11. Soren

11

SOREN

S he healed him four times, but we got too close to a city and we couldn't risk her healing him anymore. Ryder looked pale, his breathing was quick and he was sweating. We all had varying degrees of worry on our face, even Max.

We had to stop for gas but thankfully the gas station was empty and it was still dark. We moved Ryder to the back seat, laying his head on Oria's lap after she and Max took a bathroom break. Max was in the back with Oria and I sat upfront with Gray.

"I don't know where to go," Gray admitted, as we left the gas station.

"We need some space between us and this bounty she's put out. I think we should hit up the cabin in Utah or should we hit the coast? We are almost to Nevada."

"The coast," Max said. "The farther the better, but if we hit the coast it makes Taylin able to find us."

"He's not near the ocean. Laima ordered him to come to her," Gray said. "I think we still have time, but it's going to take us at least ten hours to get there."

"I've never seen the ocean," Oria's soft voice sounded tired. "But it's a risk and we have to get somewhere now. Ryder is very hot, he needs food and water."

"Ok, let's head to the cabin in Utah," I said, looking over at Ryder.

He looked in bad shape, the worst I had ever seen him. The drive was uneventful and it felt like the longest drive in the world, but it only took us an hour and half to get to the cabin.

The moment we parked, Gray got out and broke into the cabin and let us in. Max carried Ryder like he weighed nothing, and I was impressed. He set him down on the dusty sofa, it had been too long since we had been here. It wasn't even a safe house, but at this point we just needed something so Oria could heal Ryder.

She immediately knelt next to him, but Max picked her up and set cushions down on the floor before he let her kneel back down. Oria looked up at him with a soft and hesitant expression.

She took off her necklace. "The blue ones are a shielding spell and the green ones should make people want to go away from the house. The incantation is?—"

"I remember these. You used to make these quite often when I left for training. You gave me an entire bag of these in case I ever needed them," Maxton looked at her with fondness. "One on each corner of the house, right?"

She nodded.

"I didn't even know I missed you until you became a human. I know that sounds weird but?—"

"It doesn't sound weird, Sol. I missed you even when you were right next to me." He bent down to kiss her forehead.

I turned around from the intimate scene; I hoped they would eventually find their way back to each other. I checked the cabinets for food just in case we were smart enough to leave something behind, but there was nothing.

"I'm going to make a run for food and water," Gray said, coming into the house. "There's a town about a few miles away; I think I have enough time to make it before he wakes up."

"Ok, don't take too long," I said, as we did our twin thing where we said everything with just a look.

He nodded, walking to Oria and kissing her forehead.

"If you need anything, I'm going to check the perimeter, Blondie." She nodded as she whispered her incantation for her power and she started to glow.

A warmth in my chest gave me comfort, I was addicted too. As much as I didn't want to leave her, I needed to check our surroundings and make sure we were safe. We all needed some time to regroup, clean the blood off of us and eat.

"You run that way and I'll check this way?" Maxton leaned against the house grabbing the stones. "After Gray comes back, we can bury these stones."

I nodded as he looked up at me with those blue eyes, he was filthy, just like Ryder. He was just as brutal as us and I found it comforting and grateful that he was with us.

He shifted into a wolf before we took off. I wasn't as fast as usual, but it had been too long since I had had blood. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't fed since the last time she fed me and that had been a while.

I mulled over that piece of information as I ran through the forest. It was silent, it seemed no one had been here in months making me lose some of the tension I had been holding onto. How long were we going to be like this? We needed to stay one step ahead of everyone and I didn't know how to do that.

I came back, sitting on the front porch waiting for Max. He showed up not too long after me, shifting and putting his pants back on. He looked exhausted, not just physically, but emotionally.

"What do we do now?" Maxton sat next to me.

"We need to figure out how to stay one step ahead of everyone," I said, resting my elbows on my thighs.

"I think we need to go home," Maxton said.

"Your home?" I looked at him.

"Our home. At least to see if anyone is still alive," he said with a sigh. "Her best chance is with her people and if they might be alive, I think we owe it to her to get her somewhere safe."

"What if we spend all this time looking for your home only to find out it's in ruins and we wasted all that time," I said, running a hand through my hair. "What if, while we are looking, she gets caught."

"Shouldn't we give her an opportunity to find her family?"

"I think we all need to discuss it and go from there," I said, looking back at the house. "We all should agree on it, and we should hear her opinion too."

"Of course; I would never do anything without her approval," he said immediately. "I would never want to take away her choice. She never had much say growing up and I knew that bothered her."

"Would her parents still be alive?" I knew she would love to see her parents. She had been alone for far too long and even if she hadn't said anything, I knew she had longed for a family.

"Yes, well, maybe assuming there was no sickness, they should be still alive." He rubbed his chin. "Our life spans aren't as long as yours, but the king and queen generally live a little longer due to their magic."

"She's been alone for too long." I felt for our bond. "She deserves to be with her family or at least try to find them."

"I agree," he said.

"What about your family? Would they still be alive?" I turned to see anguish in his face.

