Ella
“Go,” Ryatt says as I back out of his arms.
“I’ll come find you in a little while,” I tell him, my heart racing. Something’s wrong with Maddy. She was fine this morning.
Ryatt gives me a tight smile, but behind his eyes is a great deal of pain I can’t quite decipher. There’s so much unsaid between us. Hell, before all of this madness happened, before we went our separate ways so he could fight and I could bring Cassian to the Coven, he’d essentially accused me of working for the enemy and tried to force me to come here, back to my family.
And then he’d died in my arms, the last words on his lips that he loved me. We haven’t had a single moment to mend what’s been broken between us.
My chest aches as I watch him turn and walk away. There’s so much distance between us now without the mate bond. I can’t feel that tug in my heart anymore.
Will anything ever be the same? Will we ever get past this?
Is it even possible?
He disappears into the small house built on the bluff. I stand on the bridge, feeling suddenly torn between going to him and going to Maddy.
Maddy. Something’s wrong, I remind myself, and whirl toward the house. My sandals clack over the bridge. I’d changed into shorts and an old T-shirt before having breakfast with Maddy and Hannah, but my exposed skin does nothing to break through the heat of the day as I race toward the main house and skid to a stop inside, listening.
Voices travel down the stairs into the airy, open foyer. Footsteps sound, retreating further into the sprawling mansion. I slowly make my way upstairs, looking into each room. I open a door and run right into Isaac.
“What–”
“Just get out,” Maddy pleads to everyone in the room. “I am so tired.”
I edge around Isaac and notice Jane helping Maddy into bed. Maddy’s legs tremble, her eyes shining with tears and her cheeks burning a vicious red.
Mom looks at Isaac, then at me. Isaac flexes his jaw as he watches his mate get tucked into a large bed made of pale wood, the sheets and duvet a fluffy white cloud now surrounding Maddy.
“What happened?” I whisper as Mom gently leads me out of the room. The door shuts behind us, but Maddy’s muffled protests travel into the hallway. “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine,” Mom breathes, rubbing her temples. “She thought her water might have broken but it was a false alarm.”
I catch my breath, sighing heavily. “I thought–” I shake my head, trying to rid my skin of the creeping fight or flight feeling creeping through my body. “I thought she was hurt or we were being attacked.” Will I ever feel normal again?
“Maddy has had a really hard pregnancy, Ella. She’s fine, and the twins are perfect, but her body is under a lot of pressure right now. She’s supposed to be on bedrest until their birth. The past few days have been… too exciting for her, I think.”
“It’s my fault.”
“It’s my fault,” she cuts in, swallowing hard. “I called Isaac and asked them to come. I wasn’t thinking.”
Neither was I. Not when I used my powers to totally wreck an entire kingdom to save one man. My throat nearly closes, my eyes beginning to prickle with hot, angry tears.
I’m so tired. My body aches. My heart feels like it’s been patched together with tape threatening to split, spilling the fractured contents into my chest.
“That scared me,” I admit, barely able to meet my mom’s eyes. “I was–I thought something had happened and I….” Tears fall freely now, rolling down my cheeks and along my jaw. “Oh, Mom, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or feel right now.”
Mom pulls me into her chest and holds me close. “Everyone is feeling the same way you are, honey. It’s okay. We’re all going to be okay.” Her voice is strained, and I wonder if she’s also on the verge of tears. “Your dad wants to talk when you’re ready. I think you should go rest for a while, maybe take a nap. Maybe rest with Ryatt for the remainder of the day. He could use it as well, and I worry he won’t lie down if you’re not together.”
I hold her a little tighter. “Thank you for being kind to him.”
“He’s not so bad,” she says with a little laugh. “Very handsome, Ella. Good job.”
I choke on a laugh. “I guess that makes up for his terrible personality,” I joke.
“The two of you seem to be a good match.”
“We fight well.” I laugh, and memories of Ryatt come rushing back to the forefront of my mind. Every heated exchange. Every stolen kiss. Every fight that ended with me in his arms because I just couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.
“Go to him. I’ll handle Maddy. I think everyone could use some space and rest. We’ll try again tomorrow,” she says quietly. We can hear Isaac and Maddy bickering now. Isaac is doing his best to try to explain to her that she needs to rest as well.
His voice sounds so broken by exhaustion and stress that it sends a pang of pain through my heart as I let go of Mom and turn toward the stairs. But just as my foot hits the second to the last step, I hear the door to Maddy and Isaac’s room open and shut and Isaac’s muffled, exasperated voice whispering tersely to Mom before he thunders down the stairs.
He brushes past me, saying in passing, “Maddy wants to see you.”
I watch him go, the sun illuminating the strands of chestnut brown in his dark hair. Mom comes down the stairs next, huffing out a breath.
“Are they all right?” I whisper.
She nods, squeezing my forearm. “They’re fine. Isaac is really worried about her. That’s all. Your father has been trying to talk to him about it. He’s nervous about the birth.”
Another pang ripples through my heart.
I walk back upstairs and gently glide into Maddy’s room. The lights are off, and the room is cozy and clean, drenched in natural sunlight. Maddy raises her head from the pillow before flopping back down. “Are you okay?” I ask.
