“Are you sure about this?” Suryn stops and turns to ask me.
I see a hint of nerves or maybe uncertainty in her features.
“Yes,” I confirm.
I watch her take a deep fortifying breath and then nod.
“Suryn,” I call out as she starts to turn around, “we’re here if you need anything,” I offer.
She squares her shoulders and gives me a small smile. Thethank youis evident in her eyes, but she doesn’t say another word as she turns around and makes her way back to the castle. I watch her and my Chosen go, and feel a keen sense of peace wash over me. This is right, and I can feel the confirmation of that in my bones.
“So,” I start as I turn to Enoch, Kallan, Becket and Nash, “let’s talk about us.”
I snort out a laugh at the needy girlfriend sounding shit that just came out of my mouth. They groan playfully and laugh too.
“The dreadedwhere is this goingtalk,” Kallan teases, and I grin.
“The very one,” I confirm and start walking down the street again.
They fall into step beside me, and we all go quiet for a bit.
“So what do you want to do?” I finally ask, and I don’t know why, but the question makes me sad.
I feel like I already know what’s going to happen, but I need to hear them say it. I’m excited for them, rooting for them, and I’m also bummed that we won’t be around each other in the same way we have been since the elders moved me into their house.
“We’re still not unanimous on that front yet,” Kallan throws out there, and I meet each one of their gazes in turn.
“Still split down the middle?” I question.
“Uh...no. Becket is the only one who doesn’t want to stay,” Enoch informs me.
My eyebrows twitch up in surprise, and I turn to Becket. He rolls his eyes and huffs out a breath.
“I know I should hate you. The night you told me about my dad, I decided right then and there that I would always hate you.” Becket trails off, his voice cracking with emotion, and I nod and look away, giving him space to collect his thoughts.
“When Adriel took me, when I found out that you were telling the truth about my dad, it didn’t change things for me the way I thought it would. Truth or not, I was going to hate you all the same. But that plan got a lot harder when we were in the cell together, because I hated you, but I also started to respect you too,” he tells me softly, and I can hear the conflict in his voice.
“I don’t know Suryn, and I don’t feel all twitterpated or curious about her like they do,” he tells me, gesturing to the rest of his coven. “I respect you, Vinna. Fuck, I even admire you despite my efforts not to,” he admits with an amused grunt.
I grin and shake my head.
“Your magic marked me as your Shield, and I just can’t bring myself to abandon that or you in hopes that some other Sentinel chick will eventually throw us her occasional table scraps,” Becket finishes.
Enoch scoffs and opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
“I don’t know if I would have come out of that cell the same, or maybe even at all, if it hadn’t been for you being there, Becket. So I just want you to know that the feeling is mutual,” I tell him, and he gives me a nod and a small smile.
“When Getta was telling me about where Sentinels come from and about my abilities, she said something about you guys that I’ve been thinking about ever since.”
Someone steps out of their house on our right and fists their hand over their bicep to us. I smile at them and wonder if that gesture will ever stop meaning so much to me. We continue to stroll down the circular street, and I take another second to collect my thoughts.
“So I brought up the wholetrust the magicthing to her. My magic marked you for a reason, and that was pretty much that to me. But she made a good point. Yes, I marked you guys for a reason, but was that reason really mine, or could it be something or someone else’s? Maybe I marked you to lead you here. So you would meet Suryn.”
They all kind of nod thoughtfully but stay quiet.
“I’ve been trying to think that through since then, and this is what I’ve come up with. When you all showed up at my house with marks, I felt this underlying need to keep you with me.”
“You mean, after you felt the overwhelming need to gut us, right?” Kallan teases, and we all laugh.
