Until we reached the fourth point. That one was a harder pill to swallow.
We were in the H.A.C. headquarters and I'd just walked into a restricted access room.
This was the proverbial fork in the road. The moment Inarus chose sides and made a life-altering decision he could never take back.
Irritation bloomed in his chest. Why didn’t she ever listen? Why was she so damn stubborn?
The she was me. I’d forced my way into a room that had a clear sign stating restricted access.
My first reaction had been horror when I’d seen what lay behind those closed doors.
Inarus’ had been indifference.
It’d been months since that day but even now, what I’d found made my heart hammer and bile rise in the back of my throat.
Inarus saw animals locked behind a series of cages. He hadn’t seen them as vulnerable shifter children, like I did. In his mind, they were the next generation of the enemy.
He had no interest in doing them harm. He wouldn’t kick a dog just because he could. He wasn’t cruel, but it didn’t even dawn on him to set them free. Why would he release something that could become a future threat?
I’d forced him to release them and that was how he’d felt. Forced.
I’d taken the choice from him the moment we were caught because in that moment Inarus had realized two things.
One, I mattered to him. More than anyone had mattered to him in a very long time. Unless he was fine standing by watching me be killed, he had to act. He knew in his very core I wouldn't leave them behind and there was no way the H.A.C. would let me leave after what I’d found.
I’d refused to let him to teleport me to safety until every child was teleported first. He made quick work of rescuing the children and then came back for me.
But none of them had mattered.
They were an obstacle to his goal. Getting me out safely.
Even now his emotions were the same.
Where with the first anchor points, his initial emotional impression didn’t match his current feelings, this one stayed the same.
He didn’t regret setting the children free. He didn’t regret his choice in helping me. But that didn’t take the sting out of the memory. I’d pushed him down this path and I’d taken away what he’d seen as his future.
I anchored my mind to the point and took a mental step back.
I needed a moment.
I pulled out of his mind and found myself wrapped in Declan’s arms.
He didn’t say anything. He just folded me into his embrace and rubbed small circles along my back. I leaned my head harder against his chest, taking comfort in the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Pine and mint filled my nose as I inhaled his scent and took comfort from his hold.
“You back with us?” His voice was a rough timber.
I was hurt and he wasn’t happy about it. But how did I explain it? How did I describe what that last anchor had made me feel?
I couldn’t. Not without hurting the man I’d grown to love.
Moisture leaked from my eyes. I wiped it away and sniffed.
Dia leaned toward me. “How many?”
“Four.”
“They won’t get easier.” Her voice was soft, almost apologetic.
I’d figured as much so I just nodded.
“The longer you stall the harder this will be. For both of you.” Her blue-grey eyes implored me not to give up.
I didn’t need the push. Inarus was my friend. I wouldn’t abandon him to isolation within his own mind for who knew how long.
I took another few seconds to compose myself and then dove back in.
The four points I’d anchored to shone like bright beacons. Burning stars in the endless dark. I scanned the mental landscape searching for Inarus’ psyche. “Where are you?”
A rush of awareness. “How long until I wake on my own?” Desperation coated his words.
“Annabeth estimates three to four weeks. Possibly longer.”
His injuries were still substantial. A regular human would have died. The breaks in his body had mended. The internal bleeding had stopped. But he was weak. It had taken every ounce of strength he had just to keep his body going.
He swore.
“Do you want to wait?”
“No.”
His response was immediate.
I couldn’t blame him. Trapped in your own mind was its own form of hell. None of us knew how long he’d been mentally aware, trapped inside his body and unable to open his eyes. But judging by the levels of anxiety I sensed, it’d been long enough.
“Follow me.”
He led me through the inky black to another memory. It flared as I reached out and my mind grabbed onto it with hungry claws. After this, I’d only need one more.
Panic gripped me.
I saw myself through his eyes. My body lay prone on a cold metal table. Fear settled into my gut. Declan’s beast raged through the room as I stood locked in place. My eyes scanned what was directly in front of me. A series of tubes, machines, and two other bodies.
Recognition thrummed through me. Aiden was white as a sheet. Perspiration dripped down his face. I followed the tubes. He was connected to Aria somehow. My eyes scanned her. Pain was etched into every line of her body. She screamed. Without thinking, I sprang into action. The light was already dimming in Aiden’s eyes
