“Let me help.” Gael scooped her into his arms with care. He glanced at Beth, and whatever words he’d meant to say vanished. Gratitude, fierce and shining was in her eyes, laced with something else. A fury that matched his own. It made him want to find Bryn and rip his mind out from him and bury it in the deepest layer of the earth, where it would burn.
The walk back was slower.
Gael moved at a human pace, careful not to jostle Ann too much. Beth walked beside him, whispering soft, silly things to her friend, anything to keep her calm. Ann dozed in and out, managing the occasional sleepy chuckle. When they finally reached the house, Beth hurried ahead to fix her own bed, but one look reminded them both why that wouldn’t do. “I think I’ll pull out the couch for her,” she muttered, wincing.
Beth moved fast, pulling out the sleeper, tossing pillows and blankets onto it. He laid Ann down gently, and Beth tucked her in with a soft blanket. Ann was already asleep. They moved to the bedroom in silence, the weight of the night pressing in around them.
“Call Elara,” Gael said, brushing his fingers along Beth’s cheek, exhaling softly. “Tell her what happened. And that I’m out tracking him.”
“What will you do when you find him?” Beth asked, her voice careful as she tried to mask something dark.
“I’ll detain him,” he said evenly. “And wait for the High Lord and High Lady to arrive.”
He meant it. Mostly. But if the elf was stupid enough to resist or fight, well, then...
As if she read the turn of his thoughts, Beth gave him a wry, knowing half-smile. “Don’t get yourself in trouble.”
He leaned in, cradling her face in his hands like something precious. “I never do.”
“Liar,” she said, rising onto her toes to kiss him. When she pulled back, her hands slid up his chest, her palms pressing lightly against his heartbeat.
“I need you to know,” she said softly, “I was very impressed by what you did in the forest. Seeing you like that, so in tune with your magic, with nature itself... it was breathtaking.” Her eyes searched his. “Youwere breathtaking.”
A slow smile curved his mouth. “Then you understand how I feel every time I look at you.”
He kissed her again, a lingering brush of mouths that tasted like both promise and goodbye. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he murmured. “Call Elara. Please.”
And with one last kiss, he slipped into the night, quiet as a shadow and twice as dangerous.
BETH CHECKED ON ANNone more time before returning to her bedroom. It was a little past six—too early to be up, too late to truly sleep. Not that she would’ve, anyway.
She slid under the covers and turned toward Gael’s side of the bed.
His pillow still carried the scent of him, earth and pine and something ancient. She curled into it, inhaling like she couldbreathe him back to her. His hoodie was still draped over the back of the chair; she could almost imagine he’d be walking back in at any moment, mud on his boots, guilt in his eyes for leaving at all but a smile because they were together again.
But he wasn’t here. He was out there, gods knew where, hunting a man Beth couldn’t believe she’d once trusted.
She’d called Elara, just as he asked. Told her everything. In all the years Beth had known the High Lady, she’d never heard her that furious. Elara’s usually upbeat voice had snapped like a whip over the line, shaking with rage.
Beth had to repeat herself several times—Ann was okay, resting, there was no need to summon Melisandre, the town doctor and Magistra of the Mystic Hollow covenant. Elara had relented only after Beth insisted that Gael had scanned Ann himself. If there had been anything wrong, he never would’ve left.
And now he was gone.
After Bryn.
Beth stared at the ceiling, mindfully unclenching her jaw. How could she have ever believed that snake?
It made her skin crawl to remember the way Bryn used to look at her—too long, too calm. She wouldn’t put it past him to have nudged his emotions into her, just enough to stir doubt. Just enough to twist her feelings toward Gael. Without magic, she’d sensed his interest, but not his manipulation. She would have had issues with Gael anyway at the beginning, but maybe she wouldn’t have been that set into cut him off.
But why Ann?
They barely knew each other. They’d never even had a proper conversation that Beth could remember. The only thing they had in common washer.
Beth stilled, her heart kicked hard against her ribs.
What if she were the reason Ann was attacked?
The thought landed like ice in her stomach. She and Gael had been seeing each other for a short time, but they hadn’t exactly been subtle. Word spread fast in Mystic Hollow. If Bryn had heard... if he’d noticed... Could he really be that unhinged? Would he go so far as to hurt Ann just to hurther?
