Chapter 43

43

What the fuck are you doing, Bridger? he asked himself as he pivoted toward a snapping twig. "Please come out." He spoke softly, knowing she was close. "I can feel you."

Their connection had always been strong, but since his shields came down, the tingle he felt had intensified like never before.

Another snap made Bridger spin in the opposite direction. "For such a tiny thing, you sure are making a lot of fucking noise," he grumbled. Standing in the same spot, Bridger took a deep breath and focused on the pull he could feel on the inside. It'd been so long since he had to follow the thread that linked him to Vega.

His dark eyes shot open, and he moved on quiet feet.

Backed up against a large willow tree, Vega hid with the dagger she'd stolen clutched in her hand. Bridger stalked around in the shadows cast by the full moon.

Vega's head cocked, but with no powers, she wouldn't be able to feel him through the bond in their souls. She moved between trees, rustling leaves under her feet like a toddler without any balance.

Bridger rolled his eyes. She's rusty.

He made it behind the second tree she used for shelter and didn't hesitate. Bridger sprung from behind, gripping her by the waist, and pulled her hard against his core. His free hand cupped over her mouth, muffling her screams after disarming her of the stolen dagger. The other Fortis-born warriors would know if he used his sound shields, so he was forced to do this the old-fashioned way.

Bridger's lips fluttered over Vega's ear. "Bite me, and I'll bite back."

Vega continued to flail. The mumbles against his palm sounded a lot like, fuck you.

Bridger kept his mouth against her ear. "I'm going to uncover your mouth. Don't you dare scream."

She screamed as soon as his hand pulled away. "Let me go!" Her voice pulsated through the woods. Birds scattered, squawking as they fled.

Bridger slapped his hand over her mouth again and sighed, his breath rustling her matted hair. She continued to thrash, but Bridger's hold was strong. "Why can't you be a good girl and do as you're asked?" He slid his hand down his leg and gripped a dagger at his side. "I let you go. Again. The least you could do is fucking listen to me ," he growled.

She did the exact opposite. His words made her fight harder, but with no powers and as awfully malnourished as she'd become, she was no match to Bridger. "Okay, fine. We'll do this the hard way then." He pulled the dagger up for her to see, dangling it in front of her face.

Vega's eyes grew wide with recognition, and her body went slack.

"Ah, that got your attention. Your dagger. Have you missed your bonded blade?" Vega shouldn't have been able to bond a weapon, but thanks to Remus and the gods he'd turned them into, the laws of their world didn't seem to apply to the four of them. "I don't know if this is going to work, but it's the only choice I have, and I'll apologize for it in advance because it's going to hurt. A lot."

Bridger let go of her waist and switched his hold to her forearm. Vega didn't have time to move before he drove the dagger through her flesh—through the brand that kept her powers locked away, shattering the bone as it came through the other side of her arm.

Vega's scream was blood-curdling, even muffled by Bridger's hand.

Bridger removed the dagger, and blood pumped out of the open wound from a major artery without slowing like it should have if his plan worked—if her powers had been restored.

"Fuck," he muttered. Bonded weapons held special ties to the person attached to them, and Bridger thought maybe, just maybe, it could break the block since it was her own.

He hadn't been certain it would work, but that didn't mean she was totally fucked. Vega could still get to Demuto—she could still get out of this and have her powers returned to her by one of the allies the rebellion had in their arsenal.

Blood continued to pour out, but Vega quieted. Bridger spun her around, dropping his hand from her mouth seconds before she chomped down with a bite that surely would've taken his finger off.

The look on Vega's face was lethal, the snarl on her lips pulling at a smile. She looked so much like Marlena, Bridger found himself stuck in place, blinking to clear his eyes of the image his brain was tricking him with.

No, it wasn't the shock. It was electricity. His hand was still on Vega's arm, and she was frying him from the inside out. It worked, he thought, before realizing he needed to save himself. Bridger roared in pain, throwing a physical shield up that freed him of Vega's hold.

