Voice thick with emotion, I rasp, "Yeah, I think I am. But you don’t have to be."
The sad, resigned smile Sebastian gives me obliterates what remains of my heart into dust. "But I’m happy to be if it means taking the bastard that madeallof our lives hell to the grave with me. He gave us Annika to keep us in check all those years ago when we pushed back about what he was doing. It’s about time we stop letting the two of them hold us back."
Chapter 5
Aurelia
10,000 Years Ago
––––––––
Pulling my cloak tighteraround my shoulders to combat the spring chill as the sun finishes setting, I push open the flap of my tent, only to stop dead in my tracks. The constant knot in my stomach has become a daily part of my life, but it tightens painfully as I gaze down at the dead wolf laid out waiting for me.
I’d almost prefer it to be a warning that someone was coming for my head rather than the morbid gift it was intended as.
Glancing up, I find a familiar figure leaning against a nearby tree with his arms crossed, his satisfied smirk morphing into condescending disapproval the moment he meets my eye. The waning light dances through the sparse trees across his features, making his already dark irises flicker like the living shadows currently rising to life along my limbs, obscuring the faint glow of the markings beneath my skin. Dark brown hair is tied back at the base of his neck, and a matching cloak is draped over his shoulders, carefully parted to show the spray of dried blood across his clothes like it’s some badge of honor to flaunt.
Discreetly, I palm the dagger strapped to my hip, not that it would matter beyond the satisfaction of stabbing him a few dozen times. I swear, the apocalypse could arrive tomorrow, andstillAcheron Wilder would find a way to survive it like the cockroach that he is.
“Don’t mind me, simply watching over you while you sleep to ensure that you aren't mauled to death.” With a twitch of his lip, he adds, “No need to thank me, it was my pleasure; you had someveryvivid dreams that helped pass the time.”
Biting the inside of my blushing cheek, I count to ten. Not feeling any better, I whip my blade forward, yet he catches it with a grin before it can sink into his shoulder. “Don't worry, I wasn't going to.” Striding away, I steal my dagger back from him and clip his shoulder harder than necessary on my way past. “And stay out of my head.”
The perpetual thorn in my side that he is, he doesn’t hesitate to follow, falling into step beside me. “If you’re off to hunt for breakfast, it’s already been handled. If you’d stop this foolishness and return home, it’d make things easier on us both, but as stubborn as you are-” he pulls a small pouch from his hip and offers it my way “- I erred on the assumption you’d stay out here until you starved to death out of spite. Here.”
Ignoring his offering as easily as the gnawing ache in my gut, I keep my voice level simply out of the very spite he accused me of. Nothing annoys the bane of my existence more than a lack of reaction. “If you must know, I’m searching for a good spot to bury the poor creature that paid the price of fueling your insufferable ego.”
With a huff, he argues, “It was creeping around your tent. You remember what happened to Marcos not too long ago; this was the harshest winter we’ve seen in decades and even the wolves have grown hungry enough to attack whatever living thing they come across. You underestimate what desperation will do to a creature, Aurelia. You're always trying to see the best in everyone, and it's going to get you killed one of these days.”
Coming to the small clearing beside the river, I pick a spot not too far away, praying I’ll magically stumble upon a patch of ground that isn’t still partially frozen. Not wanting to dull the only decent blade I have left, I reach into the freezing water to snag one of the larger, smooth stones that will be more comfortable to grip for hours on end. Crouching down, I begin the arduous task of digging, knowing full-well I’m going to be here all day, but stubborn enough not to go back home even to borrow a shovel from someone.
“On the contrary, I don’t expect anything out of anyone.” Striking again, I get through the topsoil far too quickly and the hell begins only an inch beneath the surface. “They’ve all made it perfectly clear that they’re willing to sacrifice their morals and turn the other cheek for the sake of the ‘greater good’.” Scoffing, I carry on digging, already dreading that I’m going to have to drag over a hundred pounds of dead weight over here, too. But like hell if I’m not going to figure out a way.
A low growl slips out of him before he can hide his annoyance, and that alone gives me ample motivation to carry on. “The humans areslaughteringus, Aurelia. How can you not see that I’m trying to protect us? To protectyou!” He scrubs a hand over his jaw with a scowl. “And you’re out here tempting fate, a demon alone in the woods; a woman no less. It’s asking for trouble, and I cannot figure out what it is you’re trying to accomplish by being so insufferably stubborn. The caves have been expanded, there's plenty of space now that I can even ensure you have your own, so there's no reason for this. Come home with me where you belong.”
Holding his gaze, I rise to my feet, brushing my hands off on my pants. “That speech might convince the rest of them that you actually care, but then again, they didn’t watch you and Xander burn down that village on the coast, either.”
