could control her own breathing right now, let alone her consuming flames, but he would not say that.
“Don’t control it,” he said, finally reaching the edge of the pond he’d seen earlier. “Let it out.”
With that, he tossed her into the water. With a splash, she went under and disappeared.
There was a moment of stillness, as if nothing had happened. Then, the water started to simmer. He counted the seconds in his mind and stared as the water absorbed all that she threw at it.
His body twitched with worry when he reached a minute, but the water still boiled from her assault.
When she didn’t break the surface at the two-minute mark, he couldn’t take it anymore. He dived into the hot water and pushed toward the source.
Her eyes were closed as he wrapped his arms around her and swam up with her swaying limply in his hold.
This was a stupid idea, he thought as panic rammed in.
They broke the surface, and he placed her onto the grass. He examined her body for breathing that wasn’t there. He pressed down on her chest, willing it to move, when her eyes flickered open. She turned to her side, hurling up water that was deep in her lungs.
He patted her back as she coughed out the water. After gathering her breath, she turned to glare at him, but her eyes were back to normal. “You almost drowned me!”
“I’m so sorry.” He crushed her to his chest. “I didn’t know you couldn’t swim.”
He moved back when her hands pushed at him. He braced for her anger, but she just muttered. “Well, now you know.”
They sat near one another, catching their breath, not quite touching. After a few minutes, he spoke. “We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to say except you should return to the Vestrahorn mountains.”
He growled. “Enough of that. I will stay here with you. Besides, my horde will be here in a day or two.”
Calypso’s head whipped toward him, eyes wide. This might’ve been the first time he truly shocked her.
“Are you out of your mind?!” she yelled. “You just got control of your clan and you are bringing them to fight in another war?”
Without waiting for an answer, she jumped up and began pacing, hands tightened into fists. Little flames flickered in annoyance from her feet.
“Take a breath or I’ll dunk you in the water again.
” The comment earned him another glare, but she stopped her pacing.
“The responsibility of my clan falls on no one but me. I don’t do this just because you are my mate.
If you hadn’t taken over Taybe, Davinger would be marching to the mountains right now.
He doesn’t want peace with orcs. He wants to keep us as brutes for his armies. The reality is we are better together.”
She still wasn’t happy but seemed to simmer down and sat down once more, keeping space between them. He could accept her unhappiness as long as she was safe.
“Tell them to turn around.”
“No.” His eyes flashed. “You can keep the horde from coming onto the estate, but you can’t stop us from going against Davinger.”
“You are just risking their lives when it is not needed.”
“Not needed because you plan to sacrifice yourself like a martyr?”
“This was always the plan,” she snapped back at him. “For years, I planned on ending things like this.”
“Is that what you truly want to do?”
“I don’t know.” A moment passed. “No.”
For all her talk of revenge being her only goal, Vidorak suspected she cared deeply for her sisters and would do anything for them, including sacrificing herself. Her plan was fraught with flaws, but she was too stubborn and panicked to see it.
“The royal army is sizeable, but an uncontrollable beast doesn’t guarantee a win. Certainly not at the cost of your life.” He wasn’t sure if his words were getting through to her, but persisted. “We will figure this out together. You cannot fix everything yourself, and you need to let others in.”
Much to his surprise, she crawled onto his lap, hands clenching at his wet shirt as if she didn’t know whether she wanted him close or to push him away.
He felt silent tremors go across her back, and his heart clenched at the feel of her tears.
With everything they’d been through, he had never seen her cry.
He wished he could shed the tears for her, to take away her pain.
While he couldn’t do that, he would be here to help heal the wounds that were left.
“My mother was the smartest witch I knew, and even she couldn’t stop it.”
She sobbed into his chest, and he knew it was more than just the situation at present. It was as if she were mourning things she hadn’t allowed herself to do prior. Throughout it all, he petted her back and whispered words of comfort into her hair.
When she finally quieted, her body sagged against him in pure exhaustion. He picked her up and returned to the manor. He gently settled her in bed and wanted nothing more than to join her in her rest so she would know he was nearby. But that wasn’t possible at the moment.
He changed his clothes and went downstairs in search of the other witches. They needed to discuss a plan for dealing with the royal army that kept his mate alive.