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More than that, Garrett hasn’t corrected him yet.
“You’re a dragon?” I can’t help but ask, hoping that phrasing it as a question will push him to answer, something he doesn’t seem otherwise inclined to do.
Storm and Garrett remain silent, staring each other down momentarily before Garrett gives the most subtle nod.
“More or less.”
I don’t have time to process his answer and form one of my own before Lyle’s on him. He slams into Garrett hard enough that they both fall to the ground as Lyle tries and fails to hit him. With every swing, Garrett dodges a moment before Lyle’s fist lands.
Sol moves forward, but I put my arm out to block his path, stopping him before he can. This needs to happen. These two need to get their shit together. They don’t have to like each other, but they can’t constantly be at each other’s throats.
We came here to find Serena, and we won’t be getting anything done like this. The guys have made it very clear how they feel about Garrett since the moment we met him. Whatever this is, they need to get over it or learn to deal with it.
“Everything was fine until you came along!” Lyle growls, pulling back to try and hit him again. He missed the first three times, but that doesn’t deter him. If anything, it only serves to piss him off further. “Serena was happy with us, and you fucked it all up!”
Garrett freezes, his eyes going slightly wide for a moment before Lyle’s fist finally lands, slamming into his cheek.
At the very least, a hit like that should have split his lip, but other than the shock of Lyle’s words, Garrett appears to be otherwise unfazed. Our beasts make us stronger. Alphas already rank above the top five percent, but being extinct beasts puts us in the top one percent. I’ve never seen anyone but us take a hit from Lyle and keep going. Even when we fight amongst ourselves, it’s not without damage.
Dragon or not, whatever Garrett is, he’s strong. There’s no denying that.
Garrett recovers quickly enough, turning his attention back to Lyle, who looks smug as hell, sitting on his chest, ready to hit him again.
His brows pinch together, and his lips press into a firm line before he bucks up, throwing Lyle to the side and rolling them. Now, Garrett straddles Lyle’s chest, keeping his arms pinned beneath his legs so that he can’t continue his attack.
“Was she?”
His question surprises me, and I’m not the only one. Lyle stops thrashing to look up at Garrett, though his scowl remains.
“Tell me how happy she was being the only one without magic,” Garrett presses. “Or how happy she was to know nothing about who she was or where she came from? That she wasn’t plagued with nightmares or that she never felt like she was missing something, some part of herself? Was it so easy for you to watch her suffer that you didn’t even notice watching her look for a place to belong and a reason why?”
His voice rings out around the trees, the demand clear.
“You tell me right now that she was happy like that, and I’ll leave. We can go find her, and I’ll send you all back. You won’t ever see me again,” he pauses, giving Lyle the chance to answer him, but he remains quiet.
What could he say?
We all know Serena better than we know ourselves. As much as Lyle might want Garrett gone, even he wouldn’t do so at the risk of making Serena truly unhappy. It was different when we thought he was trying to make a move.
No, this is the one chance she might have to know who she is and where she came from. More than that, though, it’s a chance for her to understand her magic. Serena has spent years looking into her beast, trying to find a connection to her past. She did so mostly alone, afraid it might upset us, worried she would somehow make us feel like we weren’t good enough. But we all see the toll it takes on her.
How could it not? She remembers nothing from before the day she woke up in the woods. Years are missing, memories that help shape most people aren’t there, but in their place are nightmares she can’t escape from.
That kind of thing leaves a mark on someone. And no matter how hard we might try to fill that void, we can’t. We don’t have answers. We also don’t know how to help her find them or a way to handle her magic. Until last week, we didn’t even know she had magic; never even knew someone could wield something other than the four basic elements.
Garrett might have been what set everything off, but this isn’t his fault, not really. All he did was come looking for the girl he loves—something any one of us would have done as well.
Lyle knows it. I can see it on his face. He knows just as well as I do that if the situation were reversed, he would have never stopped looking.
You don’t give up on the people you love. As much as Lyle might want to be in control, this is the one thing he has no control over because he does love her. I’m unsure if he realizes it yet, but I see it in all of them, no matter how blind they are. Everything is about Serena because she is everything to us.
Which is why I know Lyle’s going to back down before he even does it. Garrett’s right, and as much as Lyle might not like him or hate to admit it, he won’t push this because it’s what’s best for Serena, and all he wants is what’s best for her.
Even if it might rip his heart to pieces if it’s not him.
The little town Ryker brought me to is adorable but not very helpful. He’d brought me as far as the edge of the woods before he was turning away, ready to leave. I’d almost asked him to stay, but something told me he wouldn’t. He seemed skittish and in a hurry to go, not to mention he’d already done more for me than was necessary.
So, while I had no idea where I was or what I was doing, I took the handful of gold coins he gave me and listened as he explained how to get to the castle. It took us about an hour to reach the town at his brisk pace, but I did my best to keep up and listen. It sounded easy enough. All I had to do was find someone to buy a horse from and follow the main path north through the forest. Apparently, all the main paths lead to the castle, so that’s helpful.
