“Are you fucking kidding me?” Titus was apparently ready to kill me. I couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t like I’d explained much yet. “What the hell happened to Claire?”
“That’s an excellent question,” I replied, folding my arms. “One I’m still trying to figure out myself. Some sort of entity latched onto her in the death fields and drained her elements.” What perplexed me most was that it hadn’t touched me at all, only Claire. “It nearly killed her.”
“Clearly.” Vox rubbed his chest, his brow furrowing. “She mated with all three of us.”
“I know.” I’d felt it. “She required the strength. Without it, she would have died.”
“Which is why you mated with her as well?” Titus pressed, clearly sensing our intense connection.
I nodded. “You were too far away to help, and Exos, well, he’s still missing. So I completed the ceremony and lent her my elements.” It had left me drained, but functioning. Unlike these three. They all appeared to be swept away with the waves, their exhaustion palpable. “What the hell have you been doing all week?”
A laugh burst from Titus, one born not of amusement but of disbelief.
And Sol followed suit.
Same with Vox.
“Have you all lost your minds?” I demanded, alarmed.
“You’re joking right?” Titus chuckled again, the sound broken and oddly maniacal.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded.
“Oh, fuck you,” Vox said, uncharacteristically confrontational. I saw it then, the anger lingering in his gaze. Sol’s eyes held a glimmer of it, too.
They all appeared desperate.
No… they were furious.
Titus lost his cool first, the fire bursting out of him and nearly hitting me square in my chest.
“Seriously?” I shouted, infuriated by the ridiculous attack. Even though I was weakened by Claire, he was no match for me. Except Vox joined him next with a howl of wind that swept my hair back and pushed me several feet into the dead courtyard.
A courtyard that was sinking quickly into a hole created by the Earth Fae.
“Okay,” I said, calm despite the three-way attack. “I can see we have some aggression issues to work through.” I shoved them all back with a wave that swept the three of them off their feet. “You want to play with me? Let’s do this. But I expect your best, not this cockamamie bullshit attempt.” I lifted my hand in a come get me gesture. “And when I win—which I will—I expect a little more respect while we discuss next steps.”
None of them acknowledged me.
They just attacked.
Idiots.
But I supposed I deserved it. I hadn’t exactly been forthcoming over the last week, what with being too busy saving Claire. And fucking her senseless.
Yeah, all right, I’d be mad, too.
So I allowed Titus to get one good fire punch in, the stroke of it singeing my cheek. I gave Vox his chance to slap me with a clap of wind. And I granted Sol one powerful shake beneath my feet.
Then I went to work, schooling the three of them simultaneously with a shock of water that temporarily doused their fight. It wasn’t good enough to knock some sense into them, though, because they came at me with a renewed vigor, determined to drown me in their anguish and frustration.
And while I may have deserved some of it, I wasn’t about to accept all of the blame.
“I saved Claire,” I reminded them all. “Without me, she would have died.”
“Without you, she wouldn’t have been in danger to begin with,” Titus tossed back over the roaring winds. “You are the reason she almost died!”
“And you left us here with no word,” Vox added. “No idea of how she was doing, while expecting us to give her everything.”