Tezya’s voice cut inside my head, his eyes honed on me, and I knew why he was asking me to do it. Scottie wasn’t healed. Her entire body was a well of scars, and he didn’t want her to come.Teleport her now, Sie.
I called to my powers, grabbing onto Scotlind before she could react, then teleported her to the opposite side of the camp. I vaguely heard her yelling at me as I dropped her onto a grassy field.
I’m sorry,Tezya’s voice sounded the second I teleported back, and I realized I was still connected to his mind.
I scanned the empty tent—well almost empty tent. Only Savannah was standing between me and the fading purple and black mist.
“Fuck,” I cursed.
“They left,” Savannah announced, like I wasn’t aware of the obvious. I kept swearing and shouting every curse word imaginable as I started pacing up and down the small-ass tent like if I walked through the evaporating portal mist, it might still work.
Scottie flew into the tent sometime later, panting anddrenched in sweat. I didn’t have time to worry about the fact that she probably shouldn’t have been running. Right now, I didn’t care, all I could think about was that my little brother was in Lux, and I was stuck here.
When Tezya promised me he’d help me get my family back, I thought he meant I’d go with him, not stay behind and play fucking babysitter.
I thought I was teleporting Scotlind across the camp to leaveherbehind, not so he could leave me behind too.
Scottie was screaming, at me or in general, I wasn’t paying attention long enough to care.
“Scotlind, shut the fuck up,” I cursed.
“I’m sorry I’m botheringyou,” she hissed back. “You’re the one who teleported us away.”
I started rubbing my temples.
“That’s my best friend,” she was still screaming. “I can’t just sit back and do nothing. And now Tezya went—”
“It’s my best friend too,” I snapped, and she paused. My anger fumed out as I looked into her sapphire eyes, and I realized I had never yelled at her before, had never even raised my voice. “Peter left to go rescue her. He’s out there too. Him, my mother, and my little brother… they’re all I have left. Everyone I fucking love is in Lux right now.”
She didn’t respond, just stared at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw lavender hair flash by the tent flaps, and I knew Savannah was leaving.
I let out a heavy sigh. “Just come sit with me,” I said once we were alone. I walked over to the spot on the bed Savannah vacated and slumped down onto it. “If they don’t come back in a little bit, I’ll figure out a way to teleport us there.”
I’d teleport us there now, but they’d portal back before I even made it halfway across the mortal territory. It’d take us multiple days to get there, and by that time, we’d be too late.
Scotlind still hadn’t moved. “And who’s to say you won’t leave me behind again?”
“I won’t,” I ground out, pissed that I even listened to the Fire Prince. “Just sit down,” I resigned, softening my voice, as I gestured to a spot on the bed. I wasn’t mad at her, and I knew she had just as much reason to be pissed at me as she did Tezya.
Her eyes widened as she took in my arms. White scars ran up both my arms, stopping at my biceps from when I pulled her off of Kole. Rainer’s lightning hurt like hell, and I only got the remnants of its effects from touching Scotlind. I wondered how she felt about being covered in them. But judging from the way she was assessing my own arms, I got the sinking feeling she hadn’t looked at herself yet. Guilt washed through me because I knew some of her scars were because of me, because I failed to protect her when I should have been there for her. Again.
She hesitated. “Sie, I…”
“Yeah, I know, you love him. I’m not asking you to cuddle with me and magically choose me instead.”
“Then what are you asking?”
Hell if I knew, but I was fucking terrified for Peter and Greyland, and I needed a distraction.
And more than that, I was furious I was left behind.
I needed to be the one to save Grey, and if I lost the opportunity because of this… If Tezya didn’t come back with my brother, I’d kill him, and then Scotlind would never look me in the eyes again.
I just wanted to forget everything that happened for a damn moment. Pretend that our relationship wasn’t completely gone. Pretend that I didn’t just watch Moli and my father get murdered like it was nothing more than a fucking spectacle. Pretend that the most sadistic Advenian alive wasn’t threatening my little brother’s life right now. Pretend that I was okay and not hanging on by fraying threads because I had no fucking idea what to do next.
I knew I couldn’t realistically teleport us to Lux. It was across the fucking ocean, and I didn’t have the slightest idea which direction to go from the camp. Dravenburg refused to give the new location to us, and no one was allowed to leave to figure out where we were shielded.
Not that any of us listened to his rules when we got Scotlind back this morning, but he didn’t know that. We all agreed to keep Kole and Arcane hidden from Dravenburg, and so far, he hadn’t noticed Scotlind was back or the extra surveillance we’d been making around Tezya’s tent. Wells and Rainer turned it into a makeshift cage prior to the trade, and we all agreed to cycle through shifts watching them. Currently Rainer was stuck on guard duty.
