Chapter 235: Darkest Before Dawn
RETH
They hadn't wanted to sleep, but Reth woke suddenly, in the dark, adrenalin pumping through his veins until they throbbed.
She was leaving. Today. And he didn't know when he'd see her again.
He closed his eyes and rolled, finding her under the furs, and sliding one arm under hear head, pulled her back with the other, into his chest. She sucked in a breath and her hand tightened on his that was flat on her belly.
"Morning love," he rasped in her ear.
"Is it? Already? I didn't mean to sleep, I'm so sorry, Reth—"
"Don't, love, hush. I slept too. We needed it. I just…"
"Yeah. Me too."
She hugged his arm and pulled his hand up to lay a kiss on his palm. Then she rolled over, buried her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around him. Neither of them spoke. But he held her so tightly he wondered if he was suffocating her. But she held him just as tightly.
"How much time do we have?" she asked in a small voice, right against his skin.
"Just a few minutes," he said gruffly.
Impossibly, she squeezed him tighter. He felt something wet and cold on his shoulder, but she didn't move or make a sound. He stroked her hair and her back and just held her. There was nothing else he could do.
*****
Twenty minutes later they were both dressed and her bag lay ominously next to the door.
Standing next to the door, they stared at each other for a moment. He wondered if she was memorizing him the way he was memorizing her.
"I love you, Reth," she said simply, then swallowed. "Never doubt it. No matter what. Don't let yourself get tortured and think just because you aren't in front of me that I'll love you less. I'll… This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done."
Reth nodded and swallowed the pinch in his own throat. "I love you more than anything, Elia. And I'll be fighting for you. For us. For our cub. There's nothing I want less than being away from you like this. Except the idea of losing you forever."
She gave him a watery smile. "Even to death," she whispered, echoing the vow they'd made when she gave her throat.
It hit him like a spear to the heart and he almost grunted. "Even to death," he repeated.
There was a moment then that neither of them wanted to break. But he knew he had to. And he hated the way the light in her eyes died when he did.
"I need to open the cave so Behryn and the others can get in here," He said hoarsely, opening his arms. "Come here, love."
She stepped into his chest and they held each other. Then he sighed and whispered, "You're mine. Always."
"Always."
When he forced himself to step back it felt like his skin might peel away with the sheer resistance to the idea of letting her go. But he leaned down to pick up her bag, then took her hand and led her through the cave.
She moved slowly, even for her.
He didn't urge her to move faster. Instead he matched her pace.
*****
Behryn's instruction had been for Reth and Elia to touch the guards and their clothing and leave as much scent on them as possible. Reth had had to stifle a growl watching his mate wipe her hands and arms all over the other males, but he'd done it. It was necessary.
Then when the group of guards moved in the direction of the Bears as Behryn had told everyone they all would be, he, Elia, Gahrye, Candace, and Behryn all slipped off the trail and headed through the forest in the opposite direction.
If there had been anyone watching, it had worked. The two bird guards Behyrn had tasked to scout surrounding them found no sounds, no scent. The trail they were on was clear. Reth could breathe easier.
But now they had only an hour before they reached the portal and he had to let Elia go forever. His heart beat thin and fast, aching in his chest. He hadn't let go of her hand—despite all the male-guard stink on it—since they'd left the cave. And he wouldn't. Even where the trail narrowed, he led her through, or held and followed her. But he did not let her go.
Neither did she.
The two male bird scouts flapped to the trail ahead of them, tearing back into human form as they were about to land, then standing to wait until they reached them.
"The trail is clear all the way, Sire," one of them said, bowing to Reth.
"I circled wide. No Anima scent at all, except yours," the other added.
"Thank you, both of you," Reth said quietly, squeezing Elia's hand. "You have been a blessing today." They would send the scouts back so they wouldn't learn the location of the portal. "Please join your fist without mentioning where you've been this morning."
They both nodded, then turned to Behryn who nodded too. "Well done. Your help has been critical to the throne today. You will be remembered. Report to me after the meal tonight for tomorrow's instructions. We'll have another trip and can use you."
The birds bowed lower, then again to Elia, then ran down the trail, leaping into the air and shifting to flap up, and over the canopy and disappear in seconds, heading back in the direction of the Tree City.
"We're certain they can be trusted?" Reth said, hating that he even had to ask. But the Avalines as a Tribe had been split almost perfectly. Many birds tempted by the promise of higher rank and positions closer to the throne that the wolves, apparently, offered those who would defect.
"As certain as we can be of any," Behryn said—which wasn't reassuring. But Reth just growled, then turned back up the trail.
Elia looked at him sideways, but didn't say anything, clinging to his arm now that the trail allowed them to walk side by side. It wouldn't for long, he knew. Soon they would have to step into the forest proper and weave between trees and through the underbrush. He prayed he wasn't forced to let her go for a second.
They'd been walking another fifteen minutes in near silence, her Cohorts on their heels, when the flapping sounded in the distance.
Elia didn't hear it of course, but he and Behryn looked at each other. And Gahrye and Candace both looked towards the sky.
Quick as a flash, Reth picked Elia up and whipped her into the underbrush at the base of one of the great trees. She gasped, but realized quickly and didn't cry out. But when he crouched down and set her back on her feet, crouching in front of him, her face was drawn and pale as he breathed in her ear that someone was coming. Gahrye and Candace were already there. Reth didn't miss that the male put himself between Elia and the most likely spot for attack from the trail.
Once they were hidden, Behryn simply turned to face back towards the Tree City.
Moments later, the bird appeared, diving from the sky. It was one of the scouts that had left them only minutes before, but he was frantic, flapping hard and diving for the trail, shifting right before landing and with such force that he lost his feet and rolled before coming up. "There's an attack!" he cried. "At the Tree City!"
****
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