CHAPTER

TWENTY-NINE

If someone walked over and punched me in the stomach, I’d be less shocked than I am right now.

What. The. Freak?

With a whoosh and a spray of sparks, my bow and arrow are blazing in my outstretched arms. “How did you find me?” I demand.

“Luck, I guess.” He steps out of the faerie paths, and the doorway seals up behind him. “It’s the only place I know how to get to. I know how to get to the entrance of the Guild, but they’d have no reason to let me in. And I know how to get to the inside of your home, but I don’t have permission to enter it. I don’t know what the outside looks like, so I couldn’t just knock on your door. That only left this place.” He watches me carefully. He doesn’t raise his hands, though; he obviously doesn’t believe I’d shoot him.

“How dare you come looking for me after what you did?”

“Vi, please, I can explain.”

“I don’t want your explanations, Nate. I want you to leave before I accidentally let go of this arrow.”

“Please, Vi! You don’t know what I’ve been through.”

“What you’ve been through?” I lower my bow slightly in disbelief. “I almost died because of you, Nate!”

“I know! And I’m so sorry.” He takes a step toward me. I train the arrow on him once more. “Zell forced me to help him, Vi. He got Scarlett to put that eye on me, which meant he could see everything I saw. I was supposed to try and find out from you who the identity of the guardian with the finding ability was. Since I didn’t want him to know it was you, I obviously kept my mouth shut. But then you went and gave yourself away!”

“What?” Is he seriously blaming this on me?

“We were in my room, and you said something about apologizing for agreeing to find my mother for me. Don’t you remember? And that’s when he figured out it was you. He beat me up for not telling him before. Remember the bruise I had? And I lied and said it was a fight I got into at school?”

“You lied. Great. How many other things are you lying about?”

He throws his hands up in frustration. “Nothing! I’m not lying to you!”

“Have you forgotten about the part where you led me to a secret cave and handed me over to Zell? I didn’t see anyone forcing you to do that.”

“He was threatening my parents! He would have killed them if I hadn’t brought him to you. So I thought I could do both. Protect them and still get you out alive. That’s why I pointed out that river to you. You know, the one that bubbled up into the cave and went back down through the mountain and out the side? We walked past it and I said you could catch a quick ride out of there if you jumped down it.”

“That was your big plan, Nate? Seriously?” As it happened, that’s exactly how I got out of the mountain, but it almost killed me.

“I had no other choice. Don’t you understand that?”

“There’s always a choice, Nate. Why didn’t you ask me for help?”

“How? Zell had that eye on me. He could see everything I saw. He was watching my every move. Listening to every conversation.”

“You’re not stupid, Nate. You could have figured something out. Closed your eyes and written me a note, or something.”

“Vi …”

Branches rustle and we both look to the side. Ryn steps through the leaves and into the hollow. His eyes dart between Nate and me, but his expression gives no hint as to what he’s thinking or feeling. I wish I had his ability right now. “Well,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest as he walks to my side. “Look who came scuttling back.”

Nate’s eyes pan back and forth between Ryn and me. “What is he doing here?”

Ryn slides an arm around my waist. “What does it look like I’m doing here?”

“Ryn.” I glare at him and mutter, “You are not helping.”

“You’re with him now?” Nate looks disgusted. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Dripping wet in a secret passage,” Ryn says before I can answer. “It was pretty damn hot.”

“Ryn!”

“So is this the part where you warn me to stay away from your girlfriend?” Nate sneers.

Ryn’s cocky smile makes an appearance. “Of course not. I wouldn’t insult Violet by suggesting she can’t handle you on her own.”

I roll my eyes and lower my bow. “Okay. That’s great.” I lower my voice. “So how about you wait at the bottom of the tree so that I can, you know, handle things on my own?” Ryn’s eyes bore into mine, and I can tell he’s trying to figure out if everything’s okay. I’ll be fine, I mouth.

“Okay.” He turns to Nate. “So long, halfling boy. I hope we never meet again.” He vanishes into a doorway in the air.

“I can’t believe this,” Nate mutters, shaking his head. “I finally manage to get away from Zell, and the first person I come to—you—has already moved on as if I were never a part of your life.”

I let my bow and arrow disappear; we both know I’m not going to use it, even after what Nate did to me. “What did you think would happen, Nate? That I’d go running back into your arms?”

“I don’t know, Vi. But I certainly didn’t expect to come back and find myself caught up in a love triangle.”

“There is no love triangle, Nate. A love triangle would imply that you actually stand a chance with me, which you don’t.”

Nate takes a jolted step backward, as if I slapped him. Ouch. Those words came out way harsher than I meant them to.

“But you loved me, Vi,” he says quietly. “I know you did.”

I shake my head. “No. I didn’t, and I don’t.”

“You did. You were too scared to say it, but I know you—”

“I didn’t. Perhaps I could have if you’d given me a chance, but you didn’t.” I take a deep breath. “I did care about you, and I was so angry and hurt that I almost did something stupid with a potion. But I got over it. I got over you.”

He stares at me for a long time before he says, “I still love you.”

“Don’t lie to me. What about Scarlett?”

He pales. “Scarlett?”

“I saw the two of you together at Zell’s masquerade ball.”

“You were there?”

“Yes. Ryn and I were both there. And it certainly didn’t look like you were missing me when Scarlett was whispering in your ear.”

He looks away and shakes his head. “It’s complicated. She’s a siren, Vi—”

“Oh, so you had no choice, right? Just like you had no choice leading me into a trap in that mountain? And you had no choice using your storms to breach the protective enchantments of the Guild to potentially hurt a whole lot of innocent people?”

“Vi—”

“I think you should go, Nate. Whatever we had is over. Maybe you’re telling the truth about everything, maybe you’re not. But I don’t know, and I can never trust you again. You need to get on with your life, and I need to get on with mine. Take your parents and run, if you have to, but don’t involve me.” I cross my arms and swallow. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”