“Yes,” the man said, smiling at Ena. Fuck him for doing that. “I thought about it all night, and I want to come with you. I want to help.”
“Oh, Cris,” Ena said, rushing towards him and hugging him. “I’m so glad. So, so glad. I can’t tell you what it means to me to have your support.”
Ena continued talking, thanking him, but all Ty could focus on was the twisting in his gut that occurred watching the two of them hug.
“I know this is huge, so huge. And a lot to take in, but I swear, this will be for the better. For everyone,” she continued.
“I know. I think so too,” Cris said solemnly. “But I still have a lot of questions.”
“I’m sure you do,” Ena was saying, nodding at him. “I promise we’ll answer whatever questions you have.”
“Oh, and here.” Cris swung his pack to the ground and rummaged through it for a minute before pulling out two glass vials with cork stoppers. “I brought these for you. They should help expedite your healing.”
“Oh Cris, thank you,” Ena said, sounding immensely grateful. “You didn’t have to do that. I swear I’m fine. I’m healing.”
“I know, but you should take them anyway. Please.”
Ena nodded, and uncorked the first vial, giving it a sniff. “Bone-stitching potion,” she says, smiling at him before cautiously tipping it into her mouth and swallowing. “And this?” she asked, bringing the next one to her nose again.
“Blood elixir,” Ena and Cris said at the same time. Both of them smiled at their synchronicity.
“Yes,” Cris said. “It’s likely not as good as yours would be, but I had some left over from a recent batch and thought it would help with your bruising.”
Ena smiled and tipped the contents back into her mouth, grimacing slightly at the taste. “Thank you,” she said, returning the two empty vials to Cris, who stashed them in his pack.
Finally emerging from the tent, Turner looked sluggish but awake, and Ty was grateful for the distraction. He really didn’t want to keep looking at Cris and Ena—how perfect they seemed together made him both want to throttle Cris, just fucking strangle the Iblis-damned life out of him and simultaneously stab himself in the heart so he’d have a physical wound to show for this pain inside him.
“Looks like we’ve got a new addition,” Turner said, smiling widely in that friendly way of his. “Happy to have you.” He approached Cris and extended his hand out.
Cris took it cautiously and shook Turner’s hand, some of the tension in the group dissipating with the action.
Ena beamed, clearly feeling immensely relieved that they had succeeded. “Alright then,” she said. “One down, one to go.”
***
The four of them headed west again, cutting through the backcountry. They planned to join back up with the Western Road once it got closer to Occidens, but Ty knew that would be a tricky endeavor no matter what, given how recognizable he and Ena were to Occidens witches.
They would have to figure out a plan for that once they got closer—who to contact, and how, but for now, everyone seemed to be riding the high of their most recent success.
Everyone except for Ty, of course, who was staring daggers at Cris where he sat behind Ena on her horse.
Apparently, the man had thought it was too risky for him to take one of the Coven’s horses. He worried that it would’vedrawn too much attention, since his leaving was not sanctioned by the matriarch.
So now, Ty was watching them ride together as he shared her horse and he couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful curve of her ass, the feel of which he could so viscerally remember cupping—squeezing—in his hand the last time they’d fucked by the hot springs, nestled up againsthisthighs. The thought made him murderous.
He supposed he should be grateful that the man had come with them, and brought those potions for Ena, something Ty was incapable of doing for her, but instead, all he felt was rage. Ty spent most of the morning sitting grumpily atop his horse and barely speaking a word, until Turner rode up next to him, ostensibly to hand him an apple as a snack, and gave him a look that screamed “fuckingchill.”
After that, he tried hard to take his mind off it, focusing on the positives. They had an Auster and an Aquilo witch now. That was huge. They only needed one more from Occidens and then they’d finally be able to do it—they’d finally be able to break the spell. Everything he’d worked so hard for, everything that had happened to Petyr, everything Ena had been through, all of it would be worth it if they broke the spell, he told himself.
He loathed Cole and everything about the way he ran the Underworld. Breaking the spell would break his hold on the place and pave the way for a new era. Then, if they could find a way to get rid of him, Ty could be king and finally take care of his people the way they needed. They could emerge from the Underworld one day, and everything would be as it should. He wouldn’t have to hide and downplay his witch-half; he could worship Gaia, too, if he chose.
He repeated these things in his head, and tried to force himself to focus on them, but somehow, even with their victory closerthan ever, it felt increasingly hollow without the one thing he truly wanted—the one thing he could never fully have.
Up ahead, he was distracted from his thoughts when Turner struck up a conversation with Ena and the new witch. It was mostly “How’s it going?” and “Do you think we should stop soon?” until Turner clearly got around to the topic he wanted to discuss in the first place.
“So, can I ask, what made you decide to join us?” he asked Cris.
Cris shrugged nonchalantly, as if the answer was obvious. “I trust Ena. I know she wouldn’t lie about any of the things she told me, and neither would Gaia. When she gave Ena that vision, she gave it to her for a reason, and I’m willing to trust that too. Besides, the amulet is clearly powerful. I’ve never felt anything like it, and you can’t fake that.”
