I struggled to walk away from him but he grabbed my arm, his touch gentle as his voice softened. “Lexa, please can we sit? You can barely walk.”
I wrenched myself out of his grasp. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do, Griffin Narvene!”
I stormed away from him, or at least I tried to, given that storming was difficult when every step was a struggle. We were far beyond the castle grounds now and into the beginnings of the city, and people were starting to stare. Of course, that bastard teleported, popping up in front of me, and startled me enough that I stumbled. His hands shot out to grip my upper arms, steadying me.
“Lexa, wait?—”
I tore myself out of his grip once again, and without thinking, teleported myself, something I still hated doing. But right now, I just needed to be anywhere else.
And apparently “anywhere else” was paradise.
I looked around in shock at the rolling hills stretching endlessly before me, carpeted in tulips of every conceivable color. Fields of brilliant red flowed into sunshine yellow, then creamy white, with patches of variegated blossoms mixing pink and orange and deep purple. The only sounds were birdsong and the rush of water. When I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, it smelled like springtime back home.
It was completely empty, which was fortunate, since I still hadn’t mastered the art of checking my destination before teleporting. My only thought had been to escape, to go somewhere different, somewhere safe. Somewhere I could breathe without suffocating myself with my emotions.
But where the hell was I?
I focused on the sound I’d been hearing, a waterfall cascading down the cliff face several hundred feet above me, tumbling into a pool a short distance away. Something about the waterfall called to me, almost like recognition. As I approached, the air shifted, and Iwas sprayed with a fine mist that should have been cool but instead felt pleasantly warm.
There was a dark crevice in the cliff behind the falls, shimmering with the telltale sign of powerful wards. Running my hands over the rocky surface, something deep inside me knew what to do, as if my channels knew exactly where we were, and from some unknown place, I dredged up the words that unraveled the protections.
I stepped through the parted wards in the crevice and walked into a perfect clearing with a country cottage, surrounded by more of the stunning tulips. Walls of stone, unfaded from the sun, were covered in climbing vines, windows outlined with shutters and flower boxes glowed with an internal light. I had no idea whose cottage it was, but my soul channel provided me with the knowledge that it was empty and would stay that way. A sanctuary for me, should I choose to accept it. Everything about it whispered of peace and safety and light.
The serenity lasted exactly long enough for me to take one deep breath before it was interrupted by an angry male presence behind me.
“You ran from me?” He seized my shoulders and spun me around to face him, eyes blazing with hurt and fury. “How could you just disappear like that?”
I shoved hard against his chest, but it was like pushing a mountain. “How did you even find me?”
“I will always find you!” Birds took flight as he bellowed, expressing their displeasure at the disturbance of the peace. His grip dug into my shoulders. “Voda’s sweet waters, Lexa, don’t you know we’re mates? I’ll always find you!” He gave me a firm shake.
“Of course I know we’re mated!” I fired back, my voice cracking with emotion. “That’s how I survived! I followed the bond back to you! Twice! First when I went back in time and then to claw my way out of stasis. You were my beacon, the only thing that kept my soul from getting lost forever!”
I had never seen that expression on his face—pure, stunneddisbelief replaced the anger. I watched the fight drain out of him, like water pouring from a broken dam.
“You knew?” His voice was barely above a whisper. “You knew we were mates? Then… then why run?”
“Because I’m pissed at you, you bastard!” The words exploded out of me. “And I’m pissed at how I feel when I think of you and Aine together! And I needed one godsdamned minute for myself.” I was breathing hard now, all the hurt and confusion from not just today but the last several months pouring out. “You’ve run hot and cold on me for months! How was I supposed to know you felt it too? Every time I tried to open up to you, you pulled away. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also Finn!”
I watched the separate shocks hit him in rapid succession. His hands relaxed their bruising grip on my shoulders. “Finn?” The careful control was back in his voice. “What does Finn have to do with it?”
The question hung between us, loaded with implications I wasn’t ready to face.
My anger deflated as quickly as it had flared. And as it did, so did my energy. I lowered myself to the ground in what I liked to imagine was a controlled descent but in actuality was much more abrupt. I breathed in the crisp, fresh air, my stomach clenching in knots. If I told him what happened, I might irrevocably change his relationship with his brother, forever shattering something between them.
But how could I not tell Griff?
He sat next to me, close enough that I could feel his heat but careful not to touch me, as if he didn’t trust himself to maintain control if he did. His body tensed, prepared for anything.
“He’s your brother, and he…” I could see Griff’s legendary patience warring with his need to know the end of that sentence. I stared at my knees. “He kissed me.”
Griff went rigid, jaw clenched, eyes flashing with something dangerous. “When?” The single word was colder than the deepest winter night.
“Before I went back,” I said quickly, still not meeting his eyes. “I felt nothing, absolutely nothing, when he did.” I forced myself to look at him, seeing the tension in every muscle of his body. “And before you go accusing me of anything when it comes to Aine and that so-called marriage contract, think about exactly how murderous you feel right now.”
I could practically feel the internal war within Griff, to go hunt down his brother and pummel the shit out of him. The same way I still wanted to claw Aine’s eyes out.
After what felt like an eternity, he ran both hands over his face and exhaled sharply. “Shit. I know.”
