Her stirring woke Savine and he pulled her close into his embrace. The hard ridge of his muscular stomach pressed against her own body, and she relished in his warmth and comfort as she shared her concerns about Morgan.
“At some point we are going to have to address this situation,” Savine spoke up. “If you think she wants to return home, weneed to get her to Latiah. Raikin said Kinlon told him the key to returning is having a piece of the land from the other side of the portal. It will work as a key to get the traveler back.”
Avery’s eyes widened and she hopped out of bed, running to her backpack stashed away in the closet. She dug through the top pocket of her bag, finding the chunk of quartz that Morgan gave her.
“I’ve had the key all this time,” Avery whispered.
Savine looked at her with a pained expression as she slipped back into bed and under the fur covers. Avery gave him a teasing tap on his bicep.
“Don’t look so worried. I don’t want to leave you,” she said, nuzzling against the scratch of his beard.
“I still won’t stop you, if that’s what you want. I only want you to be happy. I can survive anything, knowing you’re happy.”
Avery shook her head and smiled. “It’s crazy to think that if I hadn’t thrown this rock against the tent I was staying in at the encampment, I’d have gone back to Montana that day you brought me up Quartz Mountain. I’m happy it didn’t happen, Savine. I don’t want to live my life without you.”
Savine pressed a kiss to her forehead. “But we could use this to help Morgan return home. It would be a challenging journey to get to Quartz Mountain this time of year. It may not even be possible, with the snow in the high country.”
“We need to get her back. I think she’d tolerate a few months in Orofine if she knew she was going home. I’m worried about her, this morning in particular. It feels like something is very, very wrong.”
Savine stroked Avery’s hair. “We’ll get her back, Little Flower. I’ll do anything to help you.”
Avery wrapped her leg between Savine’s, pressing cold toes to his bare skin. He let out a hiss, but didn’t fight her as she pressed her lips to his.
Savine pulled back, looking down at her. “Would you return if you could do it safely? If you could go back and forth freely? It doesn’t seem like it is impossible now.”
Avery’s answer came quickly. “If I could freely go back and forth between the two realms I’d do it. I want my parents to know I’m okay, and I would want them to meet you. If this was a reality, I’d want to bring you home for our holidays. We could celebrate Thanksgiving with the Hollis Family, and take you skiing on Christmas Day.”
“I don’t know what these things are, but I think I’d like that,” Savine said. “I want to learn your world as much as you’re learning mine. Starting with your language. I want you to teach it to me.”
Avery smiled at him and responded in English, “I love you.”
A knock interrupted their conversation. Avery knew Rue was on guard so she shouted for her to come in. At this point, she was becoming used to folk walking in on her naked under a fur blanket.
Rue came in, carrying a piece of paper. “Avery, I was taking my morning break and went to my room for a moment and found this on my bed. I think you need to see it right away.”
She handed the paper to Avery who sat up in bed, keeping the furs close to her chest. For a moment she hoped it was from Morgan, but it wasn’t. She scanned the letter.
“Do you know who this is from?” Avery asked as she handed the letter to Savine. Hope sprung to life in her. If this letter was real…
Rue shook her head. “It could be a trap.”
Savine looked at the letter; his face hardened. “The handwriting is familiar. We intercepted correspondence with a similar style during the war. It’s most certainly a trap. Nobody is going around telling us the location of the relics. And why would it be in a home in Orofine?”
“But maybe this person knows about its location. We can’t just ignore this.”
Savine shook his head. “Avery, it’s an obvious trap. Whoever this is wants to lure you away from me and most likely harm you. It’s not worth the risk.”
“Look, I get you’re on high alert when it comes to my safety, but we have to find those relics. If we don’t, who knows how long Garnel can handle not having a connection to his bear side of himself. What if his essence becomes faded like the Hunters?”
Rue shook her head. “I don’t know how he’s withstood the weeks without his bear already. It’s unimaginable.”
Savine pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose.
“I know that look,” Avery teased. “You’re getting annoyed with us. You’re free to join us, but I’m not going to let this opportunity pass us by.” She stepped out of bed, bringing a fur along with her as she padded into the bathroom.
“Rue, could you go get Kyla? We shouldn’t wait,” Avery said.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes!” Rue called. Avery watched her grab the paper from the bed and take quick strides out of the room.
