AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Elliana, why aren’t you excited?” he asked. “You’re free.”
Maybe it was everything happening so fast—I expected this to go wrong. I’d ruined the first spell from Vanore, so it hadn’t gone as planned, but maybe this time the incantation had worked as intended.
Still, Reed wasn’t himself, so how could I celebrate?
I turned in Gage’s embrace and wrapped my arms around his neck, letting myself drown in his warmth. “You and Reed are fucking amazing. I love you both for everything you did,” I said. “You found Vanore?”
“Yeah, we tracked her down at a tavern. Let’s pack and leave the tower after breakfast and put as much distance between you and the witch as possible.”
He kissed the top of my head, but I didn’t want to leave his arms. “Can you be honest with me?” I asked. “What’s wrong with Reed?”
Gage grasped my shoulders and faced me with a stern expression. “We’re both exhausted from the long trip. Don’t read too much into it, honey. Let’s focus on getting you away from this place. That’s the priority.”
I stared back at the gargoyle, still a solid rock, and the first trickles of joy threaded through me. My whole body thrummed with excitement as tears bubbled in my eyes at the reality that the spell might have worked for once.
“Never cry again,” Gage said, wiping my tears. “Today is the start of your new life, and I’m right here beside you.”
I threw myself at him, hugging him harder this time, breaking into a laugh. “Oh, shit, you and Reed did it!” I picked up a bundle of hair and gave it to Gage. “Let’s get up there and celebrate.”
Once we entered the tower, Kahlo was awake and sitting on the edge of the bed alongside Reed. Their whispers died the moment I climbed inside. Yep, I wasn’t an idiot. Shit had gone down, and the men were keeping it from me, assuming I wouldn’t approve or it’d piss me off or otherwise upset me. Most likely all those things. The heaviness returned to my chest, constricting me. What had happened? And considering Gage had taken Reed’s side by not telling what had happened in Tritonia, the news had to be horrible. Pushing them for an answer wouldn’t work, so I’d work on them to discover the truth.
With Gage’s help, I reeled in the rest of my hair, letting it sprawl across the floor.
“Okay, let’s get food in your bellies.” I headed to the kitchen, shaking because I wanted to scream at them.Forcethem to speak. But then would they even tell me the truth or brush me away? I ought to be bellowing with excitement when instead tears prickled my eyes because something had happened to Reed.
“How can I help?” Gage collected the bread from the pantry and picked up a huge knife.
“When you finish that, can you dice cheese please?”
He leaned toward me and whispered, “So I noticed Kahlo might have stayed here for the night.” His mouth pinched at the corners, and in all honestly I didn’t have time for this when my insides felt raw and as if someone had dragged barbed wire through me.
“So what if he did?” I said. “He stayed in case the witch came around.”
His expression didn’t shift. “And did she?”
I returned to the basket of eggs on the counter and started breaking them into a bowl. “No.”
“Good. Then after breakfast, you pack and we leave for good.” He sliced the bread, and I could sense his jitters and the way he kept shifting on the spot. Then he neared me again and whispered, “Because if something happened between you and Kahlo, I’d be okay with sharing, but I’d be disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to watch.”
I froze, letting his words roll through my head. Kahlo had said the same about sharing, as had Reed. So were the three of them talking about being with me together? Hell yeah, that made my day, along with seeing them get along so well. But when I looked over at Reed sitting across the tower, the way he slouched forward, his elbows on his thighs and his gaze miles away, an ache spiked through me.
* * *
“Are you fucking with us?That prick came here to hurt you?” Gage stopped buttering his bread, his jaw clenching. Reed’s eyes burned with flames while Kahlo dug into his eggs because he’d already heard about the hooded guy paying me a visit.
I nodded and swallowed the food in my mouth before taking a sip of my tea. We sat around the small table, everyone diving into the food, while Gingernuts ate his portion in the kitchen. My knees bounced under the table. While this was a celebratory food, partying was the last thing on my mind. Not when other shifters remained missing, including Reed’s sister, and then there was the whole mystery of what had caused Reed’s change in mood.
“You say the bastard stood up to the gargoyle?” Reed asked.
“In his lion form, or whatever shifter he was. The hooded man was freaking strong, but I suspect the witch kept me alive this whole time because somehow my hair gives him strength.”
“What the fuck for?” Gage stuffed a piece of cheese into his mouth and swallowed his food. “I haven’t even heard of an albino lion before, so where’s he been hiding this whole time? Why did he now kidnap shifters?”
“Shifters have been going missing for years,” Kahlo added. “But it was only one here and there, so most people put it down to random attacks or accidents. What if the same person handled those as well?”
“And he’s getting ready for a major assault?” Reed suggested.
“On who?” I cupped my warm mug and sipped the peppermint drink.
