Warrior Everlasting (20 page)

“Go, now! We will meet you soon!”
Havik yelled.

“Unicorns, ride!” Iros bellowed, motioning them forward.

Ashra leaped like she’d been smacked on the flank.
“Really? Another horse comparison?”

She sighed as she raced through the opening, Torz and Melete following close behind. But when Scout turned to look, Eirene was gone.

“Wait! Hold the gate open!” Scout screeched, but Ashra didn’t have the strength to make a spark, let alone create a hole in the sky. As Paradesos unfolded in front of them, the gate behind them slammed shut with the crash of thunder.

Ashra tumbled from the sky, half-flying, half-too-exhausted-to-do-anything-but-fall. They landed hard on the plush green grass, and immediately they were surrounded by smaller blue unicorns. Lil Bit was freed from Ashra’s magic, stretching like she’d been tucked in a drawer for the entire ride.

“Lil Bit, Eirene didn’t make it through—”

And then Eirene was just there, standing next to them. She wasn’t, and then suddenly she was.

Lil Bit smiled. “She doesn’t fly. She… materializes.”

Scout turned to her. “Thank you. Thank you for coming to our rescue.”

The white unicorn dipped her head but didn’t say a word.

“She doesn’t talk,” Lil Bit explained. “Words get in the way of peace. People talk too much to hide their hurt. And their fear.”

Scout could only gape at her little sister’s wisdom. Lil Bit grinned back at her.

“She’ll be fine, but she needs rest,”
the Leerha said, gaining Scout’s attention. Finally, the mass of blue healers had moved out of the way so Scout could see her unicorn. She was half-lying, half-sitting up in the grass, looking perfectly content. Until Scout met her eyes. Sheer and utter exhaustion looked back at her.

“We need to heal your wounds as well. And then we will ask for volunteers to take your sister back to her body.”

Scout blinked. Take Lil Bit away from here? But she was safe here. Scout had just gotten her back.

“I’ll just grab my body and be right back, Scout. Don’t freak out.”

Like it was a teddy bear or a backpack Lil Bit was going after.

“We’re coming back, too,” Tate said. Scout hadn’t even realized he and Liam stood next to her until Tate spoke. Trey stood with Torz, but he watched her silently over the heads of the healers. A brief, tired smile lit his face.

“Okay. Yes. But we’re going to Montana with you. To make sure you make it there and back to Paradesos with no more problems. You’re safe here. We’ll find you a hut and bring your homework. There’s infinite space here, so don’t go wandering off.” Scout nodded, agreeing with herself. They were safe.

“No, Scout. You don’t understand. We’re coming back. To help you fight.”

“Oh no, you’re not. Not a chance. Your parents won’t let you. Trey won’t let you! You have to stay here where you’re safe!” Scout yelled without meaning to.

“Scout, we’re bigger than you are—”

“Tate, we just got you back. I am not willing to throw you into harm’s way again.”

Tate smiled, gently, and he reminded her of Trey so much it hurt.

“I know, warrior princess. But there’s a war, and they need us.” He moved to put his hands on her shoulders, but couldn’t, so he dropped them to his side. “You don’t have to fight alone anymore.” Beside him, Liam nodded helpfully.

The Leerha appeared again.
“I have found volunteers to take you to your home and bring you back. They are ready as soon as we heal you.”

Scout shook her head. “No. No, we can’t go yet. My parents — we have to find my parents. Iros hoped they were here.”

The Leerha nodded once, her horn lit. Scout barely had time to blink as an Eske, bright green hair gleaming in the sunlight, shot out of the woods and landed next to them.
“Search for her parents. If you find them, bring them to me.”

“I’m going with, Scout. I can help look, and Ashra needs you here.” Lil Bit crossed her arms stubbornly before Scout could even think of arguing.

“But I just got you back,” Scout said weakly. This was an argument she was going to lose.

“I’m safe here, Scout. These are our friends.” She reached up and patted the Eske. The same breed that had told Scout the last time she’d been in Paradesos that it would either take her home or kill her. Yeah, real safe.

But the Eske nuzzled Lil Bit’s hand. It was her gift. That special, sweet spirit Lil Bit possessed. Everything sensed it.

“Okay, Lil. Just be careful. Please?”

