Hard Boiled

by T L Christianson

  As I turned to enter the mountain, I spotted Logan Brooks. He sat with the group next to the firepit, reclining in one of the wood chairs, arms crossed, watching us. No, not watching us, watching Syd. His eyes lingered on her, his expression jealous and angry.

  I stared until he caught my eye.

  Sydney was my mate. I would always belong to her, and she would always belong to me—no matter what. Even when I gave her space, even though I told her to go live her life, nothing could come between us—nothing.

  Especially not Logan Brooks.

  Wrapping my arm around Syd, I led her past the group.

  Striding through the tunnels, I led the way into the oldest part of the caves, where the glows became sparse, and there was no electric light in this part of the tunnels.

  "Where are we going?” she asked.

  "I'm taking you to the original hot spring." I pointed to the last glow on the wall. "Grab that glow basket to light our way. It's supposed to be special—sacred—like the caves near Balaur Academy," I told her. Squeezing her to my side, I pulled her along the path.

  Syd shivered and gazed up at me trustingly. I was surprised she was so quiet, but then again, I could feel her fatigue and pain through our bond.

  Eondian pissed me off.

  It was one thing for him to mate Aaraeth, but another to nearly kill my bondmate while trying. I didn’t get how he could do such a thing… but I couldn't help thinking back to that overwhelming, intense need, and I could almost understand it. I remembered fighting Luke, Corbin, and Matt trying to get to Sydney, but it had made sense at the time. That consuming flow of emotion pushed all rational thoughts from my mind. If those guys hadn't been there, hadn't been Primes, I would've had her. This connection, this bond, was anything but logical and rational. It scared me. It took away my control and my inhibitions.

  "You're worried. What are you thinking about?" Syd whispered, holding up the glow to examine my expression.

  I looked down into her wide eyes. In the dim light, they looked like pools of water.

  Shaking my head, I whispered, "Today."

  "Do you remember what happened? When you were… I don't know what to call it… the dragon spell?"

  "Yeah. I remember," I told her, clenching my jaw.

  We turned off the main path and down another steep channel carved only large enough for us to walk through one at a time. The sound of trickling water echoed off the walls, making it impossible to guess where the noise came from.

  I stopped and turned to her, "The rest of the passage is flooded. Leave everything here that you don't want to get wet."

  I began to unbutton the few remaining buttons of my shirt before pulling it off and then my t-shirt, not an easy task in the narrow passageway. I yanked off my shoes, socks, and trousers until I stood there in my black boxer briefs.

  Syd tugged at her t-shirt as she stood there in bare feet. "My stupid shirt is glued to my back with…" she tugged at the fabric, "ouch! Blood."

  "It's okay," I whispered, "come on."

  Taking Sydney's hand, I held the glow basket up ahead of us as we carefully picked our way through the rock filled stream of running water.

  Farther down, the cavern opened up to a steaming pool. I hung the glow on a hook meant for the purpose.

  Sitting, I sunk into the pool. Sydney joined me, hissing as the warm water soaked her shirt and lapped at the wound on her back.

  Her eyes were wide as she settled on her knees in front of me, staring into my eyes.

  "Are you okay?" I asked, reaching through the water to touch her arm.

  "Yes," she said breathlessly.

  "Turn around, let me wash your back," I told her.

  Syd stood and resituated herself with her back toward me before pulling her thick hair over one shoulder. Even on her knees, the water came almost up to her armpits.

  She shivered when my fingers skimmed her neck to gently tug at the material of her shirt.

  "I'm feeling weird things through the bond. Am I hurting you?" I asked.

  "No… a little, but it's fine. No, I was thinking about George. Are you still going to try to rescue him tonight?" she asked.

  I brushed stray strands of her hair to the side as I spoke, "There's no try. I will get him out."

  Little by little, I separated the fabric from her skin. Then, carefully, I lifted the shirt over her head, only dripping a little on her hair.

  She breathed out a shaky breath, her chest heaving. I rubbed her arms in the water, not knowing why I whispered, but I did, "Why don't I try to heal you?"

