“I don’t know, to be honest. We felt a snap, like the power over the barriers justbroke. Everyone felt it while we were in town. As soon as we realized there were no limitations on our power, Miles and I took to our wolf form in search of you.” I contemplate what she is telling me. Debating what could have caused such a disturbance to the barriers here, but then I think about the feeling I got back at the cliff, and I know then. Raelle is the reason—she has to be—lost in thought I don’t hear Kait as she speaks to me again. “Dax?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking about what it could mean. What did you ask me?”
“How did you get out?”
“Flynn,” I answer. The shock of that answer is plain on her face, and I’m sure it mirrors my own surprise at the man who aided me. Isuppose even being close to those tainted by dark magic and a foul soul, one can still choose to follow their instinct and choose what is righteous. The realization washes over me in a wave, as though just the thought cleanses the stain I felt on my soul for so long. Miles’ words echo through my mind.
“You know who is truly responsible, but you refuse to see it. You know whose shadows were cast that night. I should have realized that you were blaming yourself before… “Take what is yours, Dax. Before it’s too late and someone else takes it from you.”
With a renewed sense of self-worth, I take Miles’ dying wish and lock it tight within my broken heart. The pieces fit together raggedly but are held together by the sure will to prove to him that I can be the man he thought me to be. I tilt my head up to the heavens and the stars that glimmer in the clear night sky. Closing my eyes, I say a silent thank you to the man I loved like a father, the one I owe my life, the one I will never be able to repay.
Kait and I gather all the branches and logs we can from the forest floor around us. Every one I move tugs at the vicious wounds on my back. Many times, the movement causes them to reopen and weep more blood. Kait has tried to get me to sit and let her do the work, but she should know better. I’ve always been a stubborn prick.
“I’ll grab his feet.” Her words are as vacant as her eyes, and I worry about all she has been through recently. I worry about everything we have all been through. Because of Cano. With much effort, we heave Miles atop the pyre and say our last goodbyes before sending his body to reunite with his soul in the afterlife. Kait and I stand silent for a moment before her tears fall and she nods her head. Using my fire element, I flick my wrist and ignite the wood under Miles.
Kait and I stand there silently as the fire consumes the man who saved my life by sacrificing his own. I watch the lick of the flames as grief thickens in my throat. Kait’s tears become choked sobs, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, and she wraps hers around my waist, careful not to brush the wounds on my back.
“He was a hard ass, but he would have sacrificed himself for any one of us.” She whispers.
“He would have. We are going to miss you, Miles. You were more of a father figure to me than my own father was at times. You taught me more about life and love than anyone. I will not take for granted the chance you’ve given me. I will make you proud.” Kait looks up at me with her brows furrowed.
“He was already proud of you, Dax.” I don’t argue with her because I know he would have said the same, but I’ve yet to do anything with my life to be proud of outside of marrying Raelle, and even that hardly feels like an accomplishment but rather luck of fate.
We don’t stick around after it’s lit. Miles would understand. We can’t be anywhere near here with such a fire that will surely attract attention, and with my escape not but mere hours ago, we have to keep going. I’m honestly surprised that Cano or his men haven't caught up to me yet. The thought brings me to wonder how Flynn is going to explain my disappearance. A worry for another day.
Kait and I drudge miles through the forest. Looking down at my booted feet, my lips press into a firm line. Another sacrifice Miles made for me.
“We need to make camp,” Kait says, whispering through panted breaths. She refuses to shift so she can walk with me, even though she is stronger and has more stamina in her wolf form. I nod my head in agreeance and look around the space we are currently in.The dip in the earth leaves the perfect cave-like wave in the earth, and I jut my chin out in the deepest area of the grove. She nods, and we make our way to the cover.
Wrapping myself in Miles’ cloak, I prop my head up on a bunch of fallen leaves. Careful not to be too rough with my still healing wounds and gaze into the sky. Clouds have rolled in and blocked out the stars, but for once, I am thankful for the shadows that are cast over me. Having their glimmering light shine down on me would only allow me to think about those who I’ve failed, and I know that could end up sending me into a spiral of self-loathing I know all too well.
