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It was good to be alone. I preferred it that way.
"You okay, Tye?" Jaiel asked, eyebrows raised. "That smile is a little terrifying. What's — uh, what's in the wineskin?"
I dropped the smile immediately.
"It's just a potion to calm my nerves and keep me from shifting."
He eyed the wineskin warily. "I see. And it doesn't hurt you — or Kaiya?""
I shook my head. "Not according to these people."
"Okay." He continued to stare at the drink for a few minutes.
"What were you saying about the witch?" I prompted. We'd talked about me enough.
Jaiel's lips formed a wry grin. "Sorry. I was trying to figure out what they put in that thing. I've never heard of anything that would dull your korra."
"Anyways," he continued. "I think I was just saying that she's a pain in the ass and I should be glad to be rid of her."
Now that was something we could agree on.
I held up the flask in a mock salute. "She's a troublemaker, and not at all worth your time, Prince Kierstall. Good riddance."
A wolfish snarl resonated in my skull and I winced. Was it me, or did the creature already sound louder again?.
Jaiel studied me, blue eyes too perceptive.
"Then again," he said. "Maybe she just felt jealous. I should —"
"No," I snarled, the wolf howling in agreement. "Your first instinct was right — it always is. The mission is over. You should take the chance and be rid of her."
I steadfastly ignored the way the wolf seemed to almost hum in agreement.
I said that for Jaiel — not because I wanted the witch for myself.
His brow cocked. "Says the man who chased her across a fucking ocean …"
"My situation is different," I snapped, hands curling into fists. "She did something to me, and I need her to take it back, or have someone else cut the bond or … fuck. I don't know anymore. I just don't want to be —" I gestured to myself, disheveled hair, torn clothes and all. "This forever. I'm not a gods forsaken mage, Jaiel! I hunt mages! And if getting back to that means crossing a damn ocean to get answers, I'd do it a thousand times."
The wolf inside me howled at the memory of hunting other mages.
I winced.
It was definitely getting louder. I thought that potion was supposed to last a while …
"Tye." Jaiel looked over at me, blue eyes concerned. "Are you sure it would be so bad to stay the way you are? I mean — you saw the body mages. Did those people seem out of control to you? Did they seem like they needed to be collared?"
I ground my teeth and stared at the stone wall.
He wasn't wrong … Alpha Blackwood and the others were different from mages in the Empire.
But so what? They'd probably change any day now.
"Have you considered that maybe your issue isn't the need to get rid of the wolf?" he continued, voice soft.
I growled, narrowing my eyes as the wolf howled again.
Jaiel just pressed on.
