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“I’m yours,” I agree, because I don’t know what else to say, and I hope saying it out loud will make it true.
Jackson stands, holding his hands out to me and helping me up. The movement sends shards of pain through my chest, but I grit my teeth so I don’t let it show. I did this. I broke us. We blame the girls for shattering my mind in the first place, but I was the one who decided to die. Truthfully, I didn’t think through the repercussions of what I was doing. All I knew was that dying would act like a factory reset, undoing the magic that was holding me.
So, as much as he wants to blame everyone else around us for this situation, the truth is that we all share the blame.
I can’t meet his eyes as I straighten, his hands still gripping mine, strong and reassuring. “You good?”
I nod, and I can tell he's annoyed that I’m not looking at him, but I just can’t. “Are you sure I should go in there? I did try to kill this boy.”
“If you don’t want to that’s okay.”
I stare at the garage for a moment. I don’t want to let Jackson out of my sight. “I want to be at your side,” I say.
He holds my hand tighter this time as we walk toward the garage. I chance looking in his direction, but I don’t let myself linger too long. I don’t know what the future has in store for us, but it’s not going to be easy.
Chapter 11
Jackson
My body vibrates with the mix of emotions I’m feeling. It is only Dove’s calm presence at my side that stops me from losing my shit.
When we step into the garage, my eyes take a moment to adjust to the change in light.
The kid who tried to kill me, whose life I spared, is sitting tied to a chair in the middle of the room. His eyes follow me, blazing with an anger that makes my spine tingle.
“I see you don’t listen to instructions. I said I’d only talk to you.”
“I know, but I can’t let her out of my sight, so you either talk to both of us or I let the others in here instead.”
It’s not nice to threaten him like that, but it has the desired effect. He slumps into his chair. “Fine, but stay out of my mind. I won’t hold back this time if you try to hurt me.”
It’s bravado. Dove is much stronger than him, but she winces, her guilt rippling over her face. “I don’t intend to hurt you, Ayden. We just want to talk.”
So did I“. That didn’t work out too well, did it?”
It hadn’t. We killed his friends. “I’m sorry,” Dove says. “We’re listening now.”
Ayden glances between us and the mistrust burns in his eyes. “I hope so. For all our sakes. It’s going to take all of us to bring them down. The Order has resources, witches working with them. They have access to old magic spells that we don’t even know about. The things they are doing are pure evil, and we will stop them, with or without you. But if you’re not on the right side of this fight, you’re going to come up against us, and we won’t hesitate to kill anyone in our way.”
Cold spreads through my body at his words. It is clear to me that he means every word he says, but I’m not sure what it means for us.
“What makes you think we need help? We’re doing perfectly fine on our own.”
“I can see that. Hiding out in the woods like a bunch of outlaws, with no freedom beyond the wards you have created. Perfectly fine.”
Sarcasm drips from his words. He’s not wrong. We are prisoners in the Sanctuary.
Hester gave us a safe place, but she also made it impossible for us to leave. We are not strong enough to fight against the legions the Order has. Most of the tau under their control are forced to do the bidding of their organization. They would steal Dove back without a thought, and I cannot allow that to happen.
“And what exactly would you offer that is any different from what we have?”
“There’s strength in numbers. The Order has an army of tau and vargr. They are completely under their control, which makes them dangerous. They train with magic every day, which teaches them to become stronger, to become better. We can’t compete with that, but we have to. We have to be just as strong. The people I’m with, they’re showing the rest of us how to tap into a power that is stronger than I ever thought possible. If you come with me, we will help you too.”
Ayden talks a good game, but I’m not totally convinced he is on our side. He has far more to gain by taking the girls than he does by leaving them behind. It is not a secret that the power of every female here is strong, even if not entirely controlled, and I’m not prepared to allow anyone else to manipulate them. Every single tau here has been forced to use their power to save themselves.
“No offense, but trusting you is pretty far down the list of things that are going to happen.”
If my words bother Ayden, he doesn’t show it.
