Chapter 14 Trust and Treachery
TRUST AND TREACHERY
“We need to take a break,” Daire insists.
Though a part of me wants to prove him—all of them—wrong, I’m too drained from shielding and reliving those memories to argue.
“How are you feeling?” Griffin’s gaze slips over me.
Before I can answer, Lochlan clears his throat. “The guard station just messaged. Kandi’s on her way, and considering her affinity for listening charms, I’d suggest you either hole up in here with a rune or take this outside until she’s gone.”
Daire turns to me. “Would you rather go upstairs or remain in here?”
“I want to check on Scarlet.”
He nods. “I’ll ward the upstairs.”
“You’re staying down here,” Lochlan says when Griffin moves to stand with Daire and me. “A semblance of normalcy. Remember?”
Griffin’s ocean-blue eyes dance across my face.
Concern. Fear. Regret. I take stock of each emotion before his expression turns neutral.
He brushes his thumb across the marking on the inside of his wrist, and the imprint disappears.
His gaze shifts to Daire. “Block everything. Including the vents and the windows.”
Daire looks almost insulted, but nods.
We head upstairs, stopping at Scarlet’s room. She pulls the door open seconds after I knock. “Stars, are you okay? All they’d tell me is that you needed to rest.”
The last twenty-four hours are a blur. “I accidentally set the library on fire and drained myself,” I admit, avoiding the reasons for the fire—and the aftermath.
Scarlet’s eyebrows shoot toward her hairline as she grins and steps back, inviting us inside. “That’s quite the trademark you’re establishing.”
I grin, a deflection technique I’ve mastered.
Daire’s hand ghosts across my back, soothing and grounding me, as he follows me to the chairs arranged around the fireplace. He murmurs a few hushed words and makes a series of almost imperceptible gestures.
“Did you get something to eat?” I ask, turning to Scarlet to see if she’s watching him.
If she does, she doesn’t say anything, releasing a loud yawn. “Lief woke me up an hour ago when he delivered lunch.”
“It’s nearly three,” Daire remarks.
Scarlet shrugs. “Between school, tidecast practice, and work, I barely get to sleep in, so I have to make it count when I do.” Her gaze drifts back to mine as Daire places his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m going to check in to keep up appearances, but if you need anything, have Scarlet call me.”
The loss of his touch sends a chill down my spine that I try to ignore as I watch him leave.
Scarlet slumps into the chair across from me and pulls her feet up, sitting cross-legged. “I was legitimately concerned that you tried running away last night.”
“I wouldn’t have left you here.”
“Did you really set the library on fire?”
I nod. “And then accidentally created an air shield that locked them inside with me.”
Scarlet throws her head back and cackles. “I would have paid to see that. What did they do?”
“I was unconscious for most of it.”
She swears. “It can be hard to moderate how much power you pour into your element while learning.”
“They’ve offered to train me.”
“What did you say?”
I release a shallow sigh. “I agreed. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Again. “And it’s not like I can go back to Earth and ask someone to train me. Plus, it would be supremely shitty of me to leave you here with them, especially when I haven’t added any hobbies to my list.”
She grins. “I fully support this. Forget about the imprints and the Veil Eclipse. For now, we’ll focus on two things: your elements and making the best of this wild-ass ride that fate has thrown us on. A private chef and a mansion can’t all be bad, right?”
I take in what Griffin has introduced as the home gym, already regretting that I assured Scarlet I’d be fine training alone this morning.
Yesterday, we spent the afternoon lounging in her room.
While she made lists that the guys had requested, I watched chibbits and other animals through the windows and asked about healing—specifically how my bones rebuilt so much faster than Chris’s burns.
Scarlet confirmed what Griffin had, that Daire being my Mate accelerated healing.
We talked without the weight of loaded questions until Lief brought us dinner—and kept talking until Scarlet insisted I needed rest. I reluctantly found myself back in my room, where I set a stack of books in front of the door before climbing into the giant bed that was too soft, too comfortable, and too foreign.
A boxing ring anchors the center of the room. Beyond it, workout equipment, a rock-climbing wall, and things I don’t recognize stretch below the house. It’s more intimidating than the men who own it.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Griffin says as Daire joins us.
“Like what?” I ask, looking at the ring again. “Like you’ve led me into the dungeon of death?”
Griffin’s laughter carries farther than it should, infiltrating a space in my chest that makes me want to rub the spot to soothe it.
“Combat training is just as essential as element training will be. There are charms and runes that can block our elements—and some dimensions where they aren’t accessible. You have to be ready for anything.”
“Physical stamina also prevents surges,” Daire adds.
“And allows you to keep up with us.” Griffin flashes me a wicked smile that definitely shouldn’t have my toes curling.
Despite my concerns, physical training is territory I know well. Though I left competitive basketball after high school, I developed my own workout routine in college and perfected it in prison, where being faster and stronger were as imperative as keeping my head down and eyes open.