Light blue lightning sparked in Vega's palms, and wind whispered through the trees. She didn't say a word as she lunged forward, throwing a lightning bolt directly at Bridger's shield. It wasn't as strong as it could be, as it would be when she was fully healed, but it was enough to break his hold. His shield fell.

Is she really trying to kill me right now when I'm saving her life ?

Her lightning cracked across the sky as the sprinkling rain from earlier turned into a torrential downpour.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Bridger wailed, still slightly stunned by the shock she'd sent through him.

"Protecting myself! You stabbed me!" Another bolt of lightning flew towards him, narrowly missing his head as he ducked away.

"I stabbed you to try to give you your powers back, you lunatic!" Bridger didn't pull his weapon, only dodged her blows whenever they came hurtling towards him. "And look, it worked! You can thank me now."

Vega was weak, but she knew how to use those terrifying powers inside of her. This wasn't the same Vega he'd captured in the witch's cottage weeks ago.

She had her memories… And that made her terrifying.

"Vega, listen to me!" Bridger thundered. "You have to trust me!" He dodged another strike.

"Trust you?" Vega cackled. "Why would I ever trust you?" She crouched to grab the dagger Bridger stripped from her.

"Vega, please. I killed one of my own soldiers to free you," he pleaded, looking over his shoulder at the sound of his other soldiers clamoring in the distance. "Don't let it be for nothing!"

The footsteps from behind were getting louder, and Bridger watched as Vega's attention shot to the men coming from behind him.

"This way!" The voice of the leading soldier traveled through the wind.

"Why do you want to help me?" Her voice quieted, and the blood coming from her forearm finally ceased. Her powers were healing her.

"Because Marlena has been lying to all of us. Why would she need to know how Remus cursed the gods to die if your curse is just going to run out eventually?" He cocked his head, asking a question he was sure she already knew the answer to.

Vega's focus shifted between the men in the distance and Bridger. " My curse isn't going to run out. She cursed me as a demi, not a god. She doesn't know how to curse immortal gods. Remus is the only one to have ever done it, and he took the knowledge with him to his grave." Vega exhaled. "My curse is nothing more than an inconvenience. Marlena meant for it to be a drawn-out execution, a death sentence, but Remus gave me the time he wished he'd had when his own brother cursed him."

Bridger nodded. "Remus gave you more than time, Vega. He gave you the opportunity to save yourself, to save our realm like you asked. He wasn't talking to us that day. He was talking to you. We were merely caught in your orbit."

He could see the wheels in her head turning. "So what, you're looking for redemption? For forgiveness?"

Vega's storm rustled the trees around them, rain cleaning her of the dirt and grime from her cell.

Bridger swallowed with a click. "I'm not on your side. I belong here. That hasn't changed. I haven't changed." He said the words to convince himself, even though he didn't believe them. Bridger was changing… his shields faltering, failing, breaking down the walls he'd built up around his heart. "You deserve a chance to fight. I can't promise you'll win, but you can't try if you're locked away until Marlena figures out how Remus did it… and let's be honest with ourselves here, she will figure it out."

Lightning sputtered from her palms at his words. "What happens when we run into each other again? Because it'll happen. This isn't over."

"We pretend none of this ever happened. You escaped, killed my soldier, stabbed me, and learned how to regain your powers. No one's ever called you stupid, just unlucky." Bridger pulled his sword out of the sheath on his back, rotating his wrist like he always did before he struck. "We can fight it out, I'll win, and you'll end up in Fortis, where you'll never get the chance to figure out how to break your curse. Or you can save your energy for what's to come on your journey back to wherever it is you and your people have been hiding. What's it gonna be, Kitten?"

"What makes you so sure you'd win?" Bridger watched her move back and forth on the balls of her feet, contemplating her next move.

"You're weak, despite your memories and powers being back. You can't beat me in this state. You know it. I know it. There's no need to lie to each other." A cocky smile pricked at the corner of his mouth.

"Commander!" The voice of the level ten called out.

"Over here!" Bridger replied, continuing to play the part. "What's it gonna be?" he asked again.

A bolt of lightning whipped past Bridger's head, his ear ringing from the crack it made when it struck its target behind him.

