My chest rumbles as I pull her closer, practically tossing her up the ladder. “Don’t be cute. Daylight’s wasting, so get your ass in gear if we want to be out of here before nightfall.”
She laughs and takes my avoidance in stride, the rest of the day flying by in a sweaty blur of hard work. She never once complains or lazes around, might even put the rest of us to shame. When sunset hits and we call it, she’s looking a far cry from the girl I brought here this morning; exhausted and just overall thoroughly worn out.
“Hey,” I ask in concern, leading her back to my bike. “You going to be able to hang on for the ride back? You kicked ass today, but you look ready to fall asleep standing up.”
She gives me a small smile. “Yeah, I’m alright. I just haven’t gone this long without going back before. I think three days might be my limit.”
After she points it out, I look at her in a new light. Her color is dimmed, not only in her cheeks, but even her ridiculous hair and the overall happy aura that usually surrounds her. She seems washed out and worn down, and now I’m way more unsettled than I was before.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I snap, more hostile than I intend to, but I’m worried. “What happens if you go too long without going home?”
I climb on my bike and she settles in behind me, but her grip isn’t nearly as tight as it was this morning. I shoot off a text to the others before firing up the bike, making sure my movements are as smooth as possible to make the ride easier, lest she slip off.
“Not too sure, honestly,” she admits, resting her cheek against my back. “I’ve never tested it out and growing up, they warn us off from staying in the mortal realm so we don’t fade away. They always made it sound like a story to frighten young children, like the monster under the bed. Iamfeeling pretty burned out though, so I guess there’s some truth behind it. Who knows?” she jokes with fake levity, sounding tired and resting her cheek on my back. “Maybe I’ll explode in a shower of glitter. Poof. Good luck getting me out your hair then.”
“Don’t joke about that shit. You act like no one would care if you died!”
She remains silent as I park my bike at the club. Dorian and Lucien are already there waiting for us; Dorian pacing and Lucien leaning against his car with a blank mask in place. When they see us, Dorian rushes over in concern while Luce grabs two backpacks from at his feet.
“Why would you push her so hard?” Dorian instantly snaps, coming over to wrap an arm around her waist and is halfway across the street towards the park without waiting for a response.
Lucien falls into step beside me. “So we should plan for a three day rotation,” he muses, all practicality and sounding distant. “I wonder how long she needs to stay over there to recharge? A day in each of our homes, or three per side?”
It’s like he isn’t even talking to me, just rambling and trying to pull structure out of nothing so he has a plan to fall back on. He always does this when he’s unsettled and it’s just more pronounced when Cambria misses a step and Dorian picks her up.
She rests her head on his chest, and though she argues, she doesn’t struggle like she did the first time he attempted to help her. We make our way to the fairy ring and cross over, despite my sudden flair of anxiety. It’s still surreal to think of this as actually happening and our lives instead of a drug induced delusion.
When we appear on the other side in the fae world, I still have to take a minute to accept it’s real. These things...they just don’t happen outside of books.
We reach the edge of the forest where it turns to their city, and Dorian carefully sets Cambria on her feet. He hovers, waiting to make sure she’s steady before reluctantly giving her space. Even now she’s looking better, though her color hasn’t returned yet, but it’s enough to make me less concerned.
We walk slowly, ensuring she can do so on her own to save face around her own kind, despite the fact that it’s grating on all of us. The initial walk of shame was painful enough to watch, but back then I was still in a relative state of shock. Now? I know this woman, and watching her struggle needlessly when I could help her just makes me that much more infuriated.
Thankfully, the walk back to her apartment seems to re-energize her instead of wear her down further. Each step gives her strength and by the time we’re walking up the stairs to her shitty apartment, she’s nearly back to her old self.
“Just toss your bags anywhere and we can rock, paper, scissors over who has to come with me to get some groceries,” she declares, changing her clothes.
“We’re all coming with.”
She looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Why on earth would you want to do that?”
Lucien interjects, “You seem hardly able to take care of yourself, let alone three additional people. We can at least carry the bags.”
She stares at all of us for a long moment. “You’re sure you wouldn’t rather stay here where it’s safe?” she asks slowly, and each hesitant word out of her mouth makes me that much more unnerved.
“It’s grocery shopping, not like we’re volunteering to fight a lion here,” I laugh awkwardly.
She holds my stare for longer than is comfortable before shrugging. “If you insist.”
I’m ninety percent sure that I’m going to regret trying to be a gentleman.