Closing my eyes, I think of the only thing I can that has brought me from the edge too many times to count now. Raelle, the moon lighting the shadows of my life.
Sun filters through the canopy of trees that surround us. The flickering morning light warming my skin in patches. I stretch, feeling the tightness in the muscles of my back. The barriers being gone, my magic has healed me, only leaving silver and pink raised scars as proof of the Raskin attack. The wounds that littered my body from the fall the day before are gone too, no evidence ofthe struggle left behind. I feel remarkably better. Sitting up, I look around to find Kait gone, but there is a pulse of magic nearby that has my awareness tingling.
It’s been weeks since I’ve been away from her, but I would recognize that power with years separating us. Let’s hope that it will never come to that.
A smirk lifts the corner of my mouth as I hear the voice I’ve yearned for all this time. I brush the earth from my clothing and rustle the leaves from my hair before I walk silently from behind the cove in the forest—toward her.
Everything I’ve gone through fades at the sound of her laughter. Rounding the corner, my feet falter and heat rises from the center of my chest, but the vision of Raelle isn't the only thing bringing that fire to my belly. A cloaked figure stands tall at her side, nearly as tall as me. His fingers are splayed in a firm press on my mate’s lower back, bringing me to a halt. When she continues to laugh, turning to look up at the cloaked man and swatting him on the arm playfully—my broken heart nearly sputters to a stop—my magic ripples with the ungoverned fury building within me at the sight, and both of them turn to face me as they sense it.
The look on my face must worry the male because he quickly removes his hand from Raelle and puts a foot of distance between them. I’ve never been a jealous man, but hearing my mate react in such a playful way with a male I don’t know and having the audacity to touch her body?
Raelle looks between the two of us, and she lifts her hand, her small palm facing me. As though I am a threat, she aims to stop before I attack the male at her side. My jaw ticks in time with my pulse. The beat of my heart growing faster every second. Raelle turns to the male, whispering something undecipherable. I crackmy neck, tilting my head as I take in his familiar features. What is it about him that looks so familiar?
Raelle takes a step toward me, and finally, I tear my eyes away from the male and reallyseeher. Tears well in her eyes, as trepidation fills me with the thought that she has moved on. I was never worthy. Fear that my failure to listen to her pleas for me not to go into the duel with Cano—will outweigh any of the fragile feelings in the relationship we had just started to build on.
With a blink, the tears fall from her eyes, and with them, everything else around us falls away, and I close the space between us in seconds. Bracing her face in my hands, and hers wrap tightly around my wrists as we look into each other’s eyes. I kiss her tears away.
“I’m so sorry, Raelle. Please—forgive me.” I beg her, my voice breaking. She begins shaking her head, a sob coming from her parted lips, before her hands release my wrists and dig into my hair as she pulls it at the root. Pulling me closer, she steals my lips in an unforgiving kiss. My lips part for her, and our tongues clash, our hands wander, and our eyes close as we just absorb each other. The weight of everything crashing down on us, and we are just us, and nothing else matters.
I drop to my knees, and she falls with me, wrapping her body around mine. I pull her back so I can look into her eyes. The deep green is even brighter with the tears staining her face.
“They told me you were dead. Everyone believed you were. I didn’t. I wouldn't believe it, not for a moment. You told me you would never leave…You didn’t leave me. You’re here. Oh gods. You’re here!” Her cries make birds take flight, and I brush the hair that has fallen into the salt streams on her face away. The momentis shattered when the male clears his throat behind her, and my eyes drag up to meet his over Raelle’s head.
“Dax… So much has happened since the duel. So much I need to talk to you about.” She looks between all of the faces watching her. “This is Alaric.” Letting her gaze settle back to me, but I don’t take mine off the male.
“I know.”
