The bear’s ruby red eyes turned to me, a huff coming from her maw.
“We’re here to ask for your help. We’re looking for your queen. I believe she’s in danger and needs to be saved, but in order to get to her, we need safe passage through the landscape, and rather quickly.”
The ceraber whined. I assumed it was at the mention of her queen being in danger. My heart tugged for her. She’d never even met her queen, but it was clear she was loyal through and through to Gray.
“Would you be willing to help us get to her, to bring her back here to safety?”I asked.
Another whine careened from her throat just before she lowered herself onto her front paws and then hind legs until she lay flat on the ground.
Onyx looked at me, bewilderment on his face, just before he nudged me forward by my shoulder. I staggered forward, unsure if this was what she meant. I assumed if she didn’t want us sitting on her back, then she would have no qualms in letting us know.
The bear appeared at peace, breathing softly as her red eyes softened. I glided my palm gently over her coarse fur. Her body was solid, and the hair felt almost impenetrable.“Thank you,”I said to her mentally.
The beast cut her eyes to me where I stood at her side, longing and sadness sitting heavy within them.
I continued to slide my hand from her shoulder to her side. Even with her lying down, she was still too large to climb, and I was six feet tall. I shot Onyx a look that said, “How the fuck am I supposed to get up there?”
He joined me at the bear’s side, gently stroking the same spot on her shoulder before he turned me. “I’ll give you a leg up.”
I cocked an eyebrow.“Do you not remember the rooftop fiasco? I feel like this won’t be much different.”
Onyx rolled his eyes. “Shut up and give me your foot.”
“All right then, I see your tastes have changed.”I lifted one leg while Onyx squatted down, laced his fingers together, and cupped the bottom of my foot in them.
“Bend your other knee when I get to three, and I’ll give you a boost as you push back up. Just don’t jump,” Onyx said.
“I don’t even want to know where or why you’ve learned something like this.”
“Blame Chrome,” was all he said before he started to count to three.
I did as he suggested, believing I’d live to regret it, and bent downat the count of three and pushed off afterward. With the momentum, he pushed me up, and I used the ceraber’s back as leverage as I swung my free leg around to straddle the top of her.
Relieved I made it up without face-planting, I then pondered how the fuck we were to get Onyx up next.
Leaning down, I reached my hand out for him to grab onto. Onyx shook his head. “Nah, I’ll just get a running start.”
Once again, I got flashbacks to the time he attempted to leap rooftops when we were teens and nearly missed.
“It’s fine. I mastered the art of jumping and utilizing my power since the last time you saw me.” He waved me off as he spun around and strode away from the bear and me.
I sat back, relaxing onto the ceraber’s spine as I narrowed my eyes, waiting to see if Onyx would embarrass himself again. Many years had passed, and if he’d been Chrome’s second-in-command to the Elementals all this time, surely he would’ve improved his skills since I’d seen him last.
Once Onyx had apparently deemed that he’d given himself enough distance, he shook out his arms and puffed out a breath in preparation. With no warning, he bounded toward the bear and me, running at full speed. The look of concentration etched onto his face made me grin as he neared.
I held my breath as he leaped and then soared. Without thinking, I reached out my hand, giving him something to latch onto to give him a smooth landing. He clasped onto it, using it to steady himself as he straddled the bear’s back behind me. I clutched the bag containing food and water that lay nestled between my legs.
The ceraber grunted with his landing, but she made no move to remove us. Instead, she lifted up onto her hind legs, followed by her front, until she was back on all fours again. I didn’t exactly have anything to grasp onto. It wasn’t like she was a horse where I could grip her mane or a saddle. So I squeezed my knees into her sides. Moments later, I felt a pair of hands slide around my torso until they were locked into place against my stomach. Myheart flipped, but instead of letting him know that I subconsciously liked it, I said,“Stop finding every excuse to touch me.”
“Would you rather me fall to my death?” Onyx’s husky voice rumbled in my ear, and I closed my eyes to fight off the temptation to lean back into him.
“Yes.”
The Celestial animal began to move, and I momentarily panicked, my body stiffening as I wondered how the hell I was to stay mounted on top of her.
“Relax, Sjodin,” came Onyx’s voice in my ear again. “I got you.”
“I’m fine,”I argued, although I certainly was not fine.
