Page 88 of Bound Paths
Rose shrugged. The balance of her and Luc’s idea made sense. Yes, she still needed to talk to Carter, but given what he’d just done in offering his services to Cassandra, Rose didn’t think he’d object to their ask. “I’m finishing this the only way that has worked for me, Arie. I want to work with and use the trust I’ve built with my fellow Compass Points.”
“You saw what my trust in Zrak got me—got all of us,” Arie said flatly.
“Arie,” Rose put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m telling you this because it’s an exact mirror of your situation, yet you seem too consumed by your own anger to see it.”
Arie’s head tilted again in a birdlike gesture. “I’m not that dense, Rose. I see it. I just disagree with you. I want you to learn from my mistakes, not replicate them.”
Rose smiled. “I hate that Zrak made you feel this way. I even hate Zrak sometimes. He is completely unhelpful and infuriating. But I also think he’s telling the truth. He picked the best path available to him. He shared what information he could. Things he was unsure about, he kept to himself.”
“That doesn’t justify…”
“It got us to where we are today. We haven’t succeeded yet, but we are so close.” She could feel the plea in her own voice, like she willed her words to be true.
“We are close, Rose. We just need to push a little harder,”Luc said, his voice attempting to provide the comfort his touch normally would in these situations. She longed for him to be there with her, convincing Arie to release his anger.
“I know you don’t like that we have to clean up your mess, but that was always going to be the reality of the situation. Zrak’s plans only came to be after the gods had already made a mess of things.” She locked eyes with her best friend. “It was never going to be you who fixed this, Arie.”
“I didn’t want it to have to be you,” he whispered.
“I didn’t particularly want to do it, either,” she said with a wicked smile. “But”—she raised her arms in an exaggerated shrug—“this is our path.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, water rimming his eyes.
“I know.” She reached out, squeezing his shoulder. “Now, let’s go finalize things with the others.”
He scrunched his features like he was ruffling his feathers, then walked into the library. Aurora must not have been far, following quickly after. The pair sat on the couch as far from Zrak as possible. Arie refused to meet the god’s gaze as he spoke.
“So, all three of you are going back?” Arie asked, looking at the Compass Points. “Can someone please tell me what the plan is with Aterra? I feel like you all don’t understand the enormity of the problem.”
Arie wasn’t wrong. It was a problem over five hundred years old: where to banish a god. But Rose thought the half-in, half-out idea held merit. Carter did, too, as they started discussing. He had no problem further bartering with Cassandra. The gleam in his eye told Rose he might be a little too eager to work with the Lady of the Veil.
They were interrupted by a knock on the library door. Rose stood to answer it. Aaron stood before her, and she beamed at him. “You made it.”
“Walter sent us to you. I hope that’s alright,” Aaron replied.
“Of course.” Her gaze slid over his shoulder to the fae standing behind him—a male who appeared to convey both being thoroughly put out and slightly scared in the way his green eyes darted between Aaron and Rose. The male was shorter than Aaron and had brown skin. Rose was glad to see Aaron had succeeded in tracking him down. “You must be Darren. Welcome to Compass Lake.”
Darren nodded at her. “Not to be rude, but do you know why I’m here?” His words had no bite. A nervous energy hung in the air around him.
“This is your fault,”she said through the bond to Luc.
Luc laughed softly.“Trust me, he was more put out by me knocking a kid over by accident when I first met him. He’ll be fine.”
Rose remembered everything Luc had said about Darren when they were in Loch. This male was a powerful Suden, one who made Luc question what the continent would look like if Aterra hadn’t plotted to birth a demigod. She could feel why. Her weapons-master magic stretched toward the new arrival. It was eager to test him.
“Come in, and we can try to explain,” Rose said, stepping aside to let him and Aaron pass as she reined in her magic.
Aaron appeared to realize he would be required to shepherd Darren through whatever came next. His movements were stilted as he turned to Rose with a whisper, “How many of them are here?”
Rose’s smile was devious. “Two other Compass Points and three gods.”
Darren faltered in his step, overhearing her words. He halted before crossing the threshold. “Did you say…gods?”
Based on Luc’s overview of his frank conversation with Darren in Loch, Rose was sure he didn’t care about the Compass Points. He’d been irreverent at best to Luc. It appeared the gods were another matter. She nodded. “Will that be a problem?”
“I didn’t have much choice about joining Aaron here.” He slapped Aaron’s back familiarly, though they must have only been traveling together a few days. Desperation on the continent must form strong bonds. “So, I’m guessing I don’t have much choice in this next step either.”
Rose smiled. Luc had been right about this fae.
