“Both of you,” I say weakly, looking from one to the other. “You. Have. To. Go. If you stay, we all get captured. If you go, it’s just me. So fucking go!”
“They’ll kill you,” he snaps.
“Even if you manage to lift me out of here, we won’t make it back to the plane in time. You need to be in the air. Right now.”
“Gray,” Evlynne says, finally coming around to my point of view. “She’s right. We need to go.”
His angry gaze swings toward her. “I’m not leaving Wren behind. I can get her out. We’ll make it.”
Desperation and fear war inside me, and in that moment, I see it in his eyes—he isn’t going to leave me. He’ll sacrifice himself, Evlynne, our plane, and anything else in this world to get me out of this goddamn ditch.
“Grayson,” I say, locking my gaze to his.
“No,” he retorts. He’s not budging.
A weight presses down on my chest. Because I’m trapped here, and I’m putting their lives at risk, and he won’t go, and he’s left me with no choice.
Sucking in a pained breath, I try to focus myself. The training has paid off because almost immediately I’m able to access those gold flecks. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, gathering the energy. I start to tremble, from the pain, and from the guilt of what I’m about to do. The familiar sensations begin to course through me, the pressure building inside my skull.
He’s going to hate me for this.
But there’s no other choice. They have to leave me.
Ignoring the pain throbbing in my leg and the guilt gnawing at my stomach, I force the command into his mind at the same time I voice it.
“Go back to the plane. Now.”
Shock swamps his expression. “No.”
“Go back to the plane.”
I guide the command through his mind the way Hawkins taught me, weakly saying the words out loud. I see the moment it takes root. He’s resisting so hard that he starts trembling, too. Hot, molten betrayal flares in his eyes.
“You fucking promised,” he growls.
“Go back to the plane.” I flick a quick glance at Evlynne. “I can get him there, but you’ll need to fly it. I can’t maintain it over distances.”
She nods, looking a bit stunned. Then she takes off running, leaving Gray and me alone in a literal battle of wills.
“You have to leave me,” I command. “Go to the plane. Now. Leave me.”
“No.”
“Leave me.”
Free will is important to me. It’s important to everyone, and I’m robbing Gray of it. I feel like a monster.
But as long as he’s alive, I don’t care.
Despite the flood of resistance he gives me, the incitement is working. I know it is because he slowly starts to back up.
It’s taking every ounce of strength I have. I concentrate, harnessing the gold.
“Stop,” he snarls at me. “Don’t make me—”
“Go to the plane. Now.”
I hold firm, pouring all my will into his mind. The pressure in my head mounts. My visions swims. His anger swirls through my mind, and it’s unbearable. But it’s also working.
