Tabitha watched Dacre in front of her as he absentmindedly stroked the head of the creature laying across his lap while they both slowly made their way down the well-beaten trail on the back of the mare. They had come across the animal in the clearing nearly two days before but it had grown an extra ten pounds within that short span of time; its paws and teeth alike were nearly double the size of what they'd been when they first picked it up. She'd watched it all yesterday and the night before, looking for possible signs that the wolf was a threat to any of them.
After watching it trip and fall over its own two paws more than a few times, she began to realize that it wasn't too much of a menace to her and the others. It took a bit of cajoling from Dacre to get her to eventually stop referring to it as a monster and begin to refer to it with the name that he gave.
"Blue," Dacre said confidently out of nowhere the day before when they stopped to let the horses graze. The wolf was gnawing on a dead bird at his feet that Dacre had convinced Tabitha to catch for it. "Its name is Blue."
"How original," she mocked jokingly as she stared down at the blissfully-unaware creature. "Did you name it after a certain someone's set of eyes?"
Dacre's face turned a ruby-red hue that belied his embarrassment and he mumbled something along the lines of maybe before changing the subject altogether.
She still didn't understand what was so humiliating about naming Blue after its own eye color.
Blue reached out its large but awkward paw and toyed with the horses mane. The stout, towering animal whinnied in annoyance at the disturbance, but Blue paid it no heed. He continued to play with the long, flowing hair of the horse until it was knotted beyond repair. Dacre chuckled quietly at the sight and gave Blue a gentle flick on the nose in reprimand.
Tabitha sighed and drew her eyes away from the scene, pulling lightly on the reins to lessen her own mare's pace slowly so not to draw the attention of Dacre and Laurel who rode in front of her. Tabitha cleared her throat loudly twice, earning a side-eyed glance from Ellias who rode on a horse to her right. She jerked her chin once behind them once they'd made eye contact, indicating that he fall back slowly as well so that they could talk out of hearing distance of the other two. He nodded once in compliance before slightly tightening his own grip on the reins of his mare. They fell back about seven feet behind Dacre and Laurel.
"So, I finally get to meet the Matriarch of the Demetrian coven," Ellias said lowly. A muted smirk played on his handsome features, mischief alight in those impossibly dark eyes. His hair had grown out longer than he'd usually kept it since they'd left his town; Tabitha watched as it brushed against his eyebrow in a very non-Ellias like unkempt fashion. "You only told me bits and pieces of your aunt during our time together."
Tabitha rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner, but she kept her temperament cool and easy going. This was the first time they'd spoken since Dacre had been unconscious. She and Ellias got into a heated argument near Dacre's knocked-out body and hadn't said a word to each other since. She didn't need to go picking fights with him when the next few weeks would depend largely on his cooperation in the rescue. "Only good things, I suppose." She skillfully avoided commenting on his jab at meeting her aunt--she needed to find a way to break it to him softly that he would not, in fact, be meeting the Matriarch of the Demetrian coven.
"I always wanted to ask you about your time at the coven during our time together all of those years before," Ellias admitted in a wistful tone. His eyes were staring at a far off shore in front of them, glazed over as if reminiscing projected an image of his memories in the blue sky ahead. "But I could tell that it was a touchy subject; I didn't want to push you."
Tabitha pursed her lips, knowing what was going to come next but hoping to avoid it regardless.
"I knew I would get it out of you eventually." He finally dragged his gaze back to hers, and the look of passion in his eyes sent a chill through her body. Tabitha quickly averted her gaze, suddenly finding something very interesting in the reins gripped between her white-knuckled hands. "I'd have forever to do that once you came back to me. And you did. Isn't that right?"
Tabitha swallowed the lump in her throat while trying to think of something, anything, to say to him to let him know what she really felt.
Nothing.
She felt nothing for the warlock--her attraction when they'd met two years prior never made it past the physical stage, and Tabitha had come to realize recently that even that had at some point withered and died away. Ellias was one of the more handsome people that she'd ever met before, but that was all that he had going for him. He didn't have a mind that interested her; didn't have a life that she cared to be apart of; he was just an easy lay with a pretty face when she was 18.