“We’ll stretch first.” Daire gestures to the red mats.
“Really?”
His amber gaze sharpens with curiosity.
“I assumed that you guys didn’t have to stretch because your bodies are.
.. different.” Scarlet blew my mind again last night, explaining how Elementals don’t need to use the restroom because food is fuel for their cindrel.
That we only need five hours of sleep, and despite how much we sweat, body odor—like hair—doesn’t exist. Even our saliva is different, filled with properties that make toothbrushes and floss unnecessary.
I have no doubt that if I were facing Griffin, his eyes would spark with silent innuendos, but I wasn’t expecting to see those same cinders in Daire’s gaze. “Our bodies are different, but the premise remains the same. Stretching, breathing, training—they’re all essential for peak conditioning.”
The door opens, and Kai and Lochlan step into the gym.
It’s the first time I’ve seen Lochlan not in a suit. They’re both wearing basketball shorts and tees.
Holden glances up from where he’s bench pressing. He racks the weights and joins us on the red mat. I’m not sure why he bothered with the black tee, considering the sleeves have been ripped off, leaving gaping holes at each side that show off every rippling muscle in his chest and arms.
I try not to be intimidated as the others gather around, but between Lochlan’s towering presence, Kai’s silent confidence, and everyone’s chiseled muscles, it’s hard not to feel small—ordinary—in a room built for gods.
Lochlan moves to the edge of the mat and unfolds his long body as if to remind me it’s not just their upper bodies that are toned. Their thighs and calves also look like they’ve been carved from stone. I ignore them all, stretching my quads and hamstrings before moving to my arms and shoulders.
“Brielle, you’re with me,” Griffin says, nodding toward the far wall.
Relief trickles in when he stops at a row of treadmill-looking machines.
“Regardless of how strong your elements turn out to be, running should always be your first option,” he says, punching several buttons on the screen.
“Why does it sound like you’re giving yourself permission to wreck me?”
Griffin grunts as he gets on the treadmill beside me. “Hit the start button when you’re ready.”
I press the green button and fall into a slow jog. The pace climbs slowly, along with the incline, but my muscles welcome the familiar stretch and pull. With each stride, my thoughts quiet—the constant hum of anxiety fading.
When the machine begins to slow, I’m surprised by the disappointment blooming in my chest. I want to run farther and enjoy the peaceful silence my thoughts have found as exertion becomes my sole focus.
Griffin rakes his gaze across me. “Can you do more?”
I nod.
He grins before stripping off his tee. I forget how to breathe as I come face to face with his torso for a second time.
The pink marks that marred his skin are gone, but the imprint is there, leading from the middle of his chest, down his arm, across his palm, and ending at his ring finger.
I don’t have more than a second to marvel before we dive into a grueling routine of endless squats, burpees, squats, jumps, squats, and more squats that test my ability to remain conscious.
“One more round of stretching, and you’re done,” Griffin says.
I collapse on the mat, lacking any semblance of grace. I want to lie flat and take a nap. I want to curl up in a ball and avoid moving for the rest of the day. Instead, I force my limbs to complete every stretch and slowly drag myself upright.
My pride takes a nosedive as I spot Kai, his pecs and abs glistening as he bench presses more than four times my weight.
What’s worse, he’s not even winded. Beside him, Holden squats a loaded bar, every muscle in his legs and back looking like granite.
Nearby, Daire is doing pull-ups, his shoulders, back, and arm muscles rippling with every repetition.
I’ve spent the morning trying to ignore them, even Griffin, as much as I could, focused on staying alive and breathing as Griffin kept adding new reps and sets.
“Come on,” Daire says, dropping from the bar and striding over. “We’ll take a short break before breakfast, and then we’re going to test your fire element.”
“Not in the house,” Lochlan calls.
Daire flips him off, then follows me to the stairs with a gentle hand on my waist. He leads me to an area of the main floor I hadn’t seen until this morning, lined with doors that I don’t try to peek inside.
I slow as we reach the wall of windows on the second floor. The largest of the three moons looks close enough that I could reach out and touch it.
Daire threads his fingers with mine. “We’ll train outside today. Nature helps balance our Fae side.”
The word still lands wrong. Too big. Too impossible.
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” he says.
It is. Fae. Titans. Seelie Court. Gods. Elements. Mates. Powers I don’t understand. Instincts I can’t predict. The world keeps widening no matter how hard I try to keep my footing.
I stare out the window again, at the forest and the snow and the moons hanging impossibly close in the sky. For the first time since arriving here, the thought that keeps circling my mind isn’t escape.
It’s inevitability.
Earth isn’t an option—not really. Not when I don’t understand my own power. Not when losing control could mean hurting someone again. Not when there’s no one there who could teach me how to stop it.
I exhale slowly as I press my thumbs against the knuckles of my fingers, grounding myself in the present.
Running isn’t an option.
And for the first time, that realization doesn’t feel like a cage. It feels like a decision.