Lil Bit nodded and squealed, bouncing just a bit. Her childlike spirit, somehow, had not been crushed through all of this — it was still a grand adventure to her.

The Eske met Scout’s eyes and nodded, as if to tell her that he understood her protectiveness and would take good care of her sister. Then he wrapped Lil Bit against his chest.

“Wait! Their parents — they’re missing too!” Scout yelped as the Eske turned to go. When it glanced back at her in exasperation, she added a hasty, “Please?”

As it launched into the air, Kylin stormed up. She was missing her normal stilettos and designer clothes. Instead, she had black combat boots and protective armor, although she’d pulled the helmet off and shook out her blond hair. She glared daggers at Scout as she crossed toward them.

Scout swallowed hard. “Kylin, you were amazing back there. Thank you. So much.” The words felt like razor blades climbing up her throat. But they needed to be said.

“I didn’t do it for you, you boyfriend-stealing—”

“Kylin.” Trey cut her off, leaving Torz’s side to stand next to Scout. “You told me to go die. I think that constitutes as a break-up.”

Kylin’s bottom lip jutted out, and she burst into tears, throwing herself into Trey’s arms. “I missed you so much! I didn’t mean it, Trey. I even fought to save you. I was brave! I got bloody for you!”

Did he look impressed? After everything Scout had been through that day — that week — weeks? She wasn’t even sure how long they’d been gone, this was just more than she could handle.

“I’ll just leave you two alone.” She tried to not hiss, before turning sharply on her heel. “Ashra, can I help you? Where do you usually rest?”

Ashra looked at Scout like she’d grown two heads.
“Who said anything about resting?”

Scout frowned. “The Leerha did. She said you have to rest, and I have to borrow another unicorn to go get Lil Bit’s body back.”

Ashra’s head jerked up, and she snorted in indignation.
“Oh no, she didn’t.”

Scout couldn’t help it. She giggled. It had just a hint of insanity, but that was to be expected, right? “Horse, you just about had your heart ripped out of your chest. Go rest.”

“I don’t need to rest. Do you know what I just lived through? It didn’t kill me, Princess. So it made me stronger.”
Ashra gave her a self-satisfied whinny, which seemed to be the unicorn equivalent of patting yourself on the back.

Scout crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing her. “I’m not taking no for an answer, you giant bird. Now I can walk with you to wherever it is you sleep, or I can drag you, kicking and screeching.”

“I believe the word is ‘screaming’. And I’d like to see you try.”

“You don’t scream. You screech. Like an enraged banshee. And I’ll have help.” She looked over at Torz, who nodded solemnly.

“Fine. Good grief, a unicorn is practically a hero, and this is how she gets treated? Next time I’ll hang out in the back and fight the slow, tired Taraxippus.”
She struggled to her feet, swaying dangerously for several seconds.

Scout reached out a hand, like that would do anything but get broken if Ashra fell. And Scout smiled, because she knew as long as Ashra was alive, she would be in the front, fighting three-hundred times harder than she had the strength for, because it would save someone’s life.

They started slowly across the valley, and Torz walked right behind her, presumably to protect Scout if Ashra toppled over on top of her. She glanced once over her shoulder to see Trey and Kylin in deep conversation, Kylin still sobbing and clinging to his chest. Biting her lip hard enough to make it bleed, Scout turned away from him and instead watched the skies for the Eske. She watched the hundreds of souls, searching for her parents. And then her eyes landed on her hut, and a pang of homesickness hit her so hard she nearly doubled over. Hastily, she moved on — to Iros’s hut. The door was wide open, and through it she could just see the faint glow of the magic keeping Aella’s body alive.

Aella’s body.

She froze in her tracks, causing Torz to smash his soft muzzle into the top of her head. “Where’s Aella? She was there — Lil Bit said she was protecting them!”

Ashra looked at her, wild-eyed.
“I… forgot about her. I was in such a hurry to get Lil Bit out of there—”

Torz shook his big head.
“She wasn’t there when I landed. We will have to ask Lil Bit.”

Scout thought hard. She knew Lil Bit had told her Aella was there. Could Lil bit have just said that because she knew how much Scout and Ashra needed the hope? When they’d landed, it had been such a blur. She didn’t remember Aella there, but then, she hadn’t been thinking clearly, either. She needed to talk to Lil Bit. Where was that blasted Eske?

