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Bronywyn
Istep down off the porch with the early morning sun beating down on my shoulders. It’s warm, comforting, even when the rest of me—my bones, blood, muscles—might as well be ice.
All around me, groups have gathered, some talking amongst themselves, others laid out in exhaustion, sleeping soundly whether it be by choice or simply due to the inability to stay awake any longer.
Z raises his hand in greeting, and I return it. To my complete surprise, his wife steps from the tent right behind him. “Bronywyn!” she calls out, raising a hand.
I redirect, heading toward her, putting a temporary stay on my search for Ridley, having not seen the blonde witch in quite a while now. Baby in a sling on her chest, she looks a little bit like I would picture Mother Nature. Wholesome, strong, but with enough power to bring even the largest mountain crumbling to the ground.
“How are you doing?” she asks, coming to stand beside me. Eyes soft, she reaches out and runs a hand down my arm.
“I’ll be okay.”
Lauren snorts and shakes her head. “I know how much he means to you. How long you’ve waited to be happy. You can’t lie to me.”
“I’m doing completely and utterly shitty,” I reply. “I don’t have my bearings without him, Lauren. It’s as though a part of me is gone.”
“But you can still feel the bond, right? Z said you two were bonded through blood magic.”
“We are, and I can—a little, anyway. But it’s weak and growing weaker every moment. I don’t know where he is, but I know he doesn’t have much longer.”
“Which means neither does Rainey.”
“And that’s only if they’re together.”
“Dammit. How is Elijah?”
“Not speaking.”
“Have you told anyone about the bond fading?”
“No. And I don’t want anyone to know. If it breaks altogether—” I choke up, my throat damn near closing due to the lump growing inside of it.
Lauren squeezes my arm. “You guys will get to them in time.” She glances back at Z. “Where are you headed now?”
“To go find Ridley.”
“Come find me before you leave.”
“Will do.”
“Great.” She smiles softly. “He headed into the trees, that way,” she gestures toward the tree line off to the right.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
I leave her standing in the center of the camp and head straight for the trees. Ridley may not even still be here. After what he said, he might have just decided we were all a lost cause and taken off, anyway. In which case, I will be hunting his ass down when all this is over.
The moment I reach the tree line, though, I see him standing near the edge of a small gulley, water rushing through it. Above, birds chirp, their happy songs a contrasting joy to the dark cloud consistently surrounding me these days.
“And here I thought you were already running,” I say as I come to stand beside him. My gaze drops to the water, and I watch the almost hypnotic movement of green moss atop a rock as water pushes over it.
“Considered it. You all are but a blip in my long life. Chances are I’d forget about you in a century or so.
“A century? Wow, you’d remember us for that long, huh?”
He sighs. “Possibly.”
