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“You had no issue taking out those Erpetosi guys.”
“Yes, well… It’s a bit different when they’re trying to kill you—or someone you care about.”
Once we’ve gathered enough, I find us a place to stop and rest and start a small fire. I then show Tyler how to clean and dress our kills. This task is less intuitive for him, and I can see that he’s uncomfortable with the process. He fumbles with the carcass and I tease him for it, which only makes him more determined to prove himself. His face isknitted in concentration as he works with the knife, the rabbit’s blood dripping from his fingers as he removes its guts.
I smile quietly in admiration. He looks like an entirely different Tyler compared to the omega I found just a couple of days ago. He was like a snowflake in summer. Out of place, fragile, and in danger. His rough edges are starting to appear now, and I like what I see.
We stuff the rabbits with wild onion and garlic and roast them over the fire while nibbling on mushrooms and berries. Tyler practices with his sling, knocking acorns from branches, and grinning with every hit.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself,” I tell him as I set my knives out in front of me to sharpen.
“I know. Ever since yesterday, it’s almost like a weight has come off my shoulders. I guess that’s what a few brushes with death will do to you. But the weird thing is, I’ve been in dangerous situations before at my job, and all I ever felt afterward was fear. This constant anxiety, growing heavier and heavier, like a fucking monster on my back. Every day I’d experience something that just made me lose more faith in the world and humanity. No one seemed to be looking out for each other.” He knocks down another acorn, and a chipmunk zips across the ground and runs off with it. “Incredible how lonely you can feel, despite being surrounded by so many people. I was always too afraid to try something different. I always came back to what was comfortable, even if it fucking sucked.”
Tyler hurls another stone. This one misses the target and skips across the leaf-strewn ground. He exhales and sits down beside me. As I swipe the blade of my knife over the surface of the small whetstone I keep in my satchel, I give Tyler a nod of encouragement to continue. I’m listening.
He turns the sling over in his hands, running his fingers across the leather like he’s making sure it’s real. “I prayed,” he confesses quietly. “I sent out a call to the universe for something to change because I sure as hell wasn’t brave enough to do it on my own. I guess someone was paying attention.”
“Being dragged to Circeana was probably not what you had in mind,” I comment.
“Not exactly,” he says, looking at me with a smile. “But at the same time…” Then he shakes his head, like he’s decided that whatever it was he was about to say is not worth saying. “No, not exactly.” He places his hand on his stomach. “Definitelynot.”
I test the meat with the tip of my knife, and succulent juices flow from the cut. It smells wonderful. I don’t normally make such an effort on cooking while on the road, but I didn’t anticipate our journey to Athenos would take this long, and I want Tyler to have something better to eat than my usual quick travel meal of the fat white grubs that make their home beneath fallen oak trees.
After the meal, I stow the rabbit pelts and we continue. Tyler moves with much more confidence thanbefore, and we make good time despite not using the road. Any concerns or thoughts of him hindering me are now absent. I stop when he needs a rest, or when there’s something interesting to show him. And we talk. I tell him about my youth spent around the human city of Kausos, picking pockets in the market and living off the surrounding forest. I completely avoided using my abilities during that time, afraid that I would be sniffed out by phoenix hunters and their dark wolves. I was alone. I kept away from the other street urchins and trusted no one except for myself.
When I was finally caught with my hand in someone’s purse, I used my powers to escape and left Kausos behind. I followed the coast to Phoros, then to Megara, then east to Athenos. There I joined a gang for a time and picked up my skills with a dagger. I met Alyx. But the work never felt right.Inever felt right. And so, I moved on, traveling across the region, accumulating stories in passing about my clan. That was when I began to wonder about my family, who I barely remembered. That was when I began to search.
Tyler talks about his life, and it’s as strange and foreign as the words he sometimes chooses. I don’t understand much of the details, but what I do feel is the longing in his voice. He talks about drifting, about searching for himself and coming up with nothing. He tells me about his family, and then he tells me all about Jeff.
I can’t understand how an alpha can have such callous disregard for an omega who cares so much for him.
“I may be a thief, but even I have more honor,” I say angrily “How can he call himself a man when he acts like aboy? Why would you put up with someone so content to waste your precious energy?”
Tyler falls quiet. I seem to have upset him, but I don’t apologize. I can’t stand the idea of someone who would take advantage of his affection and love and leave him with nothing. Tyler seems to be content with accepting breadcrumbs from this Jeff. Even an inexperienced fool like me can see that he deserves so much more.
“I know,” he says. “I’m embarrassed to think about how many times I’ve asked myself that same damn question.”
“And?”
“I’ve gotten pretty damn good at convincing myself that things would work out eventually if I just keep holding on.” He laughs. “Pathetic, huh? I guess I’m just that afraid of being alone.”
“We’re all alone,” I tell him. “Better to get used to it. At least you know who you’re dealing with.”
The way becomes much easier as we near the city. The land has been cleared for farming, and we pass quietly through fields of wheat and grapes and orchards of olives and pomegranate. A shadow falls over us. We crane our necks to look up as a huge flyer built in the shape of a whale hovers amongst the clouds, humming like a swarm of bees.I can see the passengers peering over the deck rail, eager to reach Athenos.
The crunch of footsteps catches me by surprise. An alpha is standing there amongst the trees ahead of us like an apparition in the orchard. We’re still far from the road—there’s no reason for him to be out here. My first thought is that he’s a farmer, but it’s clear from the look of the green tunic he’s wearing that he’s some kind of monk or priest. How did I not sense him earlier?
I grab Tyler’s arm and take a defensive stance as the alpha’s hand brushes back the tunic from his waist and rests upon the neck of a bright red drinking gourd. He unfastens it from his belt, pulls the stopper with his teeth, and tilts it up to his lips on the crook of his elbow.
And then I feel it. The tingle of magic in the air—that same presence from the valley. I reach for the hilt of my dagger, but just before I can speak a warning, Tyler steps forward.
“Tyler, wait,” I bark. “He’s?—”
“Airos, the guy who gave me the jerky!” Tyler says.
“He’s the one who attacked us!” I reply.
“What? Come on, Kalistratos. He’s Phoenikos. He’s a friend. ” Tyler looks at the monk. “Airos?”