  "Okay," she said, twisting to meet my eye. Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward to kiss her temple.

  Syd gave me a sassy smile. "Why don't I heal you?"

  "I'm fine," I told her.

  She laughed a sweet tinkling sound. "No, your lip is split, don't you feel that?"

  I sucked in the offending injury between my teeth before releasing it.

  "I'm okay. But…" I touched one of the loose straps of her sports bra, "I think this top is ruined. And it was my favorite!"

  She shook her head, twisting around again to tease me with a smile. "This is the only one you've seen. It's the one I supposedly gave you a peep show of that first day. I'll take it off."

  "Syd," I said, holding her arm. "Leave it on."

  She sat there almost naked with her back to me, her perfect golden skin reflecting the light of the glows. I shifted to adjust my position. I wasn't an animal, and I wasn't under Eondian's spell anymore.

  She is only sixteen, I reminded myself.

  "Have you heard Eondian since they… since we woke up?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at me, her arms holding her ruined t-shirt across her chest.

  I had to clear my throat to answer, "No. He's been quiet. Aaraeth?"

  "No, nothing."

  I carefully touched the wound's edges, trying to clean away the rest of the dried blood and dirt. She hissed and I pulled my hand away.

  "What do I need to do to heal you?"

  "We need to face each other," she said, twisting around, keeping her makeshift covering in place.

  Sitting between my bent legs, Syd looked so small and fragile. I grabbed her feet and pulled them around my hips before drawing her closer. She started to fall back with a cry, but I caught her, encircling her in my arms.

  "Okay," she whispered, gazing up at me, her shoulders heaving with quickened breaths. "Put your hands on the sides of my face, and…" she pulled my head down until our foreheads touched.

  "Now what?" I breathed, my body aching from her proximity, frustration boiling within me. My thoughts were all on her, and none of them were about healing.

  "Keep your eyes closed and focus on pushing it into me."

  "Oh, for the love of the ancestors!" I murmured under my breath as I leaned away to meet her eye.

  "Healing. Push healing through our connection!” she said, exacerbated.

  I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "You're killing me, you know that right?"

  Her body heaved in an exacerbated sigh. "Are you going to do it or not?"

  I groaned, "Yes. I am… just stop saying things like that. You're doing it on purpose."

  She leaned back, "I am not. You're just all wound up! Maybe I should've given you some alone time first."

  "Shhhh…" I ordered, pulling her back in, half hoping she'd drop her shirt, which she didn't. "I'm trying to heal you."

  Concentrating, I began to feel my hands grow warm. Heat swirled inside me, before flowing out into her—knitting her skin back together. The sensation ebbed and pulsed, flowing back and forth between us. The bruise on my ribs where Zane had kicked me felt as though lava were pouring through it, along with my lip and several other small places on my body I hadn't realized were injured.

  I thrust that healing lava back into Sydney. I didn't need this as much as she did… but then I felt her body as if it were my own.

  Her thoughts were in my head.

  I could fe
el all her pain and worry… her fears, her insecurities. It was like the beginning of the bond all over again. I saw things from her life.

  Elise sat beside me, no, not me—Sydney.

  I watched the older woman, I watched everything, I made mental notes on everyone, and all I wanted was to belong… to be loved. But I was so afraid, so afraid of this place… and George, they were going to kill him…

  Then I was with George. I saw him, staring at me… no, staring at Syd under his prison door. Reaching beneath it with dirty fingers, and my heart broke. I hurt, I hurt so much… I loved my dad… no, not my dad, Sydney's dad—George.

  She loved him so deeply.

  He'd been my only parent for so long…. I was struggling to separate us, to separate her from me. I watched and giggled as the Englishman pushed me on a swing as a child. He threw me up in the air…

  Then I saw myself… Ashe… tough and strong, my rock, my partner. The certainty about me and the depth of her faith in me was overwhelming. This was the faith that I'd almost broken.

