Page 45 of The Hidden Guardian

Renall steps to the edge of the corridor before the roaring waterfall and reaches his hand out for mine.

“You can’t be serious.”

He only holds his hand out higher. Shaking my head, I grab it. After three growls, we leap into the spray of the waterfall. It pelts down on my skin and drags me into the lagoon below. I’ve lost Renall’s hand in the fall, and desperately search for the surface, but at night there is no light to guide the way. Fear takes root inside me until I spy bubbles and swim for them.

Bursting through the surface with a gasp, I notice they aren’t bubbles at all, but rain drops along the water’s surface. It’s still raining. Renall is on the shore behind me. His strong arms grasp me, helping me out of the lagoon and onto the shore. It’s just as I remember it, the smell, the feel of rain drizzling down on me. I close my eyes, savoring every droplet against my skin. Raising my arms, I spin, trying to feel more of them. The air is so fresh out here. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh rain. It’s cleansing, purifying, providing the Earth with its power. My feet pause when a pull of energy draws me toward it. My face turns, basking in a ray of its light. The moon, even half-veiled by grey clouds, still allows me to bask in its power. I’ve never noticed that before …

“Brut-i-ful,” Renall whispers.

“What did you just say?” I peek an eye open at him, dropping my hands.

He takes a step forward, and then another before sliding a wet strand of hair behind my ear. “Brutiful,” he repeats.

“That’s a new word, I didn’t teach you that.” My smile widens.

His lip quirks up in a half smile.

“You’ve been learning English? For me?” A growling, primitive language compared to the complex English language must be like me learning rocket science, or that math with the shapes and the letters.

My fingers reach out for his cheek before my mind comprehends what I’m doing. Amazing how a person who lives in a cave can keep his beard so well tamed. It’s perfect, and I dream of it making my lips raw. My self-doubt and complicated life washes away with the rain dripping off me. Here in this moment, it’s just a girl standing before a boy who did something sweet for her and called her beautiful. There is no doubt in my mind Renall cares for me. I reach up on my tip toes and touch my lips to his. Despite the rain and the danger of being outside the cave, or the fact that we could be caught and dragged back inside at any moment, he kisses me back.

Soft and subtle at first, until that fire ignites inside both of us. He tugs me against him as the kiss turns passionate. My hands wrap around his neck, desperately pulling him impossibly closer. Desperate to extinguish this unruly fire once and for all.

A twig snaps somewhere in the woods beside us. Causing me to break my lips away first, breathing heavily. Renall’s eyes scan the darkness between the trees, ears perked, searching for danger. I glance away at anything but him because I know next time I might not have the power to stop. The darkness of the wood and the dripping of the rain surround us.

“We could leave, right now—you and me …” I point to the forest, grabbing his hand to drag him with me.

He’s silent.

“We could leave right now, and no one would find us. They won’t risk people to follow us. They are too scared.” For a second I worry he hasn’t understood, but my actions are pretty obvious.

After another moment of silence, I risk a glance at Renall. His face is contorted in confliction, but he’s shaking his head.

“What is holding you here?” I scoff, releasing his hand.

“Prrr-pose.” He shrugs defeatedly.

As the rain falls down on me, I finally start to realize, Renall might never leave this place. He brought me here for a reason, he is staying through this trial for a reason. He doesn’twantto leave. Not even for me. I have a decision to make. If this place isn’t for me, I might be forced to leave without Renall’s help.

ChapterTwenty-Four

AUTUMN

The bond twists in nervous churning, and an underlying anger simmers behind it as always. The trial is really weighing on Renall, my senses are always intense when he’s there. These feelings are coming more and more the closer Renall and I are getting. Sometimes they become unbearable. But above all, they terrify me, his emotions being so open to me must mean mine are raw and open for him too. Even though we are separated throughout the day, it’s still so draining because the feelings, they never go away completely.

“Right?” Onai asks.

“Mhmm.” I groan. My arms reflexively wrap around my stomach.

Onai stands with her hand on her hips. “You weren’t listening to a word I was saying, were you?”

“Huh? Oh sorry.” I bite my bottom lip. “I was just …”

“Yeah, I get it,” she sighs. “it’s got to be hard, but you need to focus.”

“I will. I’m sorry, he just gets so tense during the day.”

“It’ll only get worse tonight.” She snickers, smirking to herself as she sits beside me.

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