I didn’t answer at first, mulling over the question. It shouldn’t have startled me the way it had. Except that the only thing I had done to warrant any sort of trust was to be nice to her. The two times I had really opened up to her and been honest had been the time in the underground spring and when she had told me about her powers. Even the last time, I had been more concerned about her powers.
Oz was right—I hadn’t given her much to trust me about. Most of the time, I had been taciturn and surly. No wonder she didn’t want much to do with me right now.
Oz watched with a shrewd smirk, eyes dancing as he gave a satisfied nod. “Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought,” he said, then let out a low breath. “Look. I’m not going to tell you what to do. That’s on you to figure out. But you at least have to understand that she needs to see that you really care about her if she’s going to trust you.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” I growled.
“By controlling her and telling her things are too dangerous? What if, you know, you showed you trusted her and helped her stay safe by working with her instead of trying to keep her from helping?”
My wolf snarled on instinct at the suggestion. It was still putting her in danger, even if I was there to help. At the same time, I saw the logic through that gut rejection. She was going to help regardless, and she had every right to do so. I didn’t feel bad about trying to protect her, but there were extenuating circumstances, and Oz was right: There were other ways to protect her without stopping her from helping. The most I could do right now was make sure she stayed safe while she put herself in danger.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Oz shrugged, flashing one of his amused grins. “I mean, it’s all sort of common sense, when you’re not too stubborn and pigheaded to figure it out. You just have to think for a few seconds.”
I let out a low growl, which only made Oz laugh, his eyes crinkling. “You’re impossible sometimes,” I said.
“Maybe, but I’m right, and I’ll definitely take that trade-off. Besides, who else is going to point out the obvious to you when you’re being dense?”
I shoved him as he continued chortling to himself. My lip twitched upward despite myself.
“Smug prick,” I grumbled with no real malice.
“Yeah, but I have every right to be so,” Oz said, shrugging as he smirked. “I’m just that amazing. And look—I see that smirk. I almost never get you to smile. Clearly, I’m doing something right.”
That took me by surprise, even as I realized he was right. When had I started smiling more easily? I knew the answer. It was Liv, and that infectious personality of hers. Even when I hadn’t realized it, she had rubbed off on me, giving me some of her best qualities in a way I couldn’t have imagined anyone doing, not unless…
There’s no such thing as fated mates, my father’s voice snarled in my head.Anyone who thinks otherwise is selling something. If you fall in line with that nonsense, then you’re nothing more than a gullible idiot. Don’t be a weakling.
As much as I hated to admit it, those words burned inside me, searing my brain despite myself. Except for the first time, I started having doubts, because there was no way I could feel this strongly about her if there wasn’t some veracity to it.
I could worry about that later. For the time being, all that mattered to me was getting through the next few hours alive and keeping Liv safe. I could worry about the rest later.
Chapter 21 - Liv
I bit my lip so hard that I was surprised I didn’t break the skin as I hunched over the notes Emma, Rachel, and I had scribbled together. We had a plan of sorts. But it didn’t feel like enough.
“The important thing is getting near the spring and giving us enough time there to figure out what’s going on,” Emma said.
“We should leave the spring to you,” Rachel chimed in. “Considering you’re the one with an affinity toward water. Do you think you can restart it?”
“I hope so.” Emma bit her lip. “It’s not as though I’ve tried it before, but if it’s similar to what was going on with that riverbed, then it shouldn’t be too difficult. You think you’ll be able to keep the wraith at bay?”
Rachel nodded. “The second it comes close, I can blast it with fire. It’ll stay away, assuming it doesn’t want to turn to glass.”
I stayed silent, looking at the chicken-scratch handwriting on the pages in front of us. We had what one might consider a plan. Except it mostly involved me sitting on the sidelines being useless. I had nothing to contribute. I was too inexperienced with my powers. Even then, it wasn’t as though making lamps fly around a cavern was going to do any of us any good.
Rachel raised her eyebrow, knowing me as well as she always had. I swore that sometimes she could read my mind, or near enough. She stared me down.
“You’re not useless here, Liv,” Rachel said.
I raised my eyebrows. “I barely understand my powers right now,” I said. “And you both have tangible things that make you useful. Elemental powers give you a distinct purpose. You know what you can do. Right now? I can just make things fly around rooms without much control. That doesn’t exactly feel useful to me, not considering what we’re up against.”
“That’s just silly,” Rachel said. “And it’s not like you to be pessimistic. The more of us there are, the better.”
“You know, it’s funny you talk about elemental bits,” Emma said as she studied me. “Because I’ve been thinking that the more we’ve been practicing with you, the more your powers remind me of air. Think about it—you can make things fly around. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t somehow tied to that, even tangentially.”
I made ahmmsound as I drummed my fingers on my thigh. There was some merit to that theory. It didn’t make me feel any better.
