Chapter 45

45

Bridger and Khort had been by the portal in silence for hours. Khort started to pace, driving Bridger mad as the seconds bore on. "Will you sit fucking still?" he barked, whipping his head to face him.

"Can't. Have to keep moving."

They'd felt Vega stir about a week ago, meaning Arlet found her on Earth. The tingling got more aggravating as the week came to an end, and this morning, the tingle turned into a burn that could only mean one thing: Arlet and Vega were close to home.

Bridger wanted to step through the portal and find Vega himself, but neither he nor Khort were right for the job—they could feel Vega here, once she was back in Tolevarre, but they couldn't sense her on Earth until Arlet made contact. The sisterhood they had before the summoning made their bond work differently—each of them had something the other didn't.

They'd tried to convince her to let them go with her, to help find her faster, but whether they wanted to admit it or not, Bridger and Khort knew they had to stay here and keep their people safe. The small but growing rebellion was at risk if they weren't there to fight if needed.

This was Vega's fourth life, and they were no closer to figuring out how to break the curse than they were during her last. There just wasn't enough information about the type of curse Marlena created.

"You're driving me mental. Please sit down," Bridger begged, running a hand through his hair. It had been months since he'd had a proper haircut or even a shower that wasn't cold as ice.

"I can't help it. I need to move or the burning will drive me mental." Khort kicked at a small rock while he paced, sending it back and forth with a pitter-patter sound.

Bridger used the wind he'd gained control of over the last year and sent the rock hurling through the air, far away from Khort.

"Hey!" Khort whined, stopping himself finally.

"Oh look, it worked," Bridger said with a hollow breath.

"Dude, you're about to get your girl back. Why are you so grumpy?" Khort had let go of the outward animosity towards him over the last few years, but Bridger could still hear the sneer in his voice when he said "your girl."

"Because what if she's not Vega again?" Bridger asked, hurling himself into a dark place he didn't need to fall into. "What if she's even farther away from the person we love?"

Khort's back tensed. "She's always Vega, Bridger."

Bridger wanted so badly to disagree, but they'd had this fight before, and it got them nowhere. The two were finally at a place where they could consider themselves friends and partners in this rebellion, despite what the others might think of him—Bridger didn't have the energy to push right now. "Who knows what this last life has done to her."

"It's only been two years. Maybe Arlet got to her in time," Khort said with optimism Bridger didn't feel. It seemed the shorter timespans fucked Vega up more than the long ones did .

They'd been at this for ten years… How much longer could they keep it up before Vega wasn't herself at all anymore?

"Yeah, maybe," Bridger said as the portal flickered with movement. Bridger jumped to his feet, brushing off the grass stuck to his pants.

Arlet stepped through, and the first thing Bridger recognized was how tired she looked. The bags under her eyes were puffy, her black shirt wrinkled, and those definitely weren't the same boots she'd left with.

Vega appeared behind her seconds later, rubbing her eyes in bewilderment at the world around her. She was so tiny, skin and bones, with bruises up and down her arms.

Are those fingerprints? Bridger's anger could be felt in the rise of the temperature around them.

"I'd rather not talk about them," Vega said in a mousy tone that wasn't hers.

Bridger must be more sleep-deprived than he thought because he meant to say those words to himself, not out loud. Or maybe he had, and she'd just followed his gaze…

"It was tough getting her out this time," Arlet admitted.

Bridger forced himself forward, moving to reach out for Vega, but she flinched away from him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Vega, that's Bridger. He won't hurt you." Arlet reached out to pull her away from the portal, nodding in Khort's direction. "And that's Khort."

He smiled at her wide. "It's good to see you."

No, it's not. Not like this. Vega stared at Bridger, taking him in with wary eyes.

"Do I look different?" she asked, seeming to read his thoughts again.

Bridger bit his lip. "Just a little more banged up than I'd like you to be. "

"But it's okay, we'll get you back to you," Khort promised as he pulled Arlet into a big hug.

Arlet wrapped her arms around Khort, and that was when Bridger saw the bruises on her too. The rumble of his anger shook the ground under them. "Who?" he growled, grabbing Arlet gently despite his growing rage.

