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The breeze softens as I slow my falling until I’m gliding along the clouds, my magic flowing and changing around me.
That was so much faster this time, Tiny!
Garrett calls to me through the bond, and I turn to face him, snapping my teeth as he rolls out of the way with a laugh.
I might not know where I came from, but with Garrett, I know where I belong.
What I know:
Storm unknowingly started a mating bond with Serena.
Garrett’s someone from Serena’s forgotten childhood with an elemental affinity for light.
Serena not only has elemental magic but an affinity for darkness.
What I don’t know:
How an affinity for light or darkness is even possible?
What the hell to do now…
We didn’t get much talking done last night past the point of Garrett admitting he knows Serena. It would be an understatement to say Lyle didn’t take it well, but it’s not surprising. He wasn’t my main concern, though. Lyle’s a big boy, and as upset as he might be, he’s not the one who's once again dealing with the rug being pulled from under them.
Serena had taken the news about as well as I think anyone would… terribly.
She tried to keep it together, but I saw through her. Her nervous fidgeting, the way she gnawed on her lip, and constantly shifted in her chair. Serena often moves, full of energy that she can’t keep hold of, but this wasn’t the same. It was her need to run, rearing its ugly head. She’d often behaved that way when we were younger, ready to bolt at any given moment. It was something I’d thought she’d grown out of, or at least mostly had. But now I wonder if she only stopped because she was comfortable with us.
Her usually pale skin took on an almost sickly color as Lyle and Garrett argued about Garrett’s ‘stalking,’ as Lyle so helpfully decided to call it, and I watched Serena as she began to sink into herself slowly.
It wasn't until Lyle turned his ire on Storm over the so-called mating bond that I finally stepped in. Mating bonds aren’t something to take lightly. They’re permanent, and while I don’t think they would be a bad pair, I can’t say I’m super excited about the idea of them mating, especially by accident. Typically, those are for packs who choose them. They require prep and planning and aren’t accidentally given by leaving a few hickeys on someone's neck. But whether I believe that’s what it is or not, I know it’s always been a sore subject for Serena. Her fear that we will leave her someday is something she likes to pretend isn’t real, but I know better. I’ve heard her murmur about it on the rare occasions that she falls back to sleep after a nightmare.
It’s not something she ever needs to worry about. None of us would ever leave her, now more than ever, but she doesn’t seem to understand that. She never has.
I look down at Serena, curled up in my arms, asleep, and frown as I watch her brows pull together, wondering where her mind is taking her. Garrett hadn’t wanted Serena to leave last night, but she insisted on needing some space to think and breathe before she could hear everything he had to tell her. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, given the fact that he’s already turned her world upside down. In the end, Garrett agreed, not that he had much choice. If Serena wanted to leave, she was going to, whether he liked it or not. I would have made sure of it.
The ride home was quiet. Pike and Sol drove back in Pike’s jeep while Storm, Lyle, Serena, and I all piled into Lyle’s car. It was a tight fit to sit in the back with her, but I wasn’t about to let Storm do it, and riding with Pike was a non-option once Lyle told Serena she was riding back with him. She didn’t so much as bat an eye against the command in his tone when he told her, something none of us were used to. Usually, she fights him just for the fun of it. The second we got home, she disappeared, hiding herself away, and we let her. Sol disappeared soon after, looking sad. Pike was next, claiming a headache, which left me to sit with Storm and Lyle as they went over everything that happened again, from the library all the way until we left.
It wasn’t hard to see they were trying to find a way to call Garrett a liar, but no matter how they went over it, it just didn’t work. Everything he said fit. Serena has a hold on darkness, something that we all saw with our own eyes, and there is some weird connection between Garrett and Serena. We’d been unable to keep them apart, no matter what Lyle said. It’s as if she’s drawn to him, and having a past with him could definitely account for that.
They argued and bickered until the early hours of the morning before they called it a night. When I went up to my room I felt mostly confident that they wouldn’t lose themselves to their anger and bring the house down on top of us while we slept. But sleep evaded me as my mind wandered.
I knew she was outside my door, even though she didn’t make a sound. I could feel her, and when I blew the door open with a little magic, she didn’t hesitate to run in and curl up into my outstretched arms. Her face was blotchy, eyes puffy from crying, and though they were dry now, it still sent a pang of sadness through me to see her like that. She didn’t say a word, and I didn’t push her. I never did. I knew that if she wanted to talk, she would, and I would listen. For now, she just needed rest and some peace. I'm happy to be anything she needs me to be, even if it was just a pair of arms to hold her and make her feel safe while she sleeps.
Her world might have been turned upside down, but I would always be here when she needed me, however she needed me. She thinks it’s because we made a promise when we were kids, and yeah, that’s how it started, but it’s so much more than that now.
She’s so much more than that now.
I’d told myself I wouldn’t go to Blair last night. I didn’t want to be any more of a burden than I already was, but in the end, it was like I couldn’t help myself. I stood outside of his room, unable to make myself knock. I knew I should go back to my room, but I couldn’t make myself go. It didn’t matter, though, because he knew I was there. He always knows somehow, and his silent invitation to let me in was all the okay I needed for my resolve to crumble.
The guys have been my safe space for a long time, but Blair was always the calm I needed when things got too crazy inside of my head. This was definitely one of those times.
Laying in his arms quieted my wandering mind enough for me to fall asleep, but even he wasn’t enough to stop my dreams.
Nothing ever did.
It was as if Garrett’s words unlocked something inside of my mind. My dreams are filled with images of a tiny boy with bright red hair in a world that looks like something out of a fairytale.
Nothing was super concrete. A mess of memories long forgotten, all tangled together in a blur that fades away the moment I woke. I have no idea how to untangle them or if I even want to right now.
