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“You shouldn’t think so badly, lovely.” I stood up to get the next portion of herbs. “I’m most certain your mate is a gem and not a stone.”
“Kenia is right, Py. You shouldn’t doubt your mate,” another female added as she and her friend finished lathering the herbs in Pyria’s hair.
“I’m so envious of you!” said another female.
“Me too! He’s one breathtaking sight!”
I knew who they spoke of. I’d seen Pyria’s mate, and yet the image that formed in my mind wasn’t of dark hair and kind eyes and wings. It was red. Dangerous. Deadly. Mysterious and alluring and unlike anything I’d ever known.
I didn’t visit him yesterday. I was too frightened, too nervous to go see him. Foolishly, I’d thought things between us had been going well—that we’d somehow overcome our differences and instincts and become friends. I didn’t think he’d do something so horrible to me, but I was to blame for forgetting what he was.
He often made me forget that he was a Spider, that he was stronger and more dangerous. He represented everything cruel and bad for me. A predator. A monster. But he showed me more than that. Eon was more than a monster, more than cruel and bad.
I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t want to say it, but I longed for him. I longed for him so much, and it was only because ofone dayof not seeing his ruby eyes and feeling his heated touch and…him.
I blinked and breathed in sharply. “Will you allow me a moment of air, lovely?”
The space silenced as Pyria stared at me, confused and worried. The other females also eyed me strangely, and I did my best to smile and appear untroubled.
“Take your time. Don’t work your heart about it, I have plenty of help,” she reassured with a smile, then she winced when a female accidentally pulled on her hair.
I laughed but got up and mentally told Keia that I was moving. The cool air struck me, but it was a needed shock from my thoughts.
“You’ve been out of it since yesterday. Why?” Keia asked quietly in my head.
I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. In and out. In, out.
My feet moved, taking me down a familiar path until I reached the dwellings. Looking up, I located a branch I could safely land on before I launched myself towards it, coming down well on my feet. I crossed a few wooden bridges, navigating my way around the homes until I reached mine.
When I pulled the door open, relief washed over me to find my parents inside. Smiles painted both their faces, and they looked like they’d been in the middle of a pleasant conversation before they noticed me standing at the door.
“My love,” my mother greeted warmly, rising from her seat at the table. Her smile dimmed when she studied my face. “What is it?”
I shook my head, trudging towards her until I sank into her warm embrace, curling my arms tight around her, burying my face in her neck to breathe in her comforting scent. Her arms wound around me without hesitation, secure and gentle at once, her hand stroking my hair in a way that threatened to unravel me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw my father approaching. And then his warmth surrounded me, too. Held by both of them, surrounded by their familiar scents, the tension and stress balled inside me suddenly loosened. Unwrapped and fell apart until I slumped into my parents’ arms, letting out a long, shuddering breath.
“What is it, my love?” my father encouraged, his hand rubbing up and down my back while my mother continued stroking my hair.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I just… I have a problem, and I don’t know how to solve it.”
My father continued rubbing my back, and my mother continued smoothing my hair back.
“Why is it a problem?” my father asked.
Why? “Because it’s… confusing. One moment I think I understand it, and the next it throws me off completely. I can never fit my mind around it.”
“What do your instincts tell you?” It was my mother this time, and this time her response gave me pause.
What were my instincts telling me? Right now they were in chaos. Tangled in uncertainties and doubts and fear. Too much to unwrap and understand.
My father hummed, nuzzling my head. “Listen to your instincts, my love. They won’t fail you.”
My mother hummed, pressing her lips to my forehead in a soft, sweet touch. A weak noise vibrated in my throat, and I nuzzled her before doing the same to my father. Giving them a thankful smile, I nodded and left.
Keia rubbed her feathers against my neck, her presence grounding me as I landed back on the ground.
I need to be with my element,I told her, my feet moving in a certain direction before my mind caught up.
