Narrowing her eyes, Nylah hopped off the kitchen counter and pulled Bridget’s phone out of her purse. “I’ll even show him. Based on the lack of television or anything remotely entertaining in this cabin, I doubt he would even understand thereference.”
“How do you even know who Ranger Smith is?” Bridget asked, then teasingly added, “Besides, aren’t you even a little afraid he might retaliate with some crazy mind magic?”
“Brenda was obsessed with that movie.” Nylah shuddered. “And if I understood all the mumbo jumbo you told me this morning correctly, he’s not the first Tuathan I’ve dealt with.”
When Nylah accidentally slammed the cabin door shut a little too hard, Archer jumped. Almost falling off the couch, he cursed and squeezed his forehead, squinting as he gathered his bearings and fought to keep his eyes open.Finally. The sheer amount of relief hammering through her body, though, almost brought her to knees. Rushing over to him, Bridget handed him a glass of water.
Archer downed it in one gulp. Wiping his mouth with his forearm, he said, “Your boyfriend is a dick.”
“I know.” Bridget sighed, not having the heart to tell him about the marriage that technically still existed. Especially when she was still trying to come to terms with it herself.
Pinching the bloody rag they had used to clean his face between his fingers, he grimaced. “I was hoping it was a bad dream, but this crick in my neck is definitely real.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Bridget caught Stellan watching them from the window. “Look…”
Archer followed her gaze. “Please tell me you didn’t make a deal. You’re prone to those kinds of reckless decisions.”
“No deals,” Bridget replied, giving him a half-hearted glare. “According to Stellan, Cade used blood magic to get inside your head and Marin took the consequences. He says she needs him. Not only that, but I think there’s other things going down in Elyria he’s not being upfront about. Not yet, anyway. He’s ready to head there right now.”
“And you’re going with him.”
A statement, not a question. Bridget gripped his empty cup in her hands, her knuckles white against the glass. “Nylah still needs to be cured. He says he’ll keep her healthy until we can get to Andarre. And I…”
Bridget’s throat tightened. She couldn’t explain the pull to return to Elyria, despite knowing the fight that awaited her there. Not to anyone. Not even to herself. Ever since she’d returned to the human realm, memories intact, it was almost like she’d beenwaitingfor it to happen. Living a half-life until the day she could. Guilt shivered up her spine.
“I know you don’t want to go back. You’re from here and that world already took too much from you,” she said. “I’m not going to ask you to come with us, even though Nylah would miss you.”
And me, but the words got stuck in her throat. Bridget had a feeling he knew anyway.
“Stellan wanted to leave days ago, but I made him stay until you were awake. Just in case. If this is goodbye, though… I understand. We won’t be mad at you. It’s your choice.”
Archer sat up and leaned his elbows against his knees as he silently processed her words. For a long moment, he hung his head and stared at the ground before he returned her anxious gaze with a resigned smirk. “I’ve spent my life running. It’s time to stop. Besides, someone’s going to need to babysit the little squirt when you reunite with lover boy.”
Bridget punched him on the arm before she squeezed her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered, nose stinging as she tried to hold back the liquid threatening to spill from her eyes.
“Ouch. There’s no need for violence, I already agreed to go,” Archer quipped. “Besides, your life would be boring without me.”
Rolling her eyes, Bridget used his shoulders to heave herself off the couch. “That’s not true,” she said, throwing his jacket at him. After the last seventy-two hours, she wished that was the case.
“Don’t lie to me, Bridget,” Archer said. “You’re terrible at it.”
Bridget gave him the middle finger before dragging him outside. Cold air nipped her nose and the frozen porch threatened to trip her. Stellan, leaning against his truck, gave her an impatient stare as Nylah rambled about something on her phone beside him. When her sister noticed them coming toward her, she squealed and launched herself at Archer.
“I knew you would come with us,” she said. “At least you get my jokes.”
“Is that what those were?” Stellan muttered under his breath.
From the corner of the porch, Alexia glowered. “Great. Another body to slow us down on our journey.”
Archer rubbed the top of Nylah’s head before he turned to Alexia with a bright grin. “You know, it’s a shame I don’t have a potion to fix that stick up your ass.”
“Enough,” Bridget hissed, stepping between them before Alexia’s tense form reached Archer. Glancing back at Stellan for some back up, she noticed the cloud of exhaust forming around him. “Why is the truck on?” she asked. “Isn’t the gate close enough to walk?”
Stellan let out a sharp laugh. “The Cavamynian gate is not an option. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vega, or even Deckard, have people watching it. It’s too risky. It’s a few hours away, but I know of another one that will lead us into Kastron. It’s close enough to the border with Elyria it won’t put us too much out of the way.”
“Weren’t all the gates destroyed?” Bridget asked. “That’s like Elyrian History 101.”
“You can’t destroy that kind of magic. Not fully. I can make it work.”
