Chapter 93

CHAPTER NINETY-THREE

Ellery

The sun was streaming through the windows when I woke again. This time, it wasn't to the warmth of Ryker's arms around me but to the loss of him once more.

Despite the sun and warmth of the day, I was acutely aware of how cold the bed was. Rolling over, I stared at his empty spot before resting my hand on the small indent in his pillow. He hadn't left that long ago, but he had left.

I will not cry. I will not cry.

I'd known this was coming, but I still couldn't stop the anguish clawing at my throat and strangling my chest as I climbed from the bed. I refused to shed any tears; I'd put myself in this position and wouldn't weep over my stupidity.

I gathered my pants and boots but left everything else behind before leaving through the portal I opened into my bedroom. I didn't look back as I closed it behind me.

Feeling defeated, I surveyed my room with all its warm, familiar things and plants going wild and felt nothing but bleak. I'd known this was how sex with him would end, but things had seemed different between us this time.

His touch was tender again, his kiss softer, and his words kinder. That look in his eyes…. The memory of it swam through my mind. It had been so tender and loving, but it was only an illusion, a brief lapse of his memory, and when we parted, his hatred returned.

It will never go away.

That was a sad fact I'd told myself repeatedly, but for the first time, it truly sank in. The hope I hadn't realized I'd been holding onto shriveled and died.

It was over. It was really and truly over between us.

It didn't matter how much I loved him; I couldn't keep doing this. I'd said it before, but this time, I meant it.

We would keep our relationship strictly professional from now on. That was the only way I would survive it.

We had to continue working together. We had to do what we could to save Tempest from the tyrants running it, even if I'd prefer to never see Ryker again. It would be a lot easier to move on from him if I didn't have to see him every day, but that wasn't possible right now.

After we defeated our oppressors or died, we could go our separate, lonely ways or into coffins. My future looked so bright.

I tossed my ruined pants into the trash can and shoved my boots into the closet. I placed them in the center of the other pairs of my well-worn work shoes, and made sure they blended in, before going to shower. I'd have to remember to take my pants outside to burn them.

In the shower, I scrubbed myself until my skin turned red. Once I finished, I stood beneath the spray until my skin pruned, the water went cold, and it was past time to see my mother.

I left my bathroom in a fog of melancholy and defeat, pulled on a pair of pants and a green shirt, and headed downstairs to find my mother. When I opened the back door to reveal the rolling fields and acres of green crops, I scowled at the sun; I wasn't in the mood for its cheery bullshit today.

With a sigh, I descended the steps and searched for my mother.

* * *

Ryker

Balancing the tray of food carefully in one hand, I climbed the rope ladder, pushed open the door, and set the tray down inside my tree house before pulling myself inside. After I rose, my gaze instantly went to the bed where I expected to discover Ellery still sleeping soundly, like she was when I left only ten minutes ago.

Instead, the bed and the tree house were empty. "Shit."

Lifting the tray, I carried it to the nightstand and set it on top. The plates of food filled with eggs, bread, and buxon meat would go uneaten.

I should have waited until she woke before retrieving breakfast for us, but I knew she'd be hungry when she did. Neither of us had eaten since early yesterday morning, and my own grumbling stomach was what roused me.

She'd been sleeping so soundly that I was sure I had plenty of time to return before she woke. Instead, she'd awakened to find herself alone and probably believed I'd purposely left her that way.

Well, I had left her, but with every intention of returning. She didn't know that, and after our most recent exchanges, she probably assumed nothing had changed between us, but it had.

"Shit," I muttered again as I opened a portal.

I emerged within the Revenant Woods about half a mile from Ellery's manor. This was a risk I shouldn't be taking, but if I could talk to her, I would. We'd spent too much time apart, and I didn't want another day to pass that way.

I had to be careful; if my father had someone watching her home, they'd report to him immediately if they spotted me. Ellery would be the one to suffer if that happened; if I saw them first, they'd never survive to tell him anything.

Making my way cautiously toward the manor, I kept to the shadows and brush while searching for anyone lurking near the trees. After an hour, I arrived at the edge of the road, across the street from her manor.

I stopped to study the home across the way. Scarlet's brother ran out of the stables and down toward the crops as the distant clatter of wheels drifted down the road.

Slipping further into the shadows, I watched as a looming cloud of dust rose on the horizon, obscuring whoever approached.