Page 33 of Bonded Ever After

Then, I watch the reality of our situation hit everyone in the room. There’s a mixture of horror and acceptance that falls over their faces, which might have been amusing at a different time.That’s right, your perfect little lives are falling apart.Unfortunately, mine and Veric’s lives had fallen apart a long time ago. We don’t have anything to cling onto here.

Beva finally nods her head. “Then we should all go home, quickly pack, and meet in the woods.”

Suddenly, it hits me. “Are you saying we’re going to travel together?”

The thought had never occurred to me. Veric and I are seasoned hikers. Taking these three with us will only slow us down. My plan had simply been to point them in the right direction and be done with them.

Beva frowns at me. “Of course. There’s safety in numbers.”

I scowl, not mincing my words. “Veric and I know what we’re doing in the woods. All of you will be nothing but a liability.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” she says, squaring her shoulders.

Looking at Veric, I’m surprised to see him giving me an expression that says he’s disappointed in me.What? What am I doing wrong? I’m being practical.Practical, but not kind.

Embarrassment rises inside of me. Surviving is all that’s ever mattered to me. And Veric. It’s not in my nature to stick my neck out for someone else, not after what happened to my mom. I swore that I’d never make her same mistakes, but it’s clear Veric thinks we should help these three.

“Fine. Everyone has an hour. If you’re not in the woods then, we leave without you.”

Everyone in the room files out, and I instantly focus on packing. Except, my hands are shaking. I curl them into fists andwill myself to be calm. My mom always said that there was no point in worrying, that worrying was the most useless emotion there was. So, I won’t worry.

I pack my bag carefully, knowing that the items in this bag will determine my survival. Winter items get thrown in, and I belatedly wonder if I should’ve given the three inexperienced hikers better instructions on what to pack. By the time we reach the tops of the mountains, there will be snow on them. If they don’t have warm clothes, none of this will matter, because they’ll die.

But I can’t worry about that now. I have to focus on my own supplies. My own survival. Because the hours remaining of my life are slipping through my fingers like sand. Soon Security will be here to take my life, and I can’t be here when they come knocking.

FOURTEEN

Elora

I’m hurling my lunch just off the protected path, while Callum holds back my hair. This is my third time puking in the last few days.Apparently, the baby doesn’t like jerky and trail mix.

Lucky me.

“We’ll be at the next cabin soon. I’ll make you stew, and I’ll try to keep an eye out for any berries or fruit along the way,” he tells me gently.

I clean myself up, and we start walking again at a slower pace. We’d been pushing ourselves, unsure of whether or not the Council was behind us. Luckily, we didn’t have to drop flowers because, well, no other Gold Keepers would be following us. We’d also taken the journals from our family cabins, not wanting to give the Council any insight into what they might come across next.

Callum grabs my water and hands it to me. “You have to stay hydrated. All this puking isn’t good for you or the baby.”

“You’re telling me,” I say, then drink the water slowly, making sure it’s not going to end up coming back up.

“You okay?” he asks, his blue eyes filled with concern.

I nod, and hand him my water, which he slips back into my pack. It’s weird how tired and slow I feel now. Weird because I’m barely pregnant. A lot of women don’t even know they’re pregnant at this point. But Callum has reassured me that it might be because we’re Gold Keepers. Their pregnancies might be different.

“Our Little Bean certainly knows what they like and don’t like,” he says, grinning at my stomach.

“How nice,” I tell him dryly.

He laughs. “I can just imagine this stubborn little girl, or stubborn little boy, stamping their feet and clenching their fists.”

I smile at the image.Unfortunately, we don’t even know where this baby is going to live.My smile fades into a frown, and I touch my belly.

Callum reaches over and puts his hand on mine. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out. You just worry about growing our baby, and I’ll worry about everything else.”

Lifting a brow, I smile. “I don’t think it works that way.”

“Well, we’re the only people in Neverwood. We get to decide how it goes.”

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