“Eva, he wanted to rape you,” he calls after me in a last-ditch effort to stop me.
I turn back to him, shaking my head. “Then you should have come and talked to me about it, not just knocked him out and left him in his office.”
Then I go into the building, fighting back tears because the company employees need me, and I don’t have time to fall apart right now.
26
Tanner
By the time I reach the apartment, I’m in a black enough mood that even the thought of talking to my family isn’t enough to calm me.
I knew things would go badly after I attacked Bill, but I didn’t know they would go that badly.
She didn’t even give me a chance to explain. She doesn’t trust that I did what was right.
Perhaps when she calms down…
Flynn is on the couch, and he looks up at me as I close the door behind me. “You okay? Get off work early today?”
“Yes.” No, I just fucked everything up with my soul bond because I couldn’t contain my rage and my need to eradicate chaos.
I’m already headed toward my room when he calls to me again.
“Oh, a package came for you today. It has instructions. I set it on your desk for you.”
“Thanks, Flynn,” I reply, not wanting any of the chaos that is overflowing my heart to spread to anyone else.
Between my family being in trouble and my soul match sending me away like some insubordinate soldier, my heart is riding the edge between completely losing it and keeping it together.
I know Eva will be fine for now. I sensed no other chaos in the office.
If I do go back to my kingdom, to help them and gain some perspective on what to do about my soul bond, perhaps Ian or Flynn could guard her while I’m gone.
No matter what, I won’t let anything happen to her.
Though, I’m not sure how to help her trust me again.
I might not always be able to consult with her, but whenever I can, I will.
Still, I can’t really blame her for being angry. I knew she would be when I did what I did to Bill.
I shut my door and look over at my desk to see the package Flynn was talking about.
Unwrapping it, I see a note from Chadwick, explaining what it is and how it works.
I let out a sigh of relief, knowing I’ll soon be able to talk to my family. I’ve never needed their comfort more than now.
I unwrap the package and pull out a glass case with reinforced steel edges. Inside the case, I can see a bluish crystal being held by two brackets inside.
How that dragon acquired a fae communication crystal, I have no clue. Let’s just hope it works.
I see a yellow note that says “press here” over a little red button on the top of the cube. Beneath that, scrawled in refined handwriting, I can see additional instructions.
Couldn’t find a good power source, so transmission won’t last long, but I tested it this morning. P.S. Say hi to your family for me. —Chad
I don’t waste time, too anxious to hear more news of my people to hesitate. I put the cube in the center of my desk and press the button.
Immediately, the crystal begins to hum, and the blue light gets brighter and brighter until a cone of light emits through the top, projecting a fuzzy image onto the wall above my desk.
A second later, a familiar face appears, calming the chaos in my heart for the first time since I saw into Bill’s mind.
“Is this thing working? Hello?” my mother, Atrea, says. Her face, with its refined features framed by long dark hair, is cast in monochromatic hues, but it’s her nonetheless.
“I can hear you just fine. How are you?” I ask.
She beams for a moment, apparently able to make me out on her end now as well. “Ah, there you are, Tynan. It’s wonderful to see you.”
“How are things in the kingdom of darkness?” I ask directly, dreading what I’m about to hear.
To my utter shock, my mother smiles, looking calm and, if I’m not mistaken, a little proud. “Ah, you must have heard how well things are going here, right?”
“What? Going well?”
“Yes. Our warriors are stronger than ever before. The threat of chaos is at an all-time low.”
The feeling of the two of us discussing matters of war is as familiar to me as the back of my hand.
But what she’s saying is the opposite of what I was expecting.
“So my brothers are not struggling to hold the lines?”
She looks confused for a moment. “No. Then again, they’ve been trained by the best.” She smiles proudly. “All of them fight for you, Tynan. Because of their bond with you, because of their love and respect for how you’ve defended the kingdom for so long on your own. Now the forces that would threaten us have been forced to retreat far away from our land,” she says excitedly.
“So our people are well?”
“Everyone is working together like never before.” She seems almost confused by my worry, as if there was nothing to worry about in the first place. “They understand your sacrifice in leaving to help find and protect beacons in the human world. They—we—want you to be able to put all your attention toward your new mission. To be able to enjoy your new adventure, living life for yourself for once.”
I run a hand through my hair, relieved and bewildered at the same time.
“Why were the letters you sent full of ill reports?” I ask, stress flooding out of me even as I try to regain my bearings.
“What letters, my son?” Her face cocks to the side slightly. Clearly, she has no clue what I’m talking about.
“The letters about being in trouble. The conversions to chaos. The battles.”
“We’ve had less people fall into chaos’ grasp than ever before because we’re united.” She pauses, face tensing slightly and I yearn to be there to ease any discomfort my absence has caused, but I listen nonetheless. “I suppose we depended too much upon you before, Tynan.”
“Impossible,” I reply.
“You were always the strongest. The most talented. The most capable of doing the hard things that few in the world of fae can comprehend. We let you carry too much alone. But it’s good for us now to put forth our best effort to take the mantle of responsibility you carried without being asked.”
I let my head drop, the memory of a thousand clashes with chaos running through my mind like a flash of light.
“You grew up too young, Tynan. And you think no one else can take care of things but you. But we can help also. You’re not alone. You never were.”
“I know that. I just wanted to protect you all,” I say quietly.
“And we want to protect you,” she says with a grin. “So stop worrying and get out there and have some fun for once.”
“I wouldn’t call a mission to the human world ‘fun’ necessarily,” I mutter, running a hand through my hair in exasperation.
Well, it was fun when I was with Eva. Holding Eva. Protecting Eva. Looking into her eyes…
“Isn’t it even… a little fun?” My mother is still watching me, a small smile on her face.
“Maybe a little.” I admit to her. “But I have ruined it in my shortsightedness.”
“Oh dear,” she says. “Tell me what you’ve done, and maybe I can help.”