The day they'd met two years prior, she walked into his tavern--her power trip from killing some of the King's guards right outside of the village yet to wear off--covered in blood and sweat, but with a predatory smile adorned on her features. She ordered the strongest drink the barkeep had to offer, ignoring all of the patrons that swiveled in their seats to follow her every movement. The barkeep looked as if he wanted to shrivel up right where he was and die rather than work under
When she revealed to him her plans to eventually leave his quaint home and return to her life as a nomad, she accidentally let it slip that she intended to find a trusted friend to be in charge of handling her money that was supposed to go to Bexley once she came of age. She finally caved after hours of him begging to be the trusted one. She knew that he did it solely for the fact that she'd have to see him again some day rather than become a permanent absence in his life. She did it for the fact that she had no one else lined up for the job.
She still had the scar on her palm from where she'd made him take a blood oath that he would not abuse the money she set aside of her younger sister. Oddly enough, that long-since healed scar sporadically gave her random pangs of pain within the last year. She never thought twice about it.
"Tabitha," Ellias urged, "you told me that you'd come back. That we would pick up where we left off." She finally faced him and her heart sunk a little to find honest concern in his eyes. Despite all that had happened recently, she felt bad for using him so severely. He wasn't a bad person--she was.
"No, I didn't," she argued softly. She didn't want to be doing it then, but the conversation was long past due. "I told you that since you were the one I entrusted with Bexley's inheritance, you would eventually have to see me again. I know that you thought that reunion may also bring forth the rekindling of a possible romance, but it wouldn't. It won't."
Ellias' jaw hardened, his features growing tight once he realized what was going on. The look in his eyes contorted to something that was almost enough to scare even her--she recognized it as the look that he gave "lesser" beings when trying to intimidate them. She lifted her chin in defiance, not giving him an inch of fear in her heart. "You're done trying with us." His tone was icy cold.
"There never was an us," Tabitha offered in an equally chilling tone.
Ellias barked out an incredulous scoff that was a bit louder than her liking. Her eyes darted to Dacre to ensure that he still wasn't privy to their conversation. She had a gut feeling that the next subject would soon turn toward him, and she didn't want him to jump in. His attention was mercifully still turned forward, but she didn't fail to notice that his right ear was cocked up in the air as if he was trying to catch small glimmers of their discussion.
"I think the oath we made begs to differ," Ellias prodded, holding up the palm of his left hand to showcase the scar that matched her own.
"That was purely to ensure that you wouldn't abuse Bexley's money. You know that," she spoke lowly despite the growing irritation she was beginning to feel at the warlock. A bird chirped harmlessly in the nearby woods, and Tabitha watched as Blue perked up on the back of the mare and darted its gaze in the direction of the tune. Dacre ran a calming stroke down the back of the wolf and Tabitha could have sworn that she saw a slight tremble in his hand.
A quick sniff of the air confirmed Tabitha's worst fears: Dacre was emitting fiery-hot rage, almost reminiscent of a long-past due volcanic eruption. She and Ellias weren't so discreet in their discussion as she'd hoped. Tabitha sent up a silent prayer that Dacre wouldn't turn around in a foolish attempt to confront the warlock. She knew that Ellias was on edge right now because of the news that she was laying on him. He'd take any opportunity he could to attack Dacre, so if the warlock feels even a little threatened by the man, Tabitha knew that he'd do anything within his power to eliminate said threat.
And she really didn't feel like having to kill Ellias today, but she was fully prepared to if he threatened Dacre's life.
"I can smell it, too," Ellias spoke in a whisper, low enough to ensure that Dacre couldn't listen in any longer. "The anger rolling off of him is almost laughable. Shall we ask him what has got him so worked up?"
"Don't you dare," Tabitha growled back. Getting Dacre involved in their conversation was the last thing she wanted to do, but she could tell that it was already on a downhill slide in that direction. She sent Ellias a warning glare that he rebuffed with a mirthless laugh. "Dacre. Laurel."
Both turned around at the sound of her voice. Laurel looked unawares of the tension that radiated in the air between their small party, but the look in Dacre's eye told her that he was well aware of what was going on. His green eyes were steaming with contained rage, nostrils flared and jaw tensed. She fought the urge to explain to him the parts of the conversation he must have interpreted incorrectly, but she knew what she needed to do. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "You two go up ahead. Ellias and I need to talk alone."
She didn't want to send them further ahead--the idea of letting Dacre out of her direct line of sight sent a fleeting moment of panic through her that she couldn't quite explain--but she knew that if she'd let them stay behind, Ellias would eventually drag Dacre into the argument that they were having.
With one final look of distrust shot at the warlock, Dacre finally made his way further up the path with Laurel on his heels. Tabitha let out a small sigh of relief that the situation was defused, even if it was only for the time being.
