Page 51 of Renegade Queen
He hadn’t wanted to bring the Endless with us, but Alyssa had assured him that whatever had turned him into that thing was gone now. He was just a guy who would have to find a way to deal with the things he’d done.
He hung limply between us, unconscious since Alyssa had done whatever she’d done to free him. We’d pulled off the helmet to check that he was still alive. It was kind of surprising to see a normal-looking guy underneath. He only looked in his early twenties, but then so did Alyssa, so who knew how old he really was. Hopefully old enough to have the coping skills he’d need to survive this.
I didn’t see the small fire in the cave until we’d made it deeper inside. The woman and her two children were huddled around it. The children clung to her like they were afraid to let her go as she stared into the flames unseeingly. Her whole world had imploded tonight, and she’d only escaped it because we’d been there. Her friends, family, whoever she had in that village, had been content to let her be taken. I got that they were afraid, but part of me still thought they should have fought.
Ryder rushed forward, his arms coming around Dean as he slapped him on the back and then moved to me.
“You made it.” He looked around the group as he helped Tank and me lower our passenger to the ground. “I was worried there for a second.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a fucking miracle we did,” Dean growled before turning to hit Alyssa with a glare.
At least we were getting through this part now, and he wouldn’t linger on it for days. He usually did, and coming from the experience of being the one he was pissed off with, it was a brutal wait.
Alyssa huffed, clearly not in the mood for a fight, but he wasn’t about to let her off that easily, and unfortunately for her, he wasn’t the only one who was pissed with her.
“He has a point, Lys,” Tank told her, moving to block the exit like he thought she’d bolt. “We were making a plan; you should have waited. You can’t storm into this thing like you’re on your own. We came here as a team, and you need to…”
“What?” she shouted, turning on him as she did. “What should I do, Tank? Stand there and watch you all get killed because you have no magic and don’t know what you’re doing over here?”
Tank at least had the common sense to wince and see her point. Because she was right. There was no way all of us would have made it out of there, and having now dealt with one Endless between me and Dean, I was all too aware of it.
“You didn’t even give us a chance,” Dean accused. “And even if that was the case, you should have talked to us and made another plan. What are we supposed to do if you go and get yourself killed?”
“Go home!” she shouted back at him. “You don’t understand this place. The things that are happening here. And you have no way to protect yourself. I’m sorry if getting myself killed gets in the way of you rescuing Damon, but I’m not going to walk away from people who need me.”
“I’m not talking about Damon.” Dean stormed up, getting into her face, and for a second, I actually thought one of them was going to throw a punch. But then, for possibly the first time in his life, Dean sighed and backed down. A calm flowed over him that I didn’t think I’d ever seen before, and I swore I saw tears in his eyes. “Can’t you see what it would do to us if you got hurt, Alyssa? Can’t you feel what’s happening here?”
Her mouth opened and then slowly closed like she didn’t have the words to answer him. Before this, before meeting her, I would have turned away because this would have seemed like a private moment. But everything changed that day. And I knew the others could feel it too.
Striding to her side, I reached for Alyssa’s hand, entwining my fingers with her.
“I know you do,” I told her quietly. “We all do.”
Ryder was practically bouncing on the spot and clapping his hands. It didn’t surprise me that he’d be on board with the idea.
I’d expected Tank to protest, though. Why wouldn’t he? He already had her. We’d more than heard the evidence of it tonight. Why would he want to share her if he didn’t have to?
Yet, when my gaze cut to him, he was watching us with something like pride on his face and even though I didn’t want to question my luck, I couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck was happening.
“I… I…” Alyssa stuttered.
Her eyes moved from Dean to me and then back again. She looked confused, but at least she didn’t deny anything.
“Awww, and here I was thinking I’d got here just in time for the good stuff,” a voice cut in from the mouth of the cave.
I shoved Alyssa behind me, reaching for my sword like it was second nature. I’d more than proved I was shit with this thing tonight, but I’d do what needed to be done.
Tank turned with a snarl, but then he stopped in confusion as we all stared at the guy standing before us, Fizzle sitting on his shoulder.
“Hey, you found him,” Ryder cheered, utterly unfased by the situation.
“I see you didn’t even notice I was missing. Charming,” Fizzle drawled before jumping from the stranger and gliding across to the fire. In a move I didn’t know he was capable of, Fizzle brushed up against the children sitting there, letting them run their fingers through his fur.
“Rhidian, good to see you again,” Alyssa said, moving around me and striding over to the newcomer to shake his hand.
I couldn’t help but look him over. The animal inside me was still on edge, and I hated that this stranger was so close to our ma…
He could at least have had the decency to be ugly. But from his golden wavy hair, chiselled jaw and the way his muscles strained against his clothes, even I had to appreciate he was anything but. Jackass.