“Cris, as in the boy you danced with at Litha all those years ago?” Ty asked, his dark eyebrows raising.
Fuck. So much for keeping that information to herself. Did the man remember everything?
Ena cleared her throat awkwardly. “Yes, one and the same. I’m surprised you remember that.”
“I told you, I never forgot.” His stare was intense, filled with so much that neither of them could say, and Ena had to look away, breaking their eye contact by focusing on her jerky instead.
Thank Gaia for Turner, who chose this opportune moment to chime in.
“I’m on board with this plan, but how will you get the message to him?”
“I don’t know exactly. Maybe I could use my Gift to sneak into his house and leave him a note, ask him to meet me somewhere safe to talk? He lives with his brothers, so I’ll have to get around them, but that’s the best I can think of right now.”
“That could work,” Turner replied, nodding as he contemplated her plan. “But what will you…say? You know, once we meet with him, to convince him to help us.”
“I don’t know,” Ena said, sighing. “Witches are taught from such a young age to be mistrustful of daemons, so it won’t be easy. I’m just sort of…hoping that part will work itself out.”
Turner snorted. “Barely a plan in place for an absolute long shot. We certainly are a delusional bunch. What do you think,Ty?” he added, looking over at Ty where he stood, his body now backlit by the rising sun as it crested over the mountains.
“It’s a good plan,” Ty replied gently, nodding at Ena. “But no, I don’t think we’re delusional for having hope,” he said, looking at Turner. “Sometimes hope is the only thing we have, and personally, I’ve never regretted living for it.”
Ty walked away to mount up, his words still echoing through Ena’s head, and together they rode on, clinging to their slivers of hope.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Ena
Theykeptthepacereasonable for Ena’s sake and she appreciated it. She was still incredibly sore and the constant jostling from the horse was uncomfortable, but at least she was sitting down, so she counted that among her blessings from Gaia.
The greater blessing, though, was that the further they got from the Chasm Mountains—traveling inland towards the Aquilo Coven—the more the trees began to come back. Ena felt increasingly at home amongst the evergreen and deciduous mix as the landscape became more forested and familiar. There were squirrels, and birds she recognized, and it soothed her broken heart to be with them again.
Ty said they were only a few days out from Aquilo. Ena had visited their Coven many times over the years, but she’d never realized how close it was to the entrance of the Underworld—although she supposed there was no way she could have knownthat, given how intentionally secretive the daemons were about it.
The three of them fell into a routine over the next few days—riding during the day, setting up camp at night. She was grateful she’d packed two cloaks, because winter had deeply set in while she’d been underground, and although there wasn’t currently snow on the ground, she Knew it could fall at any time.
Ena found herself mostly riding next to Turner or by herself during the day, for obvious reasons, but when they were on their last day of travel, Mahnin got distracted by some delicious ferns, and Ena found herself falling back next to Ty.
She figured it would be rude to make her horse speed up just to get away from him, so she lingered, but Gaia, just being near him was hard. Hearing his breathing, the way his body moved, the way he sat stoically upon his horse, rocking side to side with its motion. Every single thing about him made her heart ache for what she couldn’t have. She was sad about it, obviously, but more than that, it made her mad—so fucking mad—and that was an emotion she wasn’t really used to.
It made her want to lash out and yell at him, or entertain fantasies of riding back to the Underworld and stabbing Cole through the gut with a sword, as if it were all his fault that Ty was the heir and they couldn’t be together. Which, if she were being honest, she knew it wasn’t. It wasn’t Ty’s fault either. It was no one’s, and that made it all the more hard to bear. And while she knew she should just focus on the task ahead of them, and look forward to reuniting with her Coven, being near him like this—all the fucking time—made it almost impossible to do.
The two of them had been riding in silence for a while, Turner several horse lengths ahead of them, when Ty finally spoke.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, the sound of his deep voice startling Ena.
She looked over at where he sat atop his horse, his gaze appraising her as she rode. “Everything still hurts,” she said. “But it’s better than it was.”
“Good,” he said, returning his eyes forward. “If it’s ever too much and you want a longer break, just let me know, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied.
“I know that you…that we…” he began awkwardly. “I just want you to know, I heard you, before we left the Underworld, and I understand.”
“You understand?” she asked, confusion filling her. Part of her was glad he understood and didn’t blame her for ending things between them, but another irrational part wasn’t sure if she wanted him to understand. Part of her, the weaker part, wanted him to fight, to tell her this wasn’t the way, and make her take it all back.
“I do,” he said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “You were right. I can’t protect youandserve my people. I know that I failed you. I just want you to know that I’m sorry, and I understand.”
Failed her? Is that what he thought? She didn’t see it that way. No one could reasonably be expected to protect her in those circumstances, with so many enemies, and so much threatening both of them.
