Two weeks later, life had returned to a semblance of normalcy. I was still in a little pain from my injuries but otherwise unscathed.

“You know you didn’t have to walk me back,” I said to Darius one day after our power training session. We had resumed training a week and a half after the attack to give me enough time to heal. I held a hand against my ribs which ached from holding my arms up in practice.

“I wanted to. Plus, it let us spend a little more time together,” he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. “And I wanted to apologize. For everything. You have to know that I had no idea our link wouldn’t go away.”

I stayed silent.

“You felt it in Gwyniar, didn’t you?” Darius continued. He kept his gaze locked on me. “I know you did. And then again during the attack.”

“I didn’t link you,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Even as I said it, I wasn’t sure it was the truth. I’d called out through my link but I wasn’t thinking about who it would reach.”

“I felt it, Ar. I knew you were in trouble.”

“That shouldn't have mattered!” I protested. “I’m with Ray. He should’ve been the one who received the link. It should’ve been Ray who found me. I had Ray. You still seem to think that there can be something between us just because of this link. But that’s not what it means.”

Darius sighed. “I was hoping after all this training we’ve been doing, you would consider me a friend. That's all. I know we got off to a rocky start—”

“And a rocky middle,” I muttered under my breath.

“But there is clearly some fate out there where we are destined to be together in some capacity.”

I kicked the ground with the toe of my boot. He was right, so it seemed. As much as I hated to admit it, the universe was telling us something. “As friends only, right?”

He nodded. “Right.”

I waited. When was he going to mention what he and Raydir were talking about when they thought I was still unconscious?

“I’m glad we’ve had the chance to train these last few weeks,” Darius said. “I’m impressed with the progress you’ve made."

We stopped in front of my cabin.

I cleared my throat. “So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” He leaned forward to give me a hug but I went to kiss his cheek, so my lips brushed gently against his before I pulled back. “See you tomorrow.”

I watched him walk away before turning the handle of the cabin door and walking inside. Raydir was already there sitting on the sofa.

“Hey,” I greeted him, coming over to sit down. “How was your day?”

“It was good. Better now that you’re here.” He kissed my cheek. “Have you been out training this whole time?”

I nodded. “We lost track of time otherwise I would’ve been back sooner.”

Raydir glanced at the way I was holding my ribs and slouching on the sofa. “Arwyn, lift your arms.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it, please.”

I grimaced as I forced my arms as high as they would do, whimpering as the pain stabbed through my chest and they fell back to my sides. “Happy now?”

He shook his head. “He’s working you too hard. God, Ar, are you really still in this much pain?”

“It’s not that bad. And don’t blame Darius for this. He’s asked constantly if I’m feeling up to continuing, so this is on me. Plus, the healers cleared me for training.”

“Still. If you’re in pain, then maybe we need to ease you away from training for a few more days.” He reached out to brush my hair behind my ear.

“What’s the real reason you wanted me to keep training with Darius while I was recovering?” I asked. “It’s clear you don’t trust that he’s keeping me safe.”

“You favor him over Fletcher,” Raydir replied. “I wanted you to have something to enjoy.”

“And?” I carefully crossed my arms over my chest.

“I wanted to see if my fears were true,” he confessed.

There it was. The truth.

“Ray, you have nothing to fear.” I took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about something Emilia said in Gwyniar. As much as fate tried to tear us apart, it’s what brought us together in the first place.”

His expression sombered and his green eyes filled with sadness. “Maybe it is fate that has kept our friendship turned love alive for so long. Maybe it is truly fate that decided you were meant to be with Darius.”

“But if it were in the hands of fate to tear us apart, don’t you think it would have happened by now?” I asked.

“Don’t you see, Arwyn? That’s exactly what’s happening right now.” He sighed. “When you were still unconscious, I asked Darius if he had feelings for you.”

My body froze but I nodded along, like it was news to me. “And what did he say?”

“He skirted the question, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how he feels. Just look at the way he looks at you.” Bitterness laced his voice.

Heat rose to my cheeks. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to act on anything. Mostly because I don’t have feelings for him.”

“Don’t you? You’re slipping away, Arwyn. I feel it every day.”

“Ray.” I covered his hand with mine. “We’re bound. Nothing can change that.”

“Except something already has.” His face darkened.

“This is about the pact, isn’t it? And what he said about ‘being with me’?” I inched my hand away from him. “This is all because he put the idea in your head that something was going to tear us away from each other. That your bond with me would weaken and his would strengthen.”