  I'd fallen into Sydney’s mind… felt everything she'd been through, bringing our bond full circle.

  Time was nonexistent as our memories fused and mixed… making me forget that we were separate people…

  …and then suddenly, as quickly as it began, everything stopped.

  We were back in that cave, sitting in the hot spring in Briony.

  16

  Sydney

  Reality began lapping at the edges of my mind like the tide coming in. Little by little, I found myself aware of things, like the sound of a drop hitting the water, my own breath, or the warm, comforting scent of pepper and cedar—of Ashe.

  Our most intimate thoughts and feelings had been spread out before each other, but I had no regrets.

  In the midst of healing, I must’ve fallen against Ashe, my cheek against his bare chest, his chin resting on my head, and his arms around me.

  My back no longer hurt, and when I looked for the scratches on my hands, they were gone.

  He healed me.

  “It worked,” Ashe said quietly, making me jerk up, alert.

  I stared up at my dark-haired Prime, his eyes on me. “What happened? Did we…? Did we complete the bond?”

  He didn’t answer me right away. Instead, he searched my face, his expression wary.

  Without saying anything else, he fished my shirt out of the water and draped it over me, covering my torn sports bra.

  “I feel… different,” I managed to say, seeing the cave in a new way. “Do you feel different?”

  He stared at me, wide-eyed as if in shock. “Yes.”

  “Yeah…” I said, as I arched my back and stretched.

  Squeezing his eyes closed before meeting my gaze, he whispered, “I think we almost completed the bond.”

  I furrowed my brow. “But, I don’t understand. We didn’t?”

  “No, no… we didn’t. But, I think the Tetrad forms with intimacy—any kind of intimacy—And healing each other is very… intimate.”

  I bit my lip. “Yeah… for a minute, I thought…”

  Ashe pulled me into his arms, squeezing me to his chest. The swirl of emotion that washed over me was like heavy rain. I thought I felt his emotions before, but nothing compared to this. It was like living in his head. I could barely pick the threads of feeling apart, but even through all the beautiful, colorful strands of happiness and contentment, a thick black rope of dread began winding around everything.

  Pulling away, I looked up at him. His gaze was across the spring, looking into the darkness. We’d been in the water too long. Sweat dripped down the side of my face, and Ashe was flushed and damp from perspiration as well. I stood, trying to escape the heat.

  “What’s wrong?” I finally whispered when Ashe didn’t move to follow me. “Why do your thoughts feel so worried and dark all of a sudden.”

  I stared down at him, pressing my lips together because he was ruining this precious moment.

  He stood, his face pale as he searched the room before his eyes landed on mine. “I want to make sure you know what’s really going on… here at Briony and with George. Breaking George out is treason. But I want you to know that I have a very, very good reason to do it. I would never have done this if I didn’t. But Arthur has gone too far… again, and I won’t let him kill George.”

  “I know… I trust you.” I told him in a low voice. “What do you mean, ‘Arthur’s gone too far?”

  He checked his watch before sucking in a breath, “He’s not a good man, Sydney. But not just that, he’s done some very, very evil things. But, I wanted you to understand that I don’t go against my people. I don’t commit treason. Do you understand?”

  I nodded.

  “I’m afraid that Arthur will try to hurt you and I suspect that he’s behind the kidnapping attempt in California.”

  “What?” I asked. “No…”

  He nodded, “Yeah. That’s why I was so worried that Evgeni sent you here. That’s why you can’t wander around Briony alone.”

  “But why would he… they tried to kill us,” I said, my throat tight because his words rang of truth. I could feel it.

  “It’s because of our bond—the Tetrad. Most Dragonborn know little about it, including most Primes. But, a Tetrad usually leads to the next Prime Leader.”

  “But…” I trailed off, watching him with eyes wide.

  “It should have been Evgeni and Celine, and Arthur did everything in his power to discredit both of them… and even though most people don’t talk about it, it’s believed that Arthur is to blame for Celine’s death.

