34. Mari

Chapter thirty-four

Mari

T wo days. It has been two days, and Yera is still out. As the minutes pass, Arrick emerges from the room, looking more like an emo demon.

There is a hollowness to his sharp features that makes my heart break a little for him.

Soren does his best to keep everyone fed and in the best spirits possible. His family stops by—frequently. When Aaron comes by to check on me , of all people, I had nearly forgotten I almost died a few days ago.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Soren walks up behind me, wrapping his thick arms around my waist.

This morning, the sky is bright blue—the first since the mudslide. The sun's rays stream in through the window, warming my skin.

"I'm fine. I want her to wake up and for this to all return to normal."

"Normal, you say?" He kisses the side of my face. "My Warrior, it's not been normal since we met. But I know what you mean." He sighs. "Did you give more thought to what Lola told me?"

"I want to go back, but I want you with me,"I say, pulling his arms tighter around me.

"We've already discussed this. I'm coming with you, wherever you end up." His assuredness calms me. He would come and find joy in it, his eyes sparkling with delight, for that is who he is.

"I know, but you have your family, land, and job here. I don't want to take that from you."

He scoffs at my words, rolling his eyes in mock offense."And more family members than I can count to fill in for me while I'm gone. Em volunteers to watch the house. She aches to get out of the apartment above the bunkhouse. She says it's going to be a lair of seduction."

"Of course she did." I don't know if it's an ogre thing or a Vissar thing, but they all seem voracious, to say the least.

"Are you really okay with leaving everyone? Not knowing how long we're going to be gone?

"Mari, I have wanted a little peace and quiet my whole life." He pauses, letting that thought linger in the air. "And being with you will be slightly calmer than a family of twenty ogres."

"You motherfucker," I say, slapping at him and turning in his grasp to face him. His brown eyes are lit, and the metal cuffs in his hair knock together, making a light, familiar sound.

"No, no, My Warrior, I only fuck you." He squeezes me tighter, letting his heat bleed into my skin. "But maybe one day, I'll have the privilege." He winks at me conspiratorially. "Or not. Whatever your heart desires, I'm yours."

This male will be the death of me.

"She's awake," a quiet, grave voice says from the staircase.

We both turn toward Arrick, and, for the first time in two days, a slight smile curves his features.

My body acts for me immediately and without prompting. I run up the stairs and fling the door to the guest room open.

Yera is sitting up, knees tucked to her chest, and her brown curls standing out in a mess of tangles. It is going to take days to brush them out.

She turns to me, still looking tired but also excited. New in some way.

"Hey, lady, how are you feeling?" I lean on the door frame, considering for the first time that my presence can be overwhelming. That's the last thing I want Yera to feel right now.

"I'm good, actually," she says, inspecting the raised runes on her skin."I can't believe that worked."

"It's good to know you were so confident in that possibly life-threatening situation," I say back, kicking off the door frame and walking into the quiet room.

I sit beside her on the bed, feeling the pulse of her magic even more strongly. How did all of this happen? Why is she magic? Is Ava going to come back different as well? Before the thoughts in my head threaten to overpower me, I take a long, steady breath. There is nothing I can do but exist in this moment, now, with my best friend.

"So, what do we do now?" I ask, genuinely unsure of our next steps.

"Well, we make a choice. If it were just me, I might stay. There is enough here to keep satiating my curiosity forever, maybe. But I know you need to go back. And I guess I'm the protector of the cascades, even though I really don't know what that means." She huffs, still putting together all of these pieces. This is the first time I've seen her jump into something without forming a complete plan from start to finish. "You built something you can't walk away from. I want to be there with you and here with Arrick and Ava. She's still out there." She thinks and thinks, running her bottom lip through her teeth. Her honey-colored eyes and curly hair shine in the sunlight.

I nod because she's right. Sure, she has a fantastic career and loves what she does. But what I have built is changing lives. It's something kids depend on. I can't turn away from that.

"Okay, so I go back. You come and go until you find Ava. And if at any point you need help, we're all coming back. I will set something in place that assures my foundation will be taken care of, just in case." I'm firm that if Ava is in trouble, I'm coming to help. Sure, Yera is magic now, but apparently, I bested a soul eater, and it was so pissed off that it stalked me. If that, in and of itself, isn't a testimony to my absolute badassery, I don't know what is.

"It's a deal." She smiles and then looks past me. Arrick must be standing there. His power rolls into the room like a fog. It's going to take a while to get used to that.