He shook his head. “That’s not it. I’ve seen the way you look at him, too. You can deny it all you want, but it’s there, Arwyn. And maybe it’s time—”

“No!” I cried out, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. “No, don’t you dare finish that sentence, Raydir.”

“When we were in Gwyniar, you heard that voice telling you that something was waiting for you back in Darqua. I heard it too.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to stop me.

“I didn’t want any of it to be true, Ar, but all the signs are there. With the incident at the lake, I know you said he was protecting you from something, but something changed after that. Then the rogue attack. Both times it’s been Darius who protected you.”

“You know that doesn’t mean anything!” I protested.

“We’re all the other has ever known, which is great, but we’re not kids anymore.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I swallowed, nodding as realization hit me for what was going to happen. “You want us to think about other options.”

“Not right away. But maybe it’s something to consider.”

“Is that what you want?”

He tilted my chin up with one finger. “I need some time to figure it out. I think we both do. What do you think?”

I nodded, closing the gap between us so that our foreheads touched. “We just need time. So, a break?”

“A break, yeah.”

“Right.” I cleared my throat. “I, um, need to go.” Without another word, I ran back out of the cabin, ignoring the searing pain in my ribs from fighting back the urge to burst into tears.

I ran and didn’t stop until I got to the lake. Anger pulsated through my veins, followed by guilt for feeling angry.

It’s not a breakup, I reassured myself. He just wants some space. He still loves me and I still love him. That’s not going to change.

I held my head in my hands, forcing myself to take steady breaths.

Should I not have chosen Ray? After everything we had been through, was this all my fault for ruining our future together? Was choosing him always going to bring this much pain?

“Arwyn!” Darius’ voice broke through the silence and the barrier I had forced into my mind.

“Go away.” I groaned. Darius was the last person I wanted to see right now.

“You can punch me if you want.”

I whipped around to face him. “What?” Are you serious?

He put his hands up in defense, and took a tentative step forward. “Just saying. If you want to take out your anger on something, well, I’m here.”

“Stop invading my head.” I wrapped my arms around my body.

“Sorry. It’s hard to turn it off.” He sat down next to me. “I know you don’t want any company right now, but just pretend I don’t exist.”

I scoffed. “Like it’s that easy.”

The corners of his mouth twitched up into a smile. “I’m going to avoid saying what I’m thinking because then you really will punch me. But whatever you need to do to stay sane right now, do it. You’ve been going through so much, Ar. I know things between us have always been rocky, but I want you to know I’m here for you. Everything you feel with the attack is valid.”

My nickname sounded different coming out of his mouth, but I wasn’t sure what to think of it.

“Why do you keep doing this?” I asked, forcing myself not to meet his eyes and failing miserably. In the fading evening light, they shone almost grey.

“Doing what?”

“Saying things that make me want to kiss you. Why do you do that to me?” It wasn’t until that moment that I realized it was true and Raydir was right. I was falling for him.

Darius ran a hand through his hair. “We can’t control our feelings, Arwyn. Just how we act on them.” His eyes dipped briefly to my lips, which slowly parted, letting out slow breaths. He licked his own lips before shifting his gaze back up to me.

My heart began to beat faster in my chest as I anticipated what was to come. Without thinking, I leaned forward with one hand against my thigh, the other nestling its way into his hair. Darius reacted, resting his hands on my hips. My breath came out in short spurts, warm against his cheek.

“Is this what you want?” Darius asked, his voice gruff yet comforting. He looked at me with those mesmerizing blue eyes that I fought to resist.

“I…” I inhaled sharply and pulled back. “I don’t know what I want anymore. Raydir wants me to be happy and I want the same for him. I just want things to make sense..”

He reached out with his hand halfway to brush my hair away from my face. My braid had loosened, leaving several strands hanging in waves by my face.

Oh how I desperately wanted to have the sweet taste of his mouth against mine. How would it feel to kiss him?

Then why don’t you find out?

My lips found their way to his, and electricity sparked between us. He responded, moving his lips to taste mine and rubbing circles on my hips with his thumbs. Thunder rumbled low in the distance, the threat of rain evident in the air.

My body melted to his touch while my other hand traveled under the hem of his shirt. The muscles on his abdomen rippled at my touch when my fingers grazed over his scar. When I tugged at his shirt, he reacted by breaking the kiss, raising his arms over his head to give me access to release its hold on his body. As our lips found each other again the first drops of rain fell from the sky.

