Mantle of the Gods

She tried to bolt.

I didn’t blame her. After how her family had treated her, I’d wondered how she’d react if words like that were ever said to her. I definitely hadn’t expected her to say it and given how her first reaction was to hide and not try to take it back, I had a feeling that while shocking as it was, it had been true.

I wasn’t going to leave her hanging.

“Hey, hey, hey.” I grabbed her arms, suddenly aware of my weariness again. Adrenaline surged through me as I pulled her back down to her knees in front of me. I almost fell over as I sat down too fast. I started to let go of her with one hand so I could catch myself, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold onto her with just one hand.

I pulled her against me.

She had to brace to keep both of us from falling over, which gave me the opportunity to change my grip so I could wrap her in a hug.

My mouth was next to her left ear. I felt her trembling. "You don’t have to be scared.” I pulled back just a little so I could look into her red eyes. "I’m not like the other people in your past that you’ve loved who hurt you.” She tried to look away and I bobbed my head to follow her gaze. "Hey, I know I’ve only known you for six days and I may not know much about what is going on in this place, but I know one thing for certain.”

Aelin was stomping her feet in excitement. I tried to ignore the bubbling blonde.

“I know that I love you.” I slowly started to relax my grip. I could still feel her buzzing with nervous energy, but she wasn’t pulling away anymore. Which was good because that last burst of energy had really tapped me out. I wouldn’t be able to hold her for much longer.

“I know that it probably sounds empty, especially with how I am right now, but I promise you. I am going to do everything I can to keep you safe.” I looked over at Justia and Aelin. "All of you.”

I turned back to Ether and dropped my arms. If she’d pulled away, she would have been able to break free. And as much as she probably needed that reassurance, I just didn’t have the strength to hold them up.

“Ether?”

She was so frozen it was like she was staring right through me.

“Ether, are you okay?”

“Kiss her!” Aelin urged.

“Aelin, would you please…”

Ether cut me off as she kissed me again. I felt the hunger in this kiss again, the need. I kissed her back, letting her know that this was real.

She released me and I noticed tears running down her face. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, then hugged me.

“Thank you.” She whispered into my ear before pulling back. "Now you need to get some sleep.”

I wanted to argue, but she was right.

“Promise to wake me up if Edward shows up.” I looked from Ether to the other two women.

“Promise!” Aelin giggled.

The other two just nodded.

“Good.” My eyes closed and I forced them back open. I was still sitting and needed to lay down first, but there were still things that I wanted to know.

“How many did we get?”

There was silence for a few moments until Aelin realized that everyone was looking at her. "Oh, me?!” She bit her lip as she thought. "It was… Forty-Eight!”

I looked at Ether. "How’d we do?”

The white-haired tank did some quick math in her head. "Eighty-nine.” She pointed at me and Aelin. "Ninety-two.” She motioned from herself to Justia.

“How long will it take us…” I pushed back a wave of exhaustion. "How long will it take us to hit level two?”

She thought for another moment. "We should hit it by noon tomorrow.” She held up a hand to stop my next question. "Without you pushing yourself like this again.

I nodded and eased myself to the ground. I wanted to tell them to wake me for guard duty, but I knew they’d ignore me. I closed my eyes and sleep took me immediately.