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“What's this?” Elliot stood, frowning as he looked over what was left of the camp.
It wasn't until he said it that I noticed faint commotion. He disappeared in a gust of wind with no warning, and when he returned maybe a second or two later, he looked even less happy than before.
“What is it?” I asked, setting my food aside.
My heart was starting to pound again. I couldn't take much more of this. How was I supposed to deal with this constant barrage of danger, drama, and unwelcome surprises?
“How did she find us?” Elliot was still staring off.
“Who, you cryptic Sylph?” I asked then stood on tiptoe, trying to see over the heads of Witches surrounding what I guessed was a newcomer. It wasn't until she stepped out from the crowd that I realized who I was looking at. I'd seen her looking much better back in Elliot's room. “Dawn?”
She looked like she was close to death, exhausted and barefoot, clad in rags.
When she saw me—recognized me—she stumbled my way with her arms outstretched. “You're alive. I didn't think I would make it in time.” When she reached me, she slumped in my arms like her legs were too tired to hold her up. “I woke up on the beach. I don’t know how long I was unconscious out there. He dumped me out there.”
She stank of sea and sweat.
“Who dumped you on the beach? What happened to you?” I asked.
“It's too much to talk about all at once.” She found her feet again, but Dawn still looked shaky while her head snapped around, her eyes taking in everything around us. “Is he here? Did he get here yet? He must have, right? They were on the ship...”
“Did who get here?”
“Jett. Jett… he was coming here. With Aldric and the armies and everything. Where is he?” She went from looking around to staring at me, her eyes wide and shining and maybe ever so slightly crazed.
The sound of his name filled my eyes with tears, and this time I couldn't pretend to ignore them. They spilled onto my cheeks, followed by more, until I was sobbing almost too hard to speak. “He's gone,” I wailed. “He's gone. I tried.”
She held me at arm’s length, her head shaking back and forth slightly. “No. That’s not true. You wouldn’t have let that happen.”
“I tried! I wanted to save him. But in the end, he wanted me to let him go. I didn’t want to!”
“No, he isn’t dead. He cannot be dead!” She flung me away, shaking her head adamantly. Then, she rubbed her hands together before rubbing them over her bare arms. “Why did you do that? Why did you kill him?”
“I tried not to! He fell, I wanted to pull him up, but he didn't—”
“It wasn't his fault! He was under Theon’s control and Aldric’s. You didn't need to kill him!”
“I'm telling you: I didn't actually kill him. He let himself fall.”
“Liar. You're a liar!” she shrieked. “You killed him. You killed my mate!”
My head snapped back. “Your mate?” I whispered.
How fucking much had I missed?
“Yes! He was my mate. And they used him. He wanted them to stop. He was himself when he was with me,” she ranted. “He knew what they were doing. He couldn't help it. And you murdered him!”
I reached for her, but she darted away. “I'm telling you, I didn't. I loved him. I begged him to stop what he was doing. Ask anybody who actually survived what happened last night. They all heard me. Over and over, I tried to bring a stop to it. But like you said, he wasn't in control of himself. What was I supposed to do? Let him kill me?”
“Dawn...” Elliot started, and I hadn't noticed him nearby.
For all I knew, he was hovering around us in his wind form, not like he needed to be that close to overhear what we were saying. A quick look around told me everybody was listening. Everybody was witnessing this.
She snarled at him. “No, don't lie to me. I'm so tired of being lied to and used!” She backed away, wagging her head and shaking. “I swear. I will make you pay for this.”
“Don't do this,” I pleaded, taking a few steps toward her before hitting an invisible wall.
Elliot. He didn't want me getting close to her. Maybe he was right, but that didn't make me happy about him standing in my way.