“No,” she groans. She tucks herself deeper into the pillows, lying on her side. “I’m tired and embarrassed.”
“Why are you embarrassed?” I sit on the edge of her bed and rest my hand on her ankle, which is swollen and warm to the touch.
“I thought my water broke,” she whispers, her cheeks going pinker than I’ve ever seen. “I was so excited. I got everyone all worked up in a panic and it turns out I just–I just….” Her cheeks turn red, and she buries her face. “I’m not in labor. False alarm.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Isaac wants us to go back to Crescent Falls,” she cuts in. “Now, he’s saying we can’t because it’s not safe for me to travel. He’s upset about it, upset with me.”
“I don’t think he’s upset with you, Maddy.”
“He acts like it,” she huffs. “He’s so afraid of me going into labor, Ella. He panicked just now. He’d rather me be pregnant forever than go through childbirth. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s so stressed out and it’s my fault.”
“It’s my fault.”
She blinks at me.
“He doesn’t trust me, Maddy. He doesn’t trust Ryatt. We’re his enemies, and now we’re sharing a house with him and his pregnant mate.”
I wait for her to try to tell me that's not true, but she knows it is. I can tell by the look in her eyes that it is, in fact, the truth. It’s the real problem between them.
“I don’t know how to fix the rift between you two,” she whispers.
“It’s not your responsibility,” I say, smiling at her. “Everything will be all right.”
“I told him I don’t want to go back to Crescent Falls,” she says. “I want to stay here with you and Isla until after the twins are born.”
“I don’t know how long I can stay.”
“Please,” she whispers. “Just until they’re here. I want you to see them, at least.”
Because I might never meet them if I leave again, at least not for a very long time.
“I’ll stay,” I tell her, but the words feel hollow. “I need–I need to find a way to get in contact with Eastonia, though.”
Maddy’s gaze shifts to the window. “Well, that’s easy.”
“What?”
“That falls, of course. Didn’t you call out to us using the falls?”
The blood drains from my face. “Oh, my Goddess, you’re right. But….” I’d used my powers to send energy through the water during the eclipse. I hadn’t known if it worked, but Maddy just confirmed it. “It might work.”
For the next two hours, I sit in Maddy’s room. I tell her everything, every detail, every name and face of the people I’ve met in Eastonia. I tell her about my powers, about the wars and the battles. Then I tell her about Ryatt and nearly dissolve in a puddle of tears when I explain his parentage–and Westfall. It feels good to just say everything–to lay it all out in the open. Maddy doesn’t cut in with advice or concern. She just listens, and that feels incredible.
“What do you think is happening in Eastonia right now?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I reply. The words feel heavy as I say them. “But I know nothing will be the same when we return.”
***
Ryatt sits on the edge of the bed, his back to me. I close the door to the snug room he’s been assigned with a soft click, but he doesn’t move. An empty tray of food sits on the dresser, and someone has been in to clean up the mess left behind by his fight with my brother.
Ryatt’s back is bare. I can see the stitches on his skin as his muscles flex. Several of the wounds went right through his chest and pierced through his back.
“What are you looking at?”
“The boats,” he says hoarsely.
I walk to his side and sit down next to him. His scent hits me, but it's softer than before. It’s probably because our bond is shattered. I look out over the water and then reluctantly turn to look at his chest.
He looks like he’s been pulled apart and stitched back together again. Bruises cover his chest and stomach, blurring the dark, twisting tattoos. “Oh, Ryatt!”
He takes my chin in his hand and pulls me close, his lips finding mine in a soft, slow kiss. Ignoring his injuries, he pulls me into his lap so I’m straddling him, our noses touching as he rakes his fingers through my hair and slides his tongue over mine.
“We can’t,” I whimper. “You're hurt.”
“It’s never stopped us before.”
“Ryatt–”
“Did Kane…. Did he….” He pulls back to look me in the eyes.
I know what he’s asking. My entire body goes rigid as memories of those moments with the Alpha King of Eastonia come hurtling back into view.
“No.” It’s the truth. “He threatened to assault me but I–I didn’t let him. I fought.”
“I should have been there.”
“You were.” I grip his hands. “You warned me, Ryatt. I didn’t know how powerful he really was until I came face to face with him. I’m so sorry. I’m so–”
He kisses me again, harder this time. “I failed you as a mate.”
“You didn’t.”
“Our bond is broken, Ella. I can’t help but think it’s because I didn’t stop this from happening.”
“You couldn’t do anything.”
“You should stay,” he tells me, and in a split second, we’re back to where we were when we fought in Veiled Valley.
“No.” I pull away from him. “I’m going back with you.”
“Are you sure, Ella? I don’t know when we could come back again, not with an infant.”
“I understand what I’m giving up. I went through all of this a year ago, remember? I chose you, Ryatt. I will keep choosing you. I will choose you every day because I–”
“I love you,” he says.
I swallow hard, looking deep in his eyes. “I love you. And I know how to reach Eastonia. I can pass along a message. But it means… taking a trip.”
“Where, exactly?”
“We have to go back to Maatua.”
“Your family isn’t going to let me leave.”
“I don’t care, and I’ve already called for a boat. We leave in half an hour.”