“I wasn’t certain you’d want me here.”
Farren took his hand, and his worry faded at the touch. “We have two days.” With a sigh, she corrected herself. “A bit less than two days. If ya’ can’t give me yer decision by then, I’ll have to go. Sleep at my office until the full moon passes. It’ll be too hard to be close to ya’. But I’ll do it. Until then, I want this, Eli. It’s the first thing I’ve let myself want in an age. Stay with me until we can’t anymore.”
She disappeared into the bath for a few minutes, and when she emerged, her hair shone in the lamplight and her skin glowed. It was her smile, though, that did him in. So much so he wondered if they reallyweremeant to be.
The scent of heather filled the air as she slipped out of his shirt and settled under the blankets with him. “I like seein’ ya’ in my bed. If I’d slept much at all after that mess on the beach, I’d say we have another tumble, but I’m knackered. Get the light, will ya’?”
In the darkness, his words came easier, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m sorry for earlier. You’re right. I put your family at risk. “
“Ya’ did what ya’ had to do.” Her fingers trailed over his chest. “Werewolves can see things most others can’t. Even now, with the curtains drawn and the lights off, yer markings? They’re beautiful. But they’re also terrifyin’. They could take ya’ away from me. Or save Mara. And we won’t know which until ya’ test out all these new abilities.” Farren angled her head so it touched his, and he relished in her warmth. “When I was twelve, I shifted for the first time. My mum warned me what to expect, but I didn’t believe her. Not completely.”
“It’s painful, yeah?”
“Worse than most humans could ever imagine. But that’s not what I meant. The power was thrillin’. So much so, I ran all night long. We lived in the countryside outside of Dublin, so it was safe. Even for a young wolf. But come mornin’, I was so tired and hungry, I couldn’t make it back to the house. When we’re at our weakest—werewolves—the human form is easier to hold onto, so I’d shifted back, buck arse naked, twelve years old, in the middle of feckin’ winter. Rainin’ like it was never goin’ to end, and maybe five degrees without the wind chill.”
Eli pulled her closer, and she shivered in his arms.
“Mum told me not to push myself the first time, but I was at an age I didn’t want to listen to anythin’ she had to say. Until I’d been huddled under a tree for goin’ on twelve hours, watchin’ my fingers turn blue.” Farren chuckled. “When she found me, she had a wool blanket, a Thermos of stew, and the sternest lecture I’d ever heard. And only after she finished did she give me the stew.”
“Is this your way of telling me you forgive me?”
“It’s my way of sayin’ there’s nothin’ to forgive. Not truly. Make no mistake. What ya’ did? Bloody stupid. Risky as hell. But I understand.”
He was starting to think she would always understand him. No matter what he did—or failed to do. If only he understood himself.
Chapter Seventeen
Mara
“Wake up, honey. You’re safe. Tell me you know where you are.”
“Cade?” She reached for him, her mate, her husband, her tether to reality. “It was just a dream. Right? This time? It was just a dream.”
A dim light clicked on, and then Cade’s arms were around her. “This time. Not…three hours ago.”
“Oh, God. And Eli…Eli was there. He stopped me.”
The growl rumbling in Cade’s chest reassured her, despite the anger in the sound. “You went out there because of him.”
“No, I didn’t.” She swiped at her cheeks and sniffled. “Not really. I remember some of it. Most of it, really.” Settling closer to him, she rubbed her nose along his neck, a gesture she knew was asking for comfort. Reassurance. Protection.
“Tell me.”
“The power woke me. He used all four elements at once, and it was like this sonic boom in my head. I didn’t have time to wake you. It happened so fast. I sat up, and then everything went dark and cold and quiet. It’s like that all the time at first. I’m locked in this tiny box where no light can reach me. But that only lasts for a minute. Maybe two. Then, I can see. Not well. More like…a pinhole camera. The view’s distorted, but I piece things together.”
Cade stayed quiet, letting her take her time. To choose her words carefully. She had to, or he’d go batshit and beg her to get an ankle monitor or something.
“Eli’s powerful. More powerful than any of us. He had fire in one hand, water in another, the ground trembled under my feet, and the wind…I don’t know how he was still standing. I passed him—the part of me that was in control didn’t even pause—and he came after me. Called my name, tried to stop me. He did everything right, Cade. I fought him. It was strange though. I used water first. Even though fire was in control. He didn’t blink at either one. Just…battled back with wind and water of his own. And then he picked me up and started carrying me back to the patio. That’s when I knew.”
“Knew what, honey?” He bit her shoulder lightly, holding on to let her know she was loved and very much his.
“That he can wield the last element. I felt all four of the elements align when he was holding me. It was like they clicked into place one at a time, and then…it was overwhelming. More power than I’ve ever felt.”
“Shit. Did you…the part of you in control…wantthat power?”
Mara frowned. “No. Not at all. Whatever’s making me lose time, I don’t think it knows anything about the last element.”
“Then what does it want?” He ran a hand through his hair, and the muscles of his chest flexed, highlighting one of the deeper scars from the time he’d spent trapped as his wolf. By her sister. He was no longer painfully thin, no longer haunted every night by the horrors her sister had inflicted on him. “Mara? Look at me.”
