Pivoting, I fell to my knees at Gage’s side and his eyes blinked open.
“Thank God.” I ran a hand over his forehead. “How do you feel?”
“Like a weak little Watcher with no powers,” he muttered.
I smacked his chest and he grinned, pulling me on top of him.
It worked. It actually worked. After weeks of being tormented by this hellhound, it was gone.
I smiled, leaning down to plant a kiss on his lips. “You did it. The hellhound is dead.”
“Okay, get a room,” Drea muttered.
I expected elation, but instead a conflicted look passed over his gaze before he turned it into a fake smile. “Yeah. We did it.”
I pushed off of him and he sat up.
“You need to rest. You’ve barely slept since we pulled you from the healing center.” Dash’s words pulled my attention to my sister. She looked ashen and weak. Aurum might have healed her brain bleed, but she was obviously still depleted of energy. I suddenly felt guilty for having asked her to help Gage while she was still weak.
“Harley.” I stood and stepped away from Gage to approach her.
She waved me off. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
I reached out and dragged her into my arms, crushing her into a hug.
“Thank you for helping him,” I muttered as she stood stiffly in my arms.
“Not a hugger,” she replied back, and I saw a grin pull at the corners of Dash’s lip before it was gone.
I released her and she gave me a small smile as she blinked slowly back at me. She looked exhausted.
Just then Skye walked over the hill toward us, looking intently between Harley and Gage as she drew closer.
“Hey,” I waved her over, “we need a place to crash for the night. Got any ideas? We just stripped Gage of his hellhound—” I watched as Skye got right up in Gage’s face and stared at him intensely. “Whoa, okay, what are you doing?” I asked her.
Gage furrowed his brow and looked at me with slight alarm and then back to her.
It was weird and a bit uncomfortable.She better not be hitting on my man.
“Skye?”
She looked at me, her eyes full of emotion. “Cael said that if Gage ever overcame the darkness inside him and destroyed his hellhound, I should bring him to Avalon to receive a blessing. That is… if Gage is willing, of course.”
Shock and joy rushed through me in equal measure, and Drea, Jacob, and Dash let out whoops of joy.
Gage swallowed hard. “What? No. I’m not ready.”
I met Drea’s eyes and she nodded, understanding that I needed to talk to Gage alone right now. “Come on, guys, let’s go to the village and find some place for Harley to get some rest.”
One by one they walked away from us and toward the village. Halfway there, Harley stumbled and Dash swept her into his arms without a word.
“I’ll wait over here,” Skye told me, and stepped over to the opening Harley had cut into the black net, far enough away that Gage and I had complete privacy.
“Gage, it’s me, Tate. You can tell me anything and I won’t feel any differently about you,” I said to him.
He looked at me in fear. “Why would you say that?”
I sighed. “Because of what Cael said about the guilt you carry. What do you need to forgive? Maybe I can help you move past it.”
