“As you wish,” Savine said. He handed her the flowers he had picked.
“I didn’t say thank you before. For saving me. Thank you for that. And for letting me return home.” Avery put out her hand to shake Savine’s. He took it, but with trepidation, and the strange warmth tightened around their touch. Savine’s nostrils flared, his pupils dilated, and he pulled his hand away. The void left by his hand sent a chill across Avery. Their touch seemed to have ruffled his composure. She thought she’d seen something soften in him, but in the flash of a moment, he was back to the stoic and grumpy rebel leader.
“You are welcome, Avery Hollis. Be well,” Savine said.
“Now, how do I open the portal?” she said.
Savine walked to a nearby crystal. “I found you here. Perhaps you need to touch the crystal to return home.”
Avery reached out to the crystal. It was cool to the touch. She waited for a whirring sound, for a blinding light, but nothing happened.
Chapter eleven
Savine
Savine stood frozen near the temple. He watched to see if Avery would return to Montana, but nothing happened. She looked back at him. Her face was laced with puzzlement and apprehension. Savine did not speak. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. As he watched Avery touch the rock, he sent a silent prayer to the Goddess. Not a prayer that she could stay, but that the Goddess’s will would be done. That Althea would decide their fates. He knew she already would, but he could not help but pray at this moment.
Seconds passed and still nothing happened. Avery began kicking the rock and pacing around the nearby crystals. She looked back at him with an anguished face. Her chin trembled, and she turned her wide, brown eyes down to the ground. She looked like she may cry.
Without warning, she threw down the flowers Savine had picked for her and began stomping on them. Savine hadn’t meant the flowers to be meaningful. He didn’t know why he’d picked the flowers for Avery, anyway. Just a nice gesture, he supposed. Since they didn’t mean anything, he didn’t know why his heart jolted with a tiny ache to see her stomp on them.
“SHIT! FUCK! NO! NO!” she yelled. Avery unclipped her backpack and threw it across the peak. Savine watched it tumble down the jagged crystals.
She threw herself on the ground and let out a long, loud, guttural yell. It was a sound of utter anguish, yet Savine stayed back. He wanted to go to her. To pick up her body and hold her close. He wanted to take that anguish from her. The need to help her felt instinctual, and maybe it was from all the times he’d suffered alone. But he didn’t go to her. It wasn’t his place. Instead, he walked down the mountain to where her backpack stopped rolling. He picked the backpack up and carried it into the temple.
When Savine came back outside, Avery was no longer yelling. She was on the ground sobbing. Her blonde hair cascaded in front of her face, and her strange pants had a tear on the knee. He touched her shoulder, and she looked up at him. Her eyes were puffy from tears, her skin blotchy, and she had snot running down her face. Her arms were sliced from where she’d fallen on the jagged quartz.
Savine scooped Avery into his arms and whispered to her, “Shh, Avery, it will be okay. We'll find another way to get you home.” Did he mean that? He was prepared to use her to gain a kingdom and knew that Avery would not be going back to the human realm. What part of him wanted her happiness over his own needs?
Avery looked into his eyes. Her deep brown eyes were lined with red. She did not say a word, only let out a sad moan. She leaned her head on Savine’s shoulder and continued crying while Savine carried her into the small building carved of quartz. The fae used this sacred temple for supplication before the Premier Goddess. Starkly empty and small, it was a tight space for the two of them.
Savine placed Avery on the cold, crystal floor. She folded her legs under her, and she stared at the wall. She was no longer crying, but this stillness was more concerning than the emotions she showed minutes ago.
“Can I get you something from your bag?” Savine asked. He hoped she would drink some water, eat some food, or even go to sleep. Anything that showed she was still there. When she didn’t respond, Savine walked outside of the room and stood on the crystals, listening to the breeze on the high mountain.
He got what he hoped for. Avery didn’t leave. She did not choose to stay, but he knew she would not make that choice. It was as he suspected. This unique little woman remained in Aeritis, and their lives seemed entangled in his purpose.
Instead of feeling happiness, Savine felt a knot growing in the pit of his stomach. He needed to devise a way to keep her alive. Forces beyond him would rally to capture Avery, especially if anyone knew she was touched by the Goddess. His mind drifted to the night that he had tried to remove from his memory. The night the trees woke him from his sleep and led him to the place where starlight and tiny flowers pelted him as he huddled in fear. The prophecy that followed said the two born of one womb would return. Did that refer to Avery?
Savine had to be careful with his next move. They would need to keep her protected. She would have to be trained to fight and somehow pull the magic that lurked within her forward. Only then could he train her to defeat the Latian King.
She was so raw and broken. He never saw someone cry as much as she did. Her despair was tangible and etched on her face. Humans must be very emotional creatures to react in such a visceral way. A fae would never show such emotion. Whether for better or worse, they were not prone to great emotions, unless their mates were involved.
Savine could see her outline in the temple. She was still in the same position as when he left. The evening light dipped low, and still she did not move. At last, as darkness crept into the mountains, Savine approached the temple. “Avery, can I help you with anything?” Averydidn’t move. She didn’t seem to hear him. He walked closer to her and laid a large hand on her slim, but toned shoulder.
Avery’s eyes locked onto his. “Leave me!” she shouted. The sound of her voice echoed through the small room. His sensitive fae hearing rang. Savine’s stomach twisted, knowing that Avery was in pain and there was nothing he could do to comfort her.
“I know you are disappointed, Avery. But I will help you in our world. I will—”
“I don’t want your help! Leave me alone!” Avery shouted. She stood up, moving across the small building with such unexpected speed and grace that Savine was caught off guard when Avery flung herself against him. She pounded her small fists against his chest. It didn’t hurt Savine. More like being pummeled by an angry child. It made him think back to his sister. She’d hit him the same way once. Shortly after, she entered her adolescence and was raging at Savine for leaving her with their parents.
Just as he had with Kyla, he didn’t bother fighting back. He let her smack him around as she yelled and cried. There would be a time when he’d teach her how to make those hits count. How to use her slight frame to her advantage, but this was not that day.
With each strike, the subtle thrum of magic coursed from Avery’s skin and into him. The warm, pulsing pull of the magic was intoxicatingly sweet, like that strange human food. Did humans gifted with magic come by it naturally, like the fae? Or was it something that she’d need training in to be unleashed?
Those old fae tales always mentioned the evil human witches drawing magic from the world and its surroundings. Maybe she was manipulating him with her magic and she didn’t realize it.
Finally, Avery stopped beating Savine. Her head rested against his chest, and she let out an animalistic cry. Savine wrapped his arms around Avery and whispered soothing words to calm her.