"What's so important that you couldn't say it in front of the two humans?" Ellias spat.
"I didn't think that they needed to be present to witness your hissyfit. Especially after all of the shit you tried to pull while Dacre was unconscious," Tabitha offered as a rebuttal, a frown weighing down the ends of her lips.
"I did it for you. You knew what would happen if he lived through it—that he wouldn't want to be a warlock. You understand what this means, right?" Ellias looked pained at the thought that she was now linked to the human.
"Of course I do," she hissed. The horse under her bristled slightly, and she realized that she'd been involuntarily tightening the lead in the horses mouth from the tense conversation she was in with Ellias. Loosening her grip, Tabitha returned to the infuriating creature at her right. "I made the choice to link myself to him in order to save him. You had no right to suggest we murder him while he was knocked out just so that I can keep my immortality."
"I refuse to argue with you about this anymore," Ellias spoke. His caramel-colored skin on his face was taut with anger, and she could see the fury that lay just below the surface that was aching to get out. Tabitha had a sickening feeling that she and the warlock would eventually be coming to blows. "I tried to do what I thought was best for you. For us. We were supposed to have all of eternity together. It's becoming more and more clear to me that that might not have ever been what you wanted--especially since you threatened to offer me up as a sacrifice to the god of death instead of Dacre when I suggested that we just end him. You used me."
Tabitha bit her lip hard enough to drawl blood, all anger that she was feeling evaporated quickly at the hurt she heard in his inflection. "I'm sorry if you feel that way, but you knew from the start how I felt about being with you. Us getting together two years ago was a mistake. One that you need to let go."
Ellias coughed out a bitter laughter that sent a shiver of anticipation up and down her spine. Tabitha didn't know how she let the conversation get so off course, but she knew that the direction it needed to head would bring tensions much higher than they were now.
"You can't meet my aunt," she finally said in a cold tone. She saw Ellias stiffen on the mare next to her, and she readied herself for his attack--whether it be a mental one or a physical one, she didn't know.
"You can't be serious," Ellias deadpanned. Dark eyes pierced her own as he glowered at her.
"I'm very serious," she replied non-chalantly. She gave him a subtle shrug that she hoped would make it seem like less of a big deal than it really was, but if the look of loathing he sent her was any indication, it didn't work. "There are things that you don't know about my aunt and how she runs the coven. Things that you don't even know about me. It's best for you and Laurel to just keep your distance while we're there. It shouldn't take any longer than 12 hours before we're on our way again."
"Wow," Ellias mused in a tone of indifference that she knew only worked to mask the pain of the news that she'd just given him. "Don't think I didn't miss that you didn't include Dacre in the list of those not allowed on Demetrian grounds. You know, Tabitha," Ellias spat her name like it was bitter-tasting, "I think you're letting this slight crush you have on the boy go entirely too far." Tabitha opened her mouth to argue, but she was quickly cut off as Ellias continued his ranting. "You're risking a lot by keeping him in on the rescue efforts. He's the King's son, if you've forgotten. Who's to say that he won't run and tattle to daddy the second we step foot within the castle walls to win brownie points with King Rossford?"
"He would never do that--his father wants his head mounted outside on the palace gates. The last thing Dacre would do would compromise my rescue efforts. And you must be absolutely insane if you think I'd leave him within your clutches after you openly expressed your desire to kill him. I'm not letting him die just so you can fulfill some sick fantasy that you have about us being together for eternity." She mimed what he'd said only minutes before. His face turning a bright-red shade from embarrassment, but he slowly began to nod his head in resignation. She could almost see all of the insults that he wanted to fling her way, but he was holding them back. Tabitha wasn't sure why.
"Fine," he turned his eyes downcast and began to toy with the lead in his hands. With a soft kick to the hind area of the horse, Ellias and the mare quickened their pace slightly to pull ahead of the witch. She watched in silence, stunned at the fact that Ellias was giving up so easily. Relief flooded her entire system that their argument didn't have to blow up into a full-out fight. She had just been on the verge of reminding the warlock that she was stronger than he was in an attempt to keep it from coming to that, so she was utterly shocked when he seemed to have come to that conclusion on his own.
Just as she thought that the conversation was over, Ellias swiveled around on the mare without stopping. The cold resignation Tabitha found in his hardened dark eyes sent a feeling of dread throughout her entire being.
"I'll remember this," was all that he said before turning back and kicking the horse once more. They both trotted off ahead, leaving a confused Tabitha in their wake.