“Scout — wait!”

Scout paused, and Torz ran into her again. If her hair hadn’t been a giant mess before, it definitely was now, with his muzzle rubbing it all over the place every time she stopped. She tried unsuccessfully to smooth it as she turned to watch Trey jogging after her. He limped, just a bit, and she could see blood staining the side of his black shirt.

“You need a Leerha to heal you,” she said when he got close enough that she didn’t have to yell.

“You’re mad.”

She sighed. “I’m too tired for this right now, Trey. If you want Kylin, then—”

He glared at her. “You lose faith in me that quickly, Scout? I’ve been in love with you since I was eight years old. See these?” He held up his arm with the leather bands tied around his wrist. “Nine of them. One for each year I’ve loved you. I loved you when you hated me. I loved you when you were dancing for some other guy. I loved you when I watched you throw yourself off your unicorn eight billion feet above the ground.”

Scout opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Instead, tears trickled down her cheek.
Finally
, she knew what those leather bands meant. And her heart swelled.

“Just because I talk to Kylin doesn’t mean I’m going back to her. What have I ever done to make you doubt me, Scout? And if you say the hospital—” His glare was more fierce than she’d ever seen it. Clearly, he’d heard enough about the hospital.

Scout smiled, scrubbing at her tears. “Nothing, Trey. You’ve done nothing to make me doubt you. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and insecure.”

His hand shot out, circling her waist, and he pulled her into him, so close she could feel his heart pounding inside his chest, and he kissed her like he would literally die if he didn’t. There was pain and fury and hope and love in that kiss. Scout rose on her toes and slid her arms around his neck, kissing him back, hoping he could feel that she felt the same way.

“Well. this is awkward. We’re going to rest. We’ll find you two later.”
Torz snorted uncomfortably, and Scout heard them walk away, but she didn’t care. She’d been trapped in the demon’s lair, had fought when she thought there was nothing left to fight with, found hope when things were at their darkest, and was still caught in a paralyzing fear that her parents hadn’t made it out. But for this second, this minute, the only thing she could do was kiss this boy. And she intended to do it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Trey had Scout in his arms, and he was never going to let her go. That was his plan. He’d fight Ariston himself right then if he showed up and tried to take her away.

But it wasn’t Ariston who landed heavily next to them. He reluctantly broke his kiss with Scout and pulled away, looking over the top of her head at the Eske, releasing Lil Bit from its magic. From the look on her face, there was not good news.

Trey felt the brief bit of hope, the moment of peace, shatter. His parents weren’t here. They were still in Aptavaras. He’d left them.

“Mom? Dad?” Scout asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Lil Bit shook her head and burst into tears. Scout left him to rush to her side, and Trey’s entire body went cold without her warmth. Tate and Liam jogged over, looking at him with big, hopeful eyes.

“They aren’t here.” He could barely choke out the words.

“Just because they are not here now doesn’t mean they won’t be soon. The rest of the unicorns are returning now with the remaining souls.”
The Eske made an attempt to sound positive, at least.

Trey searched his eyes, which were deceptively mild. He wanted to make him swear that they would bring their parents home, make him promise that they were okay. But he knew the Eske couldn’t do that. There was no point in screaming about it.

“Lil Bit.” Scout knelt in front of her. “They’ll be okay. They’ll come home. I promise you, we’ll bring them home.”

Lil Bit peeked through her fingers at Scout, still sobbing.

“Have I ever lied to you before?”

“No — no.” Lil Bit hiccupped.

“And I’m not lying to you now. If I have to go back in there and search for them, I will. Bring. Them.
Home
.”

Lil Bit nodded. “Okay.”

“I have another question, sweetie. When you said Aella was there… were you just trying to give us strength to fight? Because no one saw her when we landed.”

Apparently, Lil Bit’s heart was too broken to give Scout a look with the annoyance she deserved. “Yes, she was there. She left to help Iros.”

“Apparently, while she was stuck being a soul for so long, she picked up a few tricks. She rose right out of the floor in Ariston’s castle,” Scout said, squinting up at Trey.

“Understandable. She was a warrior. She wouldn’t just sit there and cry. She’d be learning how to use her weaknesses as strengths,” Trey said.