Page 79 of Facade

He walked over to the slab of stone and sat down, placing his elbows on his knees, his long hair sliding over his shoulder.

“What’s bothering you? Besides the obvious,” I asked, lightly.

He sighed, his head falling forward. When he looked back at me, darkness churned behind the brightness in his eyes. Pain. Regret.

“I never told her who I really was, Aniah. She knew my name and that I was a warrior, but that’s all.” His brows furrowed when he faced me. “I should’ve told her the truth, back then. I don’t think it would've made a difference. But at least she'd have known. Maybe she wouldn’t have left that night in such a panic when she—”

“Don’t go to the ‘what ifs’. It just leads to a vortex of darkness in your mind and soul. Everything happened for a reason. We can only focus on the now.” I sat next to him. “I understand this is hard.”

“It is for you too. We’ll get him back,” he said, those blue eyes cutting toward me.

I gave him a tight smile in response. I knew he meant Malachai. But I couldn’t think about him right now.

“Freesia?” he asked, quietly.

“Freesia left for the cabin to get things ready. From there, she’ll try to make contact with Thaddeus’s inside man.”

“And do we know who that is?” he bit out. "Or who the hell's been leaving tips for us?"

“Ryker, you know I don’t know. Thaddeus protects his allies with anonymity.”

We sat in silence for a moment before Ryker said, “I need a favor.”

I looked at him, my brows hitting my hairline. In the many years I’d known him, he never asked for anything.

“Of course.”

“Will you cut my hair?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, placing my hand over my mouth as I stifled a laugh. Once I composed myself, I turned toward him.

“She said something, didn’t she?”

He scowled, and I couldn’t keep it in.

I laughed, the sound echoing throughout the cave, making it feel lighter despite the shadows that crept in.

My abdomen cramped, and my cheeks ached at the foreign feeling. It had been so long since I could laugh or feel joy, but today was a good day. And Ryker was finally going to let me cut his ridiculously long hair.

21

Evanee

Dimitri seemed unsettled since his confrontation with Aiden over the springs. He stayed in his wolf form, saying beforehand he wanted to be ready for anything that came our way. It was clear he was avoiding us.

My head jerked around constantly, watching for signs in the still forest of our shadows and wondering when they’d show themselves to me again. Anticipation coiled tight inside my body from my eagerness to see them. To see him. Even though he infuriated me. Bastard.

Restlessness clung to me like rot as I waited for another memory to trigger. Snippets flashed through my mind—glimpses of bright colors from the sky—a freedom deep within my soul, but I couldn’t keep hold of them. The images slipped through my fingers like oil, disappearing as fast as they appeared. I was ready for the dam to burst. I wanted to see everything that was missing. To know what had happened—how I'd survived, and if there were any others like me out there. A deep instinct told me that my memories were more likely to surface if I were with Aniah and Ryker. More than that, I felt like I needed to be with them. I wasn’t safe here—and it had more to do with who I was with, than where I was headed.

“Concerned about something in the woods?” Aiden asked over his shoulder. “That’s the fifth time you’ve looked behind us.”

He had me ride behind him this time, so that he could shelter me from the northern wind blowing head-on. I held on tightly, my arms wrapped around the hard plane of his stomach.

“Just… bears. And whatever else could be out here.” Liar.

Aiden hadn’t said much to me since the springs, either, which made me uneasy. He couldn’t possibly know they took me, unless he had come to check on me during that time and found me gone. I’d also been very careful not to expose my markings. He'd have said something by now, right? Though he knew I tried to make a run for it on the beach that night, and had waited—made a game of it. Great.

He questioned the herbs again when we returned to camp, asking where I’d found them growing, even though the snow had smothered everything. I gambled saying it was before the snow—his face said he believed me. For now.