"Bridger, it's fine." She tried to reassure him. "He's back on Earth. He can't hurt her anymore."

These lives Vega was living were quite literally beating her down until she crumbled.

"My ex," Vega squeaked. "I left him when I met Arlet, but he followed us when we went to leave."

Her ex. Bridger would never get used to the fact she was living a completely separate life on Earth, including being involved with other men. It wasn't her fault, but Bridger's heart broke with the knowledge that his Vega wasn't just his anymore—that she'd become someone else's every time she left this life.

A wisp of cold air blew, raising the hairs on Bridger's arms, and Arlet jumped to hide Vega behind her. He knew before he turned around who he would see.

Marlena's grin was huge, spreading ear to ear. "That must suck, knowing someone else has been worshiping…" She paused, peeking her head around Bridger to get a view of her sister hiding behind Arlet. "Maybe that's not the right word. Let me rephrase—knowing that someone else has been beating the shit out of your little girly-friend and there's nothing you can do about it. I'm sure that's worse than picturing her moaning someone else's name."

Khort puffed smoke, his eyes turning to slits.

Marlena chuckled. "Calm down, big boy. I'm not here for her. Not this time, at least."

"Then what are you here for?" Bridger asked while his outrage continued to grow.

"I'm here for you. Haven't you heard?" Marlena asked, her eyes darting between everyone. She gasped, the sound of practiced innocence. "Oh no, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, Bridgey…" A fake frown pulled too deeply at her lips. "Your father is dead."

Arlet inhaled sharply, Khort unsteady on his legs. But they kept themselves in front of Vega, not allowing Marlena to get too close.

"What?" Bridger asked, dumbfounded. Tolevarre was without a commander for the first time in history.

"I killed him." Her words were melodic, happy. "And you're next in line for commander of Tolevarre."

Marlena stepped closer to Bridger, and while every nerve ending in his body told him to move, he wouldn't show Marlena fear—it was what she wanted.

That was a mistake, one he would think about for the rest of his life.

Marlena reached out with a swiftness she shouldn't possess, and the brand of a power block burned into his forearm where her hand had been. Bridger hissed against the pain, pulling away from her. She held too tightly, not letting him go.

"I know you won't agree to it without a little coaxing. So you're coming with me, where I can persuade you in different ways."

Khort shifted with a roar, steam billowing out of his agape jaw.

Arlet grabbed hold of Vega and started running, but a traveler, one they'd thought was on their side, appeared out of nowhere and blocked their path.

Khort's dragon form raged towards Bridger, snapping his mouth at Marlena. Bridger caught her off guard when her attention turned to the black dragon swooping her way, sending her tumbling to the ground. "Get Vega to safety, Khort!"

The traveler, Hanna, tsk ed at Arlet's surprise. "You should know better than to let a fox in your hen house."

"Traitor!" Arlet spat, reaching into her pocket for a dagger. She flung it at the woman's chest with the precision Bridger taught her, but Hanna disappeared, reappearing with her hands on Vega's head.

"I like to call it being an opportunist," Hanna replied, snapping Vega's neck.

Her body hit the ground with a thud, and the air left Bridger's lungs as Khort spit fire out at Hanna, charring her to ash where she stood.

Bridger felt himself inhale, but the air never returned to his lungs no matter how hard he tried. The feeling of suffocating jarred him out of his restless slumber and threw him back into reality—the one where he'd fallen asleep on his trip back to Vincere after surviving a direct stab to the heart.

Marlena hunched over Bridger, her hands wrapped around his throat with anger unlike any he'd ever seen.

Bridger pulled his legs to his chest and kicked her across the cab. She landed with a bang but sprang back with cat-like reflexes.

"You let her get away! Twice! Twice in one life!" Marlena blustered, clawing at his outstretched legs. The space was tiny, too small for large powers.

He burned where she touched him, fire blistering his skin. Bridger hissed and threw a shield around the outside of his skin to keep her from searing any more of his body.