  “Then everyone thought it would be the Longs, but just because you’re a Prime, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to forge a Tetrad. The Longs are both Primes, but they don’t have a bond. This leads to us—the next Tetrad, but Arthur doesn’t want to give up his power. This is why Evgeni needs George. Apparently, George has information we can take to the Council and show them—get them to finally see all the crap he’s been doing and stop him.”

  I hesitated before speaking, “If you knew where that information was, would you still rescue George?”

  He nodded and swallowed. “Yeah… of course. What did George tell you?”

  My chest heaved. “I know where Celine’s research is… but please, please still rescue him.”

  He cupped my face with his hand. “I will. Evgeni plans to arrive here tomorrow, and you can tell him everything.”

  “I will,” I told him, licking my lips. “I don’t understand. If our bond is so important and Arthur is so bad… Why not just go ahead with the bond?”

  “Because we need the Council on our side. No one wants a fight. So, we’re waiting for this proof from George. But everything needs to line up. We’re on a razor edge, and if the Council moved against us, then it could ruin all our plans to remove Arthur from power.” He stared into my eyes, “Do you understand now?”

  I nodded.

  He continued, “I think when things began to heat up, Arthur tried to make something happen to George—maybe even kill him. But that didn’t matter once they had you, and you HAD to be a Prime. That’s why Angeven pushed that night of your Awakening Ceremony—she knew that you were the daughter of Evgeni and Celine, and therefore, you were a Prime.” He threw his hands up, “For all I know, she might have had orders to do anything to make your Awakening work. But then I was there and a new Tetrad formed, but it wasn’t one they could control.”

  I sucked in a breath and cut into his speech, “The bond… did you know all this back then?”

  He shook his head. “No. I didn’t know who you were. And, no, I didn’t do the bond on purpose, but… I didn’t stop it.”

  Plans within plans. Did Evgeni have something to do with this?

  “Come on,” Ashe whispered, standing and pulling me to my feet.

  He blew out a sardonic laugh, shaking his head. “I feel like I’ve almost messed everything up.”

  I reached up to push a lo
ck of hair that had fallen over his forehead back into place. “Why?”

  “Look where we are? In the sacred cave, almost naked…” he paused to suck in a breath, but I cut him off, resting my hand on his chest.

  “Stop. We’re fine… stop worrying.”

  “You’re right,” he said, turning his back to me and picking his way through the rocks.

  Watching my step in the dark water, I followed him through the pool. Near the exit, he pulled the glow basket off its hook and handed it to me.

  “Do you regret it?” I whispered, not sure if I was talking about the bond or me.

  He studied my eyes before reaching out to me. His thumb brushed my cheekbone while his fingers skimmed my hair behind my ear.

  “Us—no. I’ll never regret being with you. The timing—yes. But I know one thing—I made a mistake leaving you in California. I can’t be apart from you again. It’s just too hard. I can’t do it. I won’t do it,” he promised.

  A shy smile crossed my lips. “It’s about time.”

  He smiled back, unable to stop his mouth from curving up at the corners, then the smile faded when he checked his watch. “Speaking of time, if we’re breaking George out tonight, then I need to call Evgeni. Do you want to come with me up to the Northeast Lookout?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve wanted to see that.”

  He eyed the stream of water draining off my soggy top I was using to cover my chest. “Turn around and give me your shirt so I can squeeze it out.”

  “Turn around? Seriously…” I breathed.

  He growled, “Yes.”

  “Fine,” I said, shaking my head as I turned my back. “I mean… what’s the big deal about seeing a bra you’ve already seen, when you’ve already experienced the most intimate details of my life?”

  He didn’t answer, but I could feel his emotions. His mind was a tightly wound coil of confidence and anxiety. Maybe he needed the physical act of wringing the fabric out to calm down and make him feel some modicum of control.

  “Here,” he told me, nudging me with the lump of my damp but no longer drippy t-shirt.

  Still facing away, I pulled the ruined cloth over my head. “Did you see what happened to my socks?” I asked.