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9GARRET
“Come on,now. Pick up your feet. We can't afford to lose time.” Parris was ahead of me, and the disapproving look he shot over his shoulder spoke of his impatience. “At this rate, we'll never make it there.” He craned his neck to peer at Jaide who was behind me and breathing hard. “Come on, darling. Don't give out on us now.”
Jaide came to a stop, hands on her hips. Her face was flushed, sweat rolling down the back of her neck and soaking into the underarms of the robes Elliot had given her back in his cave. They were far too large for her, as were the boots he'd dug up from somewhere or other, but it was better than being barefoot and naked in this inhospitable terrain.
“I think you're forgetting the difference between us.” She waved her hand back and forth between us and herself. “I'm not exactly as strong as you guys.”
“Same here.” Elliot stood next to her, and the sight of it made my chest contract.
Instinct told me to get him away from her, to protect her from the liar who could have told me the truth countless times and conveniently avoided doing so. How could I have been so blind? How could I have allowed a spy to work his way into my regard?
Into my heart?
We weren't supposed to have hearts, but the spot where mine would have been located throbbed maddeningly when I thought of all the moments we had spent together. Moments I had never shared with anyone else. Moments of tenderness, connection, and intimacy. No wonder we weren't supposed to love. Look where it had gotten me with Elliot.
“The sun is about to set,” Elliot pointed out, extending an arm toward the western sky. Ribbons of red, amber, and gold spread out across the horizon. “You can't expect her to hike in the dark. She needs rest. Sleep. And I need time to train her for what's coming.”
Parris groaned. “Break out the violins. He's going to sing us a sad song next.”
Elliot bared his teeth and snarled. “I don't know why I would expect you, of all creatures, to place yourself in another's shoes.”
“Enough.” Jaide's voice was weak with fatigue, and it was that more than anything else she said that reminded me how easily humans tired.
Although she was half-human, she wasn't like Parris or me. We didn't need sleep and had endless amounts of energy so long as we were fed. We could have hiked through the night and well into morning without stopping to rest.
I turned to Parris. “We ought to find shelter for the night. She needs rest.”
“And training,” Elliott added.
I held my tongue, only grunting in acknowledgement. Eventually, the two of us would have to come to an understanding, but we were nowhere near that yet. For now, I would go along to get along—not exactly something we Synians were skilled at. I was by far the most even-tempered of the kings, but I was no diplomat.
“Stay here. I'll be back.” Elliot vanished, warm wind passing close to me and stirring tendrils of hair that had escaped my bun. I went to Jaide, reaching out a hand to help her up onto the ledge where Parris and I waited. I could almost feel her exhaustion when our hands met.
“It isn't easy for us to remember what it was like to be human.” I rubbed her shoulders and had to remind myself of the importance of not feeding from her. “It's not that we don't care.”
She looked up at me, scowling. “Are the two of you going to make up?”
“Oh, can we not? Do we not have more important things to concern ourselves with?” Parris leaned against a tree, rolling his eyes and folding his arms in a true picture of disinterest.
“I don't remember asking you,” she retorted before sticking her tongue out at him. “I'm thinking about all of us. If there's tension, we can't all be, you know…on the same page.” She flapped her hands around and released a frustrated sigh. “I'm not exactly good at this whole leadership thing.”
“Because you were built for other things, darling.” Parris gave her a cheeky wink.
“She was built for much more than that, as we both know,” I said.
The wind rushed again, and Elliot appeared. “There's an overhang not far ahead, more than deep enough for shelter and to keep a fire burning.”
He reached for Jaide's hand, and she took it without hesitation. Once again, the pain in my chest flared to life, nearly strong enough to knock me off my feet. The sight of their connection. So effortless and natural. A different sort of connection than the one Elliot and I shared—or had shared. I was still uncertain about our future.
Though Jaide was right. Whatever was going to happen between us needed to happen soon.
Once we reached the rocky overhang Elliot had described, Parris and I got to work gathering brush and wood for a fire while Elliot encouraged Jaide to test out her wind magic.
“I'm too tired,” she murmured, sitting with her back to the rock and closing her eyes. “I don't have the strength.”
“That's an unacceptable answer.”
Her eyes flew open. “Excuse me?”