The soldier driving had no idea anything was happening back here, going about his drive like all was well. Bridger could feel the sound block Marlena put up.

"What did you think was going to happen when you gave her her memories back, huh?" Bridger grabbed Marlena's wrist while it was outstretched, headed for a blow to his face. "She's not the meek Vega you hoped she'd be in every life! She's Vega, the Vega you've been in fear of your whole life."

Marlena screamed, her wrath rattling the windows. "You're fucking with me! What kind of game are you playing, Bridger?"

He kept his leg extended, holding Marlena out of his face. She fought like a wild animal, clawing at anything she could get her hands on. "I'm not playing any games. You're just making bad moves, setting yourself up for failure. You told me once that I'm just a chess piece and you're the gamemaster."

His words made her barbaric. Green lightning surged, flying out of her palm. Bridger's shield sent it flying through the glass barricade between them and his soldier. It shattered around the cabin, glass littering the space around them.

The bolt struck the driver in the back of the head, and the man slumped to the side, the vehicle sputtering to a stop without his foot on the pedal. He was dead, struck without warning.

Bridger shook with rage, lunging for Marlena. Her anger distracted her, slowing her reaction time. He landed on top of her, pinning her to the floor with his weight. He held his sword to Marlena's throat, pressing hard enough to draw blood.

She was strong, bucking her hips to get out from underneath him, but Bridger was stronger as the wildness of his rage thundered around them. "You're losing it," he snarled.

Marlena ignored his words, still fighting to get herself free. Bridger wasn't going to budge, his strength growing the harder she fought.

"You can't kill me." She laughed, the pressure Bridger had on her throat muffling her voice. "I can't be killed."

"Oh, but I can make it hurt." Bridger pushed the blade against her harder, blood flowing faster from her growing wound.

Marlena's laugh gargled in her throat, madness consuming her the longer Bridger held her down. She tried every power she possessed—fire, lightning, water, all of them—to get her commander off of her, but his bodily shield protected him.

All she could do at this point was travel away, but Bridger knew better than that. She was here to fight, to show Bridger she was stronger than him… but the warrior had had enough.

Enough of being her pawn.

Enough of letting her think she always had the upper hand.

Enough of her .

"I might not be able to kill you, Marlena, but now I know you can't kill me either."

"Don't be so sure about that," she said with a grating laugh.

"Keep lying to me. See where it gets you." Bridger didn't let her up. "You might be strong, but don't forget that I was made to be the strongest warrior this world has ever seen," he boomed. "And I've been going easy on you."

Marlena bared her teeth, her smile fading. "Don't get too comfortable, Commander."

"Or what?" he asked. "You know you can't lose me. We both know it. So here's what's going to happen." Marlena hissed when he pressed down harder on her throat. "The next time you think about putting your hands on me, remember that little fact. Remember that without me, you have no army and no one to defend you when the rebellion attacks."

"If you don't find her?—"

Bridger chuckled, interrupting her. "Vega is your problem, not mine." He took his knee off her rib cage, the blade following soon after. Bridger exited the vehicle, and Marlena followed.

"I own you! You work for me!" Her raucous screams scared birds from the surrounding trees.

Bridger opened the driver's side door and pulled his soldier's limp body from the seat. He placed him over his shoulder and sat his body down in the back. Bridger would transport him back to Ardor, where his family would be alerted of his passing and thanked for his service. They would be allowed to take his body for proper burial or cremation.

"No, Marlena. Without me, without the army that I saved and rebuilt from nothing after you let my father run it into the ground, after you murdered him as bait to lure me to your side because you knew I'd want to protect my people… you'd have nothing to rule over." He pulled himself into the driver's seat. "I am not your pawn to to rture Vega with. I am the commander of the strongest army our world has ever known, and it's about time you recognize that."

The engine whirred to life, but it didn't drown out Marlena's response. "I hold your life in the palm of my hand! Your life is tied to hers, to theirs! I am the key to you surviving when I kill the rest of them, Bridger!"

He slammed the door, driving away from Marlena—her voice reached him inside the vehicle.

"Don't make me kill you too!"