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“We really don’t have time for this,” I grumble, breezing past the pair of them to get closer to the compound. I still can’t see Ari anywhere, but I can feel him, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
As if sensing my uncertainty, a flicker of golden feathers flashes through the tree line and hope blossoms inside of me. My soul calls out to him, desperate to have him near, but no matter how much I rock back and forth on my heels, he doesn’t come any closer.
“Ari.”
“Why are you here, Raven?”
“I already told you.”
“Why?”
I can see his wings flutter at his sides, but he still doesn’t make any effort to turn and face me and my gut twists with worry.
“Raven?” Creed looks at me in wonder and I realize they’re not even getting to listen to half of the conversation like they usually would, so they have no idea what’s going on.
Clearing my throat, I turn back to Ari as I feel the others inch closer to me. “Ari, we’re here to prove to Figgins what is going on so we can safely get you out of here.”
He scoffs.“You’re wasting your time. She’s as useless as a glass hammer,”he retorts, and I pray like hell he’s not right.“Besides, I’ve told you over and over again that it’s not safe, yet you continue to defy me by coming here.”
“Excuse me, asshole, I don’t defy you, and even if I did, you’re not my boss,” I grumble, clenching my hands at my sides, trying to rein in my temper. “Besides, we know it’s not safe for me, but we know it’s also not safe for you and Gia, and I’m trying to protect you.”
“What is he saying?” Figgins asks, pulling her hood down to look at me properly. This close, she looks tired, her eyes seem a little sunken, and the bags beneath them are darker than they were a few days ago.
I wonder what’s causing her trouble? Does it link to Erikel too?
Shaking my head, I focus. “He thinks you’re going to be useless and he’s adamant we shouldn’t have come because of how unsafe it is.”
“As useless as a glass hammer. If you’re going to throw me under the rock, you may as well do it accurately.”
Biting back my smirk, I clarify. “Sorry, his exact words were ‘as useless as a glass hammer’.”
Figgins raises her eyebrows at me as Zane and Eldon snicker behind me, but if anything, she doesn’t seem offended, more that she wants to prove Ari wrong.
By all means, please do.
She steps past me without another word, lifting her hand before her when she gets close enough, and I watch as the ward around the compound ripples beneath her touch.
“She shouldn’t do that.”
“Ari said you shouldn’t do that,” I repeat, feeling like a damn parrot.
“I created it, I think I’m good.”
“Did you warn her that it may have been tampered with?”
“Yes.”
If Ari was standing in front of me right now, I’m certain he would be giving me the stare. The stare that questions whether I’m telling the truth or not.
Fucker.
“Hmm, I understand what he means, though. It feels… different somehow.”
I stick my tongue out like a childish brat, knowing he’s likely not paying me any attention, but it feels good anyway.
Ari sighs.“I thought you told her stuff.”
“I did,” I grumble, waving my arms at her. “It doesn’t mean she wanted to listen, though,” I add, earning the stare from Figgins this time, but I brush it off. I’m not wrong.