"I don't believe they would be," he said, taking a deep breath. "I fear Taylin possibly… He killed them or they died trying to find us."

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Maxton," I said, laying a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Thank you," he said, his words full of melancholy.

He quickly turned around to see a bloody stained Oria come out of the cabin. Her face looked tired, but she still had a remnant glow to her.

"He's stable, but he's gonna need a lot of rest." She sat between us, looping her arm within my own. "He hit an artery and had three stab wounds."

"How did we miss that?" I turned towards her.

"One on his lower back, one on his side and another on his thigh." She sighed. "His side and his thigh took the brunt of the attack."

"We were both covered in blood. I didn't think anything of all the blood on him." Maxton sounded disappointed.

"He was being a stubborn asshole," Oria said, grabbing his hand too. "He needs to learn he endangered us by trying to brush his hurt aside."

"That's Ryder for you," I said.

"Are you guys ok?" She looked at each of us, scrutinizing us.

"Peachy, Blondie." I kissed her cheek.

"Just starving, Sol," Maxton said.

"I'm hungry too," she said, leaning her head against my shoulder, yawning loudly.

"Maybe a nap before Gray gets back?"

"I'm too restless," she said. "I'm too worried about Ryder and what the hell comes next."

"Before we dive into the hard stuff, good food, a warm shower and some sleep," I said, holding her delicate hand in mine.

"We are never going to escape her, huh?"

"I don't think so, Blondie," I said truthfully.

"She won't stop till you are in her grasp again, and I don't think Taylin will stop either," Max said with an edge to his voice. "We are going to have to make some tough choices."

"I still can't believe he is your brother," Oria said. "I didn't notice it at first, but the longer I am with you the more I see the similarities."

Max grunted. "After sitting on his betrayal for two hundred years, I hate to call him my brother."

"Max?" Oria's voice was hesitant.

"Yes, Sol?"

"I think I'm ready to hear everything," she said, as if it pained her to say the words. "Maybe not everything but I need to know about us."

"What do you want to know?" He moved his body until he was looking at her.

"Were you only my guard? Why do I feel like you were more?"

"No, we grew up together. My father protected your father, so we were together quite often," he said with a smile. "We were inseparable. Where you went, I followed and the other way around."

"I think I remember that," she said, her voice full of happiness. "We used to have tea parties and great battles with wooden swords your father made for us."

"Yes, we were schooled together and used to sneak out of the castle just so we could drink the wine I stole from the kitchen," Max laughed. "Once we became teenagers, we didn't see each other as often but we always managed to sneak away for an hour to lay in the garden and talk about our days."

"We used to take wine and whatever we could from the kitchen," Oria chuckled. "How come I don't remember Taylin?"

Max went rigid.

"I don't know, I expect you to remember him the most," Max said cautiously.

"What do you mean?" I knew where this was going, and I didn't know if she was ready to hear it.

"Taylin was your fiancée," Max said softly.

"Excuse me?" She sat up straight.

"Taylin was your fiancée, before you were taken," Max said again.

Oria was quiet. I couldn't see her face, but her feelings were so muted and I didn't like it.

"That fucking asshole," she growled, getting up from the steps. "You're telling me he knew who I was this entire time? That he allowed her to keep me there. Did he help her take me?!"

Oria paced in front of us.

"I suspected he did have something to do with your disappearance, but I wasn't sure," Max growled. "It was very suspicious that it was the year before you gained your power and disappeared."

"Wait, what do you mean I gained my power?" Oria snapped. "You didn't think that was important information? What else are you keeping from me?"

"I—"

"You know what, never mind. I don't want to hear it," Oria said, holding her hands up. "You're probably just like your brother; maybe Soren was right not to trust you."

"Blondie," I said sternly, when I saw Max's entire demeanor change.

He looked defeated.

"Oh, what now you are going to defend him?" she spewed.

"I think you're being unfair," I said, trying to reason with her. "You asked for some time before you wanted to hear what he said."

"But this is huge, this is—" She stopped speaking and I knew she finally saw Max.

His jaw was clenched, his eyes were misty, and I think this giant of a man was about to cry. I didn't know what to do, but I felt like I had to defend him.

"I was trying to respect your boundaries," he said quietly. "I didn't want to push you and I know that all of this has been overwhelming. When you were ready, I was planning on talking to you but I never wanted to keep anything from you, I swear."

Her anger receded slowly.

"Shit," she said, taking a shaky breath. "You're right, I did say that, I'm sorry. I'm confused and everything is overwhelming."

I watched her looking at him and I knew they needed to figure this out on their own. I stood up walking to her.

"Hear him out, Blondie. I think he deserves it," I said, kissing her forehead.

I'm fucking this up.

Her voice was small and unsure in my mind.

"No, you aren't," I said, out loud. "Just talk; he used to be your guard, friend and maybe something more."

"Ok," she whispered.

I kissed her one more time on her forehead before heading to check on Ryder. I hoped I wasn't making a big mistake in trusting Max, but my gut said he was a part of our family and I was going to give him every chance for that. He deserved it and she did too.