Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-five
Ena
Ena felt cold. The back of her head felt like it was resting on ice, and her fingertips were beginning to hurt. What was going on?
Slowly, she opened her eyes and her gaze landed on Ty—like he was the gravitational force from which she could not escape.
Blinking a few times to clear her vision, she looked around to see Cris and Turner kneeling beside her as well.
All of them had concerned looks on their faces. What had happened?
“Easy,” Ty said, placing his warm hand on the back of her head and lifting her into a sitting position. “Are you alright?”
“I…” Ena looked around at the forest surrounding her, getting her bearings. She was still beside the Sacred Pool, laying on the snow-covered ground. “I’m fine, I think. I must’ve passed out.”
“It was probably the blood loss from the spell,” Ty said, his face screwed up in concern. “Go slow.”
Turner handed her a waterskin, which she drank from greedily.
Ty reached out to help her stand up. “Think you can walk?” he asked, rising with her.
“Yeah, I think so,” she said. Ty moved to hold her arm as she walked, but she pulled away from him. His closeness was confusing to her, and she didn’t want it right now.
He lowered his arms, taking the hint, and with the three men flanking her, she moved slowly over to the overhang where they’d set up camp.
Mel was there, sitting by the fire alone, their eyes closed and their face impassive. Ena had learned by now that that was what they looked like when they were having a vision, and they should not be disturbed.
Ena sat down silently beside them, wrapping her hand in the strip of linen Turner handed to her, before cautiously taking another sip of her water.
After it appeared she wasn’t about to imminently pass out again, Ty stalked off to set a trap in the woods, and Turner and Cris went to collect more firewood, leaving her beside the fire with Mel and a snack.
Taking a bite of her apple, Ena suddenly felt Mel’s eyes on her. She turned to look at the witch, who had come out of their vision, but was staring at her strangely, as if something had just dawned on them.
“What is it?” Ena asked. “I swear, I’m feeling fine now, just a bit dizzy.” Now that she mentioned it, the few bites of apple she’d taken were sitting queasily in her stomach, too, but she didn’t want to mention that and have everyone continue to fuss over her.
“I figured out who it is,” they said, sounding relieved.
“Who what is?” Ena asked. She was honestly getting pretty tired of Mel’s cryptic musings. It wasn’t like they ever fully revealed anything anyway.
“The Mother of Monsters,” they said, their face breaking out into a wide grin. They laughed gently, the sound echoing around the overhang they were in.
“The what?” Ena asked, her brows shooting up.
Just then, Cris walked up, looking between her and Mel. Mel shook their head, continuing to smile and chuckle to themselves before standing up and wandering off into the woods.
Ena stared after them, wondering what in the Underworld that was about, but she didn’t exactly have the energy to follow them and follow up on it right this instant.
“How are you feeling?” Cris asked, sitting down beside her.
“Fine,” she said, rubbing her forehead, which was beginning to ache. “Just tired.”
Cris nodded. “And how are you feeling about everything with Greya?”
Ena looked over at him, his features illuminated by the fire, and gave him a small sincere smile. “Good, actually. Hopeful. It felt so nice to talk to her and tell her everything. I know she was hesitant at first, but the fact that she trusted me this time meant so much.”
“You didn’t think she would?”
“I don’t know. You know Greya. She’s…so confident. So sure of herself and her path. I know this is a lot for her to take in. It’s a big ask for a future matriarch.”
“True, but I’m sure once she has a chance to commune with Gaia, she’ll Know what you told her to be true. Just like I did.”
Ena felt reassured and reached out to grab her friend’s hand in gratitude. “Thank you, for saying that. And for coming with me. I know how big of a risk this is for you, for all of us, and I’m so grateful that you trusted me too.”
Cris flipped his hand over, giving hers a squeeze in return, then sighed sadly.
“You know, at first, I mostly came to keep an eye on you, because I worried about you being alone with these daemons. But now…after everything you’ve told me, and everything Mel has said, I really do realize how important this is, and I’m honored to be here—truly. ”
Ena smiled at him and felt some of her guilt at dragging him into all this dissipate, but he still seemed…sad.
“But I wanted to apologize,” he said, releasing her hand and avoiding eye contact by looking at the fire. “For before, when I tried to kiss you.”
“Oh,” she replied, understanding dawning on her. “Cris, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do,” he said, cutting her off. “I see now, finally, that you’re not in the same place I am.” The regret in his voice cut her to the bone, and guilt washed over her anew.
“Cris—” she began, though she didn’t really know what to say.
“No, it’s okay, really,” he said, stopping her again. “I’m glad to know. I’ve been holding out for you for so long—too long—and you’ve made it repeatedly clear that you’re not interested in me that way, despite the fun we’ve had.”
Ena blushed at the mention of their past trysts and looked away. She really hoped Ty wasn’t somewhere overhearing this conversation.
“But I see the way you look at him—the way you look at each other—and I know that’s not us. You and I, we’re something different, and I just want you to know I’m grateful for what we are.”
Ena was touched. She couldn’t put into words how much it meant to hear him say that, to have him understand.
“I’m grateful for what we are too,” she said.
Cris gave her a tight-lipped, slightly forced smile, but she could tell this closure had been good for him. He seemed to relax more as they watched the flames of the fire dance and spit in silence, and she hoped this could be a new chapter for him.
“You know,” Ena said, wanting to lighten the mood. “Maybe once this is all over, you could give Thyla a chance. You know she’s always had a thing for you.”
Cris whipped his head towards her. “What?” he asked, his brows jumping up. “Are you serious?”
Ena laughed, and Gaia, it felt good to do so. “Yes, of course. You really never knew?”
“No,” Cris said, his face still in shock.
“Wow, Cris, you are…really bad at reading others’ signs without your Knowing.”
“Fuck,” he said, laughing slightly and covering his face in his hands. “I guess you’re right.”
Ena felt lighter, laughing and joking with her friend, and she clung to that feeling. Because while she was glad to be on good terms with Cris, and Greya, and to be on the path to breaking the bond, she was also hurtling towards something she dreaded.
She hadn’t missed what Cris had said about her and Ty—how he could tell just by watching them that they were something else—and it hurt to hear them described in such a way.
Because even though she didn’t want Cris, she and Ty couldn’t be that way either.
And every day brought her closer to the moment she feared—having to say goodbye to the one person who looked at her the way she wanted, who made her feel the way she wanted, and she knew it would be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.