She made her choice. And it wasn't to fight Bridger—not right now, at least.

Bridger swiveled on his heels to see two of his soldiers, one convulsing on the ground. His body twitched until his muscles tensed one last time, and he finally drifted off. That's too bad. I really liked him.

Vega didn't wait for the other soldier to act before she ran.

Bridger pointed back toward the vehicles, taking his eyes off the dead man at his feet. "Call for backup."

"We already did when we heard her screaming. General Ignis will be here in five minutes. Halo was called to transport him."

Fuck.

Bridger didn't have time to waste. "Go back and lead him this way," he called as he took off after Vega again.

When he caught up to her, she was bent over with her hands on her knees behind a tree, panting for air. Her powers were back, but her body would take a while to rebuild itself. Their blood helped them heal, but it didn't build muscle or aid endurance that wasn't already there.

Bridger reached out to touch her back, then quickly decided against it after the shock she'd sent through him earlier. "Get up. "

"I need a second." Vega didn't look up, her eyes fixated on the forest floor.

"We don't have a second." Bridger looked behind them, focusing on the sounds in the far-off distance. His heightened hearing picked up the sound of Meyer's booming voice. "Meyer is here, and if we don't move now, it'll be too late." Bridger didn't hesitate this time. His hand found what was left of the back of her training suit and hauled her up.

Vega batted him off, straightening herself and taking one last big gulp of air.

Meyer was fast— too fast.

The smell of smoke wafted in their direction. Bridger and Vega locked eyes. "He's trying to smoke us out," Vega gasped as the wind picked up in their direction, pushing against the storm she tried to keep alive.

Meyer knew Bridger could hide from the smoke and fire with his shields—shields he couldn't use to save Vega with other warriors around. They'd spent every moment together as young men training, playing off each other's powers to excel further than anyone else could. It didn't matter that the forest floor was damp from rain or even that Vega could conjure a storm—she couldn't control anything big enough to stop his fire right now.

"Go!" Bridger yelled.

Flames licked at the trees, rapidly encroaching on the space they'd briefly occupied. The storm of flames licked at their heels, the wind feeding oxygen for the fire to grow. Vega was slow, her body malnourished far more than Bridger realized. She tripped up, going down for a tumble. Bridger snatched her up before she had a chance to hit.

"Find your fucking footing!" he shouted over the howling wind.

Vega scowled, snarling. The heat from Meyer's fire scorched from behind by only a hundred yards.

We have to move faster.

Answering his thoughts, Vega pulled wind from in front of them and shot it back, giving them another fifty yards between Meyer's fury.

Vega couldn't keep up much longer—she was gassed from the expelling of her fresh abilities, and her body wasn't conditioned to fight for her life.

"Bridger." Her voice cracked, and he knew she couldn't go any further.

He reached for her hand and skidded to a stop. The fire began to catch up again. Fuck, Meyer, fuck, fuck, fuck. Vega pulled her hand away and crouched to the ground, steadying the sway of her body.

"Stay with me, Vega. Stay with me." Bridger ran a hand through his saturated hair, unsure of where they could go—of how he could give Vega a chance.

"The cliff," she croaked.

The cliff! Of course! Bridger could reach out and kiss her dirty, blood-smeared face. The cliff overlooking Lake Vehemens, the only lake big enough to hold some of the nastiest and most ruthless aquatic shifters known to Tolevarre.

It was their only choice.

The flames nipped behind them, growing closer by the second. "Get up," Bridger ordered.

Vega's face was pale, her skin glowing with a dew of sweat. "I can?—"

He cut her off. "Yes, you can. Get. Up." Bridger hadn't done this for nothing. "Vega, get the fuck up!"

She struggled to her feet, and this time, Bridger didn't help her. He knew her—inside and out, in this life and in every other. Vega needed to do things for herself. She didn't need nor want people to always do things for her.

Vega was strong, even when broken, and she proved that by digging deep and shoving herself off the forest floor again with a fortifying scream to keep moving forward .

