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Her patience lasted about three seconds.
A pointed cough. Inhaling deeply, Isaiah swung his head over to regard her with a blank stare. Rukia fisted her hands on her hips. “Can you get off the phone with your girlfriend? I have places to be.”
“If Nina is my girlfriend, the world is doomed.”
Rukia flinched. “What did she say?”
“Rona is finally asleep, but they were up with her all night.” The undercurrent of electricity ceased. “Both Nina and Aidan have returned to the compound.”
Nodding, Rukia stepped toward the door but faltered as soon as her hand hit the doorknob. All of a sudden, her strength and will to overcome what happened fled.
Could she return to the site where Gideon had been buried? Could she stand in the spot where he might’ve taken his last breath? Would she ever be able to move past that?
Dark emotion churned in her gut, her knuckles bleaching white over the rose gold of the doorknob. Rukia’s heart palpitated in her chest, fluttering like a caged bird. Her lungs burned as she tried to dispel the alarming sensation, but stars dotted her vision before she was able to catch her breath.
Wobbling on her feet, she braced a hand against the door to stabilize herself. Evergreen and spice permeated her senses when she felt a steadying hand at her back. She hadn’t even been aware that Isaiah had moved.
“You don’t have to go, Rukia.” Solemn words from the Raeth beside her, his tangibility an anchor as she wavered.
And even though tears threatened to spring from her eyes, she simply shook her head. “No, I need to go. Gideon left me in charge.” She brought her gaze up to look him square in the eye. “I have to do this; if not for me, then for him.”
He offered her a resolute nod. Opening the door, Isaiah kept his hand on the small of her back, guiding—or steadying—without words. They stepped into the brilliant light of the June morning.
As Rukia’s eyes adjusted, she gasped.
All around them, flowers had withered on their stems, their shriveling blooms sinking to the earth in tragic decay. Healthy trees had shed green leaves, the cascade of falling foliage a leafy carpet upon the ground. The summer grass, a vibrant spring green yesterday morning, had weathered during the night into a browned shade of yellow.
It seemed the entire earth was mourning Gideon.
Tension radiated through her body, but she didn’t stop even when her legs quivered underneath her. She didn’t hesitate as her fingers tingled with the pulse of her racing heart. Beside her, the Raeth sovereign mirrored her movements, utterly silent.
“Will you stay, Isaiah?” Her voice was a mere whisper against the eerie quiet that punctuated the stilted breeze. No birds chirped; no rabbits rustled in the underbrush. It was as though the earth was locked in stasis.
“I will if you want me to.”
The problem was: she did. Rukia desperately wanted him to stay, his soothing presence the only thing that’d kept her together when she was on her way to falling apart.
Chapter Ten
ThewaterElementalbesidehim remained mute as they walked, side by side, toward Paracel’s central compound. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t seem to notice that he was merely following her lead, that he’d never set foot in these parts of the city before.
The streets were largely devoid of people. Curated lawns and immaculate gardens were wilting, but no earth Elemental was tending them.
It was as if they, too, were holding their breath.
Glancing toward Rukia, he frowned. Though her pace was swift, the water Elemental’s features were utterly passive, her blank stare hinting at catatonia.
In the next instant, she’d caught his eye and sneered at him. “What, Raeth?”
Flinching inwardly at the hostility in her tone, Isaiah pivoted his head back toward their path and didn’t say a word. Should the incensed female seek a fight, she’d wouldn’t find it with him.
Evenifthe blood that drummed through his veins desired nothing more.
Beside him, Rukia scowled at his sudden benevolence. “You’re all bark and no bite, Isaiah.”
“Would you prefer that I take you to task, Rukia?” Isaiah questioned blandly, clasping his hands behind his back without bothering to glance at her. “Is that what you desire from me?”
“Well, I know what you desire from me,” she snarled.