I shrieked, pulling away from him and immediately regretting it. Darius must’ve noticed that—I still wasn’t sure how I felt about his ability to sense my vulnerabilities—because he pulled me to my feet, and we ran to the shade of a tree. I winced at the pressure on my ankle but didn’t care.

Within seconds, he carefully lifted me up so my legs could wrap around his waist to prevent any further impact on my injuries, pressing my back against the rough bark of the tree. Then his hands tangled into my hair, thumbs brushing delicately against my cheeks. I kept a hand pressed against his chest as he kissed me, his lips moving to pepper kisses along my jawline before grazing them over my neck. His fingers left my hair and reached for the clasps on my top.

“Wait.” I pressed back against his chest when I realized what was about to happen, and he lowered me down.

“Too fast?”

I nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m not ready for this.”

He shook his head. “You don’t have to apologize, this isn’t your fault. I have to ask though, are you and Raydir—did something happen?”

“You mean did we end our engagement?” I instinctively twirled the ring around my finger.

He nodded.

Don’t you think you should’ve asked that before we kissed? “No, not yet.”

“Are you going to?”

Please don’t ask me that. “I don’t know.”

Darius raised his eyebrows at this. “We should probably go back.”

My heart sank, and I visibly winced. I don’t regret kissing you. “Yeah. We should.”

***

A week later, I reluctantly met up with Darius again for power training. He hadn’t said a word to me since the day we kissed when I told him Ray and I were still together. Yet when I showed up on his doorstep, asking if we could continue training, he’d immediately agreed.

“Keep your focus!” Darius instructed. His voice came out gruff and firm, yet it held a subtle softness. “Hold it up, just a little longer.”

After we had parted ways that day at the lake, I had gone back to my cabin and taken up residence in the extra bedroom. If there was ever a moment to be glad we had opted for the two-bedroom cabin, this was definitely it. Not only had things been weird between me and Darius, they’d also been strange with me and Raydir. I couldn’t get him off of my mind or the look on his face when I’d returned to the cabin. A look that when I reflected on it, made me riddled with guilt.

“I’m trying!” The stream of water wavered, but I kept my arms thrust out in front of me as long as I could.

Was Darius really the first person I wanted to go to when Ray and I were fighting? Had that been what had happened? No. Darius came to me. I didn’t seek him out. But I hadn’t stopped him either.

“Good. Now aim it at me.”

“What?!” I shrieked.

“Arwyn, just do it. Trust me.”

I maneuvered my hands, swirling the water and pushing it toward Darius. He jumped out of the way so the water vortex landed back into the lake, splashing out toward the two of us.

“Wonderful. Now use the water to trap me," he said.

My eyes widened. Was he serious? “What?”

“Just—”

“Darius, if you say ‘trust me’, I will dunk your head under water.” I groaned and dragged a hand down my face.

Darius smirked, putting his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay. I won’t say it.”

I flicked the water in his direction. It splashed in his face, drenching his dark hair and making him sputter. “That was fun.”

He wiped water out of his eyes, grinning. “Alright. Now, trap me in the water.”

Sighing, my hands lifted the water into another swirling vortex, making sure it grew tall enough before shifting it toward Darius. The water surrounded him, lifting him up so his feet were dangling just above the surface of the lake. The vortex tightened around him, and I began to panic.

“Darius, I can’t do this!” I cried.

“Just—trust—yourself. Take—a breath—loosen—the grip. You’re doing great.”

Shakily, I retreated one of my hands to disengage the vortex. What I didn’t expect, however, was the vortex to fight back. “Darius! It’s not…what do I do!”

“Take a breath. Trust.” His eyes locked on mine, chest fighting for breath. You can do this. Breathe.

I nodded, closing my eyes and focusing as much as I could on the water.

“Great job.”

Slowly, I opened my eyes to find Darius, unharmed, grinning at me. The water vortex had evaporated.

I whacked his chest. “Don’t you dare scare me like that. I thought you were…I don’t ever want to hurt you.”

Darius ran a hand through his wet hair, making it stick up in all different directions. “You could never hurt me.”

I slumped against him. Except for when I shot you with that arrow. “So explain something to me. When I was passed out from the rogue attack, you told Raydir that only one link could remain.”

He stiffened. “Correct.”

“What did you mean exactly? How is that decided?”

Darius shifted uncomfortably. “If our link wins out over your link with Raydir, it’ll be the only one that remains. And vice versa. The only caveat is…”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “The only caveat is what, Darius?”

Darius scratched the back of his head. “You have to make your choice by the third Alignment.”