He sucked in a breath, his surroundings flooding back.
What just happened?
“Kai!” he shouted as he struggled against his restraints. Blood rushed from his face when he saw her on the floor next to him, clutching at her bruised throat.
“Kai, sweetheart, I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean to, I swear—Jade! Let me out of this!” Aidan bellowed at Jade, twisting against her restraints as he frantically tried to get to his wife.
Jade hesitated, then flicked her wrist. The vines fell to the floor, and he crawled to Kai’s side, helping her sit up while gently moving a strand of hair away from her face. He glanced down at her neck, the imprint his fingers left still pulsating as she breathed in and out. When he lightly brushed his knuckles against the forming bruise, she flinched.
He tore his hand away, hating himself more than he’d ever hated anything in his life. He shouldneverbe the one to put fear in her eyes.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered, looping his other arm under her legs and carrying her to the bed. Setting her down, he kissed her on the forehead, then darted out the door before either of them could say anything.
He did not fail to notice that she didn’t call after him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kai
“Areyousureyou’realright?”
“Yes, Jade, for the fifth time—I’m fine. I’ve been through worse,” Kai assured her with a wry smile. She sat on her bed with Jade at her side, taking in the aftermath of her and Aidan’s fight. Scorch marks littered the floor, wine stains crawled down the wall, and water dripped from the dresser and window.
“I cannot believe Aidan hurt you. Why would that ‘dark god,’”—Jade said the term mockingly—“turn him against you? And how could Aidan not fight it?” Her friend crossed her arms and leaned against the bed frame next to Kai. “I was so scared when I saw him on top of you, Kai. I didn’t know what to think.”
Kai rubbed her neck, trying to chase away the ghost of his fingers. She reminded herself that the terrifying, enraged man who’d been before her wasn’therAidan.
A little voice inside nudged at her mind, whispering “Butit was, once.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to have the dark god inside your head. I didn’t remember who any of you were when it happened to me on the ship.” Kai shuddered. “It’s impossible to fight. Terrifying. And…thrilling.” She absentmindedly summoned a trickle of water and watched it slither like a snake across her fingers. “It’s like a very small piece has been tucked away inside of you, a part of yourself you would never want anyone to see…and he pulls it out. He makes it easy to give in.” She let the water fade back into her skin. Standing, she padded over to the windowsill, taking in the night sky and the fresh white blanket coating the ground. It had finally stopped snowing.
“He’s gotten in your head, that’s all,” Jade said from behind her. “He’s twisted things around, but we won’t let him control us anymore, Kai. Wewillfix this.”
Kai smiled softly to herself. Her noble friend, her valiant protector. Jade simply didn’t understand, and Kai prayed to whatever gods were still out there that Jade would never have to face the mysterious man herself.
She turned back to Jade. “I know we will. But first, I have to fix something else.”
“Are you going to find Aidan?”
Kai nodded. “But not because I’m angry.” The appalled look on Jade’s face would have been amusing under normal circumstances. Kai loved her dearly, but Jade could sometimes let her polarizing way of thinking cloud her ability to see past initial wrongdoing. Rynn was the same way. But Kai knew how complex her encounter with Aidan was; she held no animosity toward him for what he’d done. It wasn’t his fault, and she didn’t think she had the strength to hold anything else against him.
“I’m serious, Jade. Honestly, I’m the only one who knows what he went through. And while that may not have been him, his rage stemmed from somewhere. If we want to stand a chance against the dark god, it’s time we finally worked things out.”
Not to mention salvaging what was left of their relationship. She wasn’t sure if that was possible after what she had to tell him tonight. She slipped off her robe and pulled on a pair of black leggings, a green sweater, and her cloak.
Jade leaned forward. “I doubt he went back to his room. He looked so broken, Kai. He could be anywhere.”
“Oh, I know where he went. It’s where he always goes when he’s lost.” Kai finished lacing her boots and walked toward the bedroom door, turning back to Jade. “The water.”
Sure enough, when Kai came upon the river by the inn, there was a figure braced against a tree overlooking the black waters.
Aidan had never found comfort and guidance in his element the way she did with her own. Kai suspected it was because his fire was the source of his passion and desire, so he didn’t feel comfortable looking to it for peace. He’d never admitted as much.
But whenever he felt lost or defeated, he always turned to water. To her.
“I don’t think I ever told you why I chose the River Isles to settle down for the long sleep.” The low timbre of his voice floated to her. He still faced the river but must have heard her footsteps. She came to a stop a few steps to his left, looking out onto the icy river and pulling her cloak tighter around her body. The water lapped in gentle rushes against the rocky bank.
“Do you remember a couple thousand years ago when the four of us went on a trip to visit the other kingdoms?” he asked. “We traveled every inch of the three islands. Almost froze our toes off whale hunting in north Evonlea, jumped off the cliffs of Aataran, watched the sunset over the Wyndsor Sea.” She could hear a smile in his voice. “We rode camels across the sand dunes of Ara Mir to the jewel caverns. I remember that being your favorite part. We had to get an entire crate to hold all the gemstones you bought.”
