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I glanced around the camp he'd made, but I didn't see any sign of anyone else's gear.
"I came back alone," Owen said, noticing my curious gaze. "Finn hadn't made it back from his trip yet, and Bria wanted to come with me. Phillip too. But I didn't give them the chance. I slipped away while they were tending to the others. I didn't want to waste a second getting back to you. "
"Sophia? Warren?"
"Both safe at cooper's house," he answered. "It was slow going, but I was able to get them off the mountain and over there without any problems. Whatever you did to Grimes and his men kept them from chasing after us. " I nodded. I'd tell him about how I'd iced over the ridge later. Now came the question that I was dreading the answer to. "And Jo-Jo?"
"She's doing much better," Owen said. "cooper was able to rest and replenish his magic while we went after
Sophia. When he woke up, Jo-Jo was awake too, and she helped him use his Air magic to heal her more. She's not a hundred percent, but she should be fine in a few days. cooper even had enough magic left to heal the worst of Sophia's injuries. Warren's too. "
I let out a breath. Warren, Sophia, and Jo-Jo were all safe and on the mend - for now.
I thought of what Grimes had said, about how he was going to go after Sophia again. He wouldn't stop until he'd dragged her back up here to his twisted camp. He'd come looking for her sooner, rather than later, especially given what a mess I'd made of things. But Grimes was never getting his hands on Sophia again, I vowed. Because the next time I saw the bastard, I was going to end him.
"What about you?" Owen asked. "What happened?"
I told him everything that I had done to Grimes's men and everything that Grimes and Hazel had said to me.
Owen listened in silence. Then, after a moment, he grinned. "You really set fire to his moonshine operation?
I would have loved to have seen the look on his face when he realized what you did. "
"It was rather impressive," I said, grinning back at him. "At least, what I saw of it was. I was hoping that the flames would spread and burn the entire camp to the ground, but that was probably too much to wish for. "
"Probably," he agreed. "Men like Grimes always seem to have nine lives. "
"Then I guess it's a good thing that I do too. "
Owen returned my grin for a moment, but the expression quickly slid off his face, and his features turned serious once more. He stared at me before his gaze dropped back down to the fire. He started stirring the flames with his stick again. I wondered what he was thinking about, but I decided not to ask. He'd tell me in his own time, and there were other things that I wanted to know right then.
"How did you find me?"
"Well, when I hiked back to the ridge, I didn't see you anywhere in the camp. All I saw was a charred building and some guys putting out the smoldering remains of a fire. So I hiked back to the pit and the tombstones. I didn't know what was going on or where you were, but eventually, I was able to creep up and eavesdrop on a couple of Grimes's men. They were talking about how you'd jumped off a cliff and into the river. So I got out Fletcher's maps, since I'd brought them back with me, and I tried to figure out where you might have ended up downriver. "
A piece of wood in the fire cracked, causing a few sparks to drift up into the air like fireflies. Owen watched them burn out before he continued his story.
"I hiked around the mountain until I reached the river, then followed it downstream for a few miles. I was searching for you, but I was also using my magic. I was just hoping that you still had on your silverstone vest. "
"So you used your elemental talent for metal to see if you could sense any of it in the area. "
He nodded. "And I finally did. I saw you half-submerged in the water in the canyon and fished you out. After that, well, here we are. " He spread his hands out to both sides, gesturing at the fire and the dark woods beyond.
His story touched me. "You went to all that trouble for me?"
"I'd do all that and more for you," he said. "I'd do anything for you, Gin. "
I looked at him, wondering at the sudden fervor in his voice. "Owen?"
He hesitated. At first, I thought that he wasn't going to say anything else, but then he squared his shoulders, lifted his chin, and looked me square in the eyes. "I'm sorry," he finally said.
"For what?"
"For everything," Owen replied. "But especially for the way that I treated you after you killed Salina. It was stupid and inexcusable of me. "
I thought back to everything he'd said at Fletcher's house when he'd told me that he was going to help me rescue Sophia. "Is this one of those things that you've been an idiot about?"
He gave me a rueful grin. "One of many. Isn't it obvious?"
