***
Heavy breathing and a horrified yell woke me while the sky was still darkwithnight.
Drawing in my wing that had been draped over Matea, I quickly sat up, my eyes adjusting faster than I could process what I was seeing.
Rayven was whispering something to Ezra softly, obviously trying to keep him calm, but Ezra was outright panicking. Sweat slicked his skin and stuck his hair to his forehead, and he had begun to hyperventilate.
“How did I get here? How did I get out?” Ezra asked Rayven, frantically looking around. As I got up and slowly moved to Rayven’s side, I watched as Ezra flinched at the sight of me.
I must’ve looked so much like Dimitri to him.
“Ezra,” I said gently, kneeling next to him. “Breathe. Part of our mission was to search for you, and once we found you, wecouldn’tleave you behind.You’resafe now.”
“No, I feel the chill in the air. Wearen’tsafe anywhere near them.”Heshookhis head. “How do I know this is real? That Iwon’twake up and be back… there?”hewhispered, his eyes boring into mine now, searching for answers hewasn’tsurehe’dfind.
“Listen,” I told him.“You can hear the crickets out in the tall grasses nearby, and the wind shifting through the roof of this stable.”
I drew a small amount of water from the bucketwe’dused hours beforeto cleanhim and froze it into a small sphere.
“Holdthis, andfocus on the cold while you listen.It’llhelp ground you.” I held the ice out to him, moving slowly so as not to spook him.
He stared at the ice for a moment before letting me drop it into his hands, our skin not making contact even briefly.
Taking my advice, he held the ice tightly and tilted his head to hear thewind better.
“Also, if you look through the holes in the roof, you can see the Stars twinkling. I betthey’rewelcoming you back to their presence,.” I said, looking up. He followed my gaze.
“You can also smell the hay all around us, if that helps, too,” I suggested.
He looked around then, his eyes clearer than they had been before, and hisbreathing beginningto steady before it could get too bad.
Then, he saw Matea. His eyes widened, but before he could panic again, Rayven and I both tried to explain.
Our sentences ran together, and Ezra looked back and forth between us wildly.
Finally, I pinched Rayvenjust hardenough for him to gasp. In the break between his words, I quickly jumped in to explain.
“You’ve missed a lot, but you can trust her, I promise,” I reassured him. “She helped get you out.”
At that, his gaze softened. He lookedup again at the Stars, then met my gaze.
“How long has it been?” he asked.
“Over a month, brother,” Rayven said, guilt lingering at the edges of his gruff voice.
“I…I’vereally made it out?” Ezra asked after a beat of silence, tears welling in his eyes as he stared into my mismatched ones for confirmation.
“Yes, Ezra. We’ve got you now,” I responded softly.
Finally accepting this reality, the tears spilledover onto Ezra’s cheeks and his chest was wracked with quiet sobs.
Unexpectedly, he looped anarm eacharound Rayven and me, pulling us both into a fierce hug. Tearsbrimmedmy own eyes, and even in Rayven’s as we huggedour friend back, gently so as not to disturb his wrappings, but solidly enough so he knew we were there.
“Thank you,” he said betweensobs. “Thank you for not forgetting me. For coming for me.”
“I’msosorry it took us this long,” I responded remorsefully.
“Me too,” Rayven added.