Flames charred the tree behind them, blazing the side of Bridger's arm when the wind picked up from another gust. He yelped in pain, pulling his arm to his chest. The suits helped to an extent, but Meyer's fire roasted with furor. Bridger's skin bubbled with third-degree burns.

She's going to live. She's going to make it. That was the echo in Bridger's mind, repeating over and over until the trees opened into a small clearing.

Vega stood on the edge of the cliff, peering into the lake. She turned from pale white to a shade of green, like she might hurl. "The water's too rough."

Bridger joined her on the edge. The water splashed against the cliff like an angry god, ready to seek its revenge. He shot a look behind him. The fire wasn't stopping at the tree line like it should.

Meyer was coming, pushing the fire forward so he could travel through unscathed. He'd recently told Bridger he deserved to make his own decision—to choose his own path.

Bridger's path had always been clear, and Vega Caelum got hung up in the wreckage. His love for her had burned like a thousand suns—suns that were smothered by years of carnage. Slowly, they were igniting again, roaring to life with a vengeance.

But Bridger had made a choice—Meyer was wrong about him not getting the choice. He'd chosen to follow the path of darkness to keep the people he loved safe.

And somewhere, over the course of his lifetime, he'd lost sight of that—harming someone deserving of more than he'd ever be able to give her.

"We have to find another way around," she said, turning her back to the cliff.

Meyer's flames parted down the middle like a sea of madness. Bridger only had seconds to decide.

There was no other way.

Bridger whispered his apology and shoved Vega off the cliff.

He watched Vega fall, fall, fall. Her frail body hit the roaring waters, and Bridger knew she had less than a minute.

A minute before she was gone again, before the brand around his wrist throbbed with the loss of a bond so strong it took a little piece of him with it every time. The shields could protect him from the memories but not their fated connection.

Meyer strode through the fire, worry lining his brows. "Gods be damned, I thought you were dead." He reached for Bridger, but he stepped back, his heel dangling off the edge. "Where is she?" Meyer looked around, stepping forward to gaze over the cliff.

"She jumped."

The general's jaw dropped. "She what?"

"She jumped… and I…" he lied. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. The clock on her life tick, tick, ticked. "I can't let her get away."

"If she jumped into the water, she's already dead, brother. We'll try again next time, or maybe the curse will run out and we won't have to worry about a next time." He gripped Bridger's shoulder, yanking him away from the ledge.

Bridger thrust his hands into Meyer's chest, pushing him off. "You don't understand! The curse isn't going to run out!" he screamed. "We are bonded. I'm—fuck." Bridger yanked at his hair, the smell of smoke clinging to his body. "Meyer, we're…" Bridger inhaled, unable to keep this truth from him. "Remus bonded the four of us that night in a way I never— no one ever thought possible. We weren't supposed to live. Marlena shouldn't have lived. No one had ever lived when trying to summon any of the dead gods. But we did…" Bridger rambled, trying to process all he'd learned tonight out loud for the first time.

"Remus didn't just bond us." Bridger glanced over his shoulder quickly before finding Meyer's eyes again. "He turned us into gods. I'm a god. Vega is a god. Arlet, Khort. Marlena. " Bridger swallowed the knot in his throat. "Her curse can't kill her, but Marlena can if she finds out how Remus cursed the gods."

Meyer's fire still raged on behind them, but he didn't dare make a move, stunned by Bridger's words. "That's what we want, what you want. For her to die forever."

Thirty-nine, forty, forty-one.

"I asked you what you thought would happen if one bonded soul died. I think I know now. Remus did to us what he did to the original gods. He joined our souls, but not to kill us. To make us stronger." Bridger retreated a step, both heels dangling from the ledge. "There's so much you don't know, Meyer. I wish I had the time to explain it, but I can't let Marlena find a way to kill her. If she dies, I die. We all die. Everyone but Marlena."

Meyer exhaled. "You don't know that."

"It's not a risk I'm willing to take."

Meyer nodded behind him to the crashing waves of Lake Vehemens. "You've made your choice?"

"No, but I'll save her to save me."

Sixty. Bridger took one large step back and plummeted into the water below.