I understand how this would be his first reaction after everything Dane has said. It was mine too, except mine was already coated with anger because of everything that happened with Fin leading up to it, and having already met Weston.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I promise it will be fine. No one is trying to trick anyone here.”
He quirks his head, then thinks for a moment before slowly raising his hands in surrender. Weston nods at the group across the beach and shifts to the side, stepping between Taril and me, his broad body shielding me from the potential of him lashing out. Jorn steps forward this time, and goes through the same process Sig did, pulling all the weapons off Taril and tying his hands together.
Just before he reaches around to tie the blindfold over him, Jorn pulls down his scarf to reveal a huge smile.
“Jorn,” Taril breathes.
“You finally made it, brother,” Jorn says happily, clapping Taril on the shoulder. Taril visibly relaxes and lets Jorn tie the blindfold and lead him back to the portal without a fuss. The tension on the beach eases as everyone quietly follows to the safety of the tunnel.
Weston’s hand falls on the small of my back, the heat from his hand warming me through the shirt as he gently nudges me forward.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he mumbles, scanning the ledge of the cliff as we walk across the beach.
“So it’s fine for you to not want me to get hurt, but I can’t do the same for you?”
He doesn’t respond, but I see his jaw clench as he continues to look anywhere else but at me.
“Besides,” I continue, “you were right there if anything happened. I knew Taril wouldn’t hurt me. But you? He probably would have tried to hurt you.”
His hand flexes on my back and I watch the uneven sand under my feet, changing the subject quickly.
“That went quite a bit differently than when you took me. You were a lot less threatening.”
“He hadn’t already tried to stab me.” I can hear the smile in his voice and feel my lips turn up.
“That is true,” I say as I step up into the open side of the mountain. Weston reaches back and closes the stone door behind us, sealing off the outside world and casting us back into silence.
“Stassia said something earlier, and I can’t get it out of my head,” I say.
He stays quiet, waiting for me to continue.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that three of us have found the entrance so close together? Isn’t it normally a long time between collections?”
He rubs his hand over his jaw. “I had the thought.”
“So what does it mean? Is it just a coincidence?”
Weston lets out a slow breath. “That’s the only thing it could be. Everyone finds the waters on their own, with their own methods. Dawnlin doesn’t give us clues. It tries to keep us away. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be changing now.”
“But what if it’s a sign? What if the island wants things to change?”
He glances down quickly before staring back down the tunnel.
“If the island wanted things to change, it would give us a way home. It hasn’t.”
“But didn’t Sig say that I could help with that? Maybe bringing more of us here is the sign?—”
“No.”
“But it makes sense!”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s just a coincidence.”
He starts down the tunnel and I trail after him. His entire demeanor has shifted, and I know, no matter what I try, I won’t get any farther tonight. Once he closes himself off, he’s difficult to get back open again.
After the worry of watching him put himself in danger, and watching Taril think about harming him, it’s like my anger has disappeared and it feels like his has too. Now that the tension is broken, I just want to talk to him again, back to how it was before I found out about the lies.
