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“Jo,” I whisper. His sister calls him this, and if he’s this beside himself, it’s the only thing he could be seeing.
His flinch as he apologizes to me makes me close my eyes in pain.They really know how to kick us in the balls.
I can only imagine how my trial is going to go. I have no doubts that I’m next.
“Jonas, Juliet is okay. She’s safe!” I insist. Bast shines the light on us, and Jonas opens his eyes.
They’re glazed with tears, and for a moment, I think he’s lost in the horrors of his mind.
“They killed her, Ash,” he cries. “I was here instead of with her. I threw her to the wolves.”
Shaking my head, I hug him hard. Bast is used to our easy affection, so I ignore him.
“No, no. I swear she’s safe. You’ll see her as soon as we’re done. Wake up,” I press. “You can see now that Juliet isn’t here.”
I kiss him, and he moans in distress, kissing me back. Gasping for air, he blinks his eyes as he pulls back. Sighing, I watch for continued signs that he’s shaking off whatever he saw.
“Guys,” Jonas whispers.
“We’re right here, big guy,” Bast promises. I’m so glad Jonas didn’t lose his shit, because it would have been hard to contain him.
Bast and I are strong, but when Jonas goes nuclear, he leaves a wake of bodies before he can get his anger under control.
“I swear I watched the men who wanted to sell Juliet kill her right in front of me,” Jonas rasps. His voice is suffering the effects of his screams. “I need to see that she’s not there. Can you shine the light?”
Bast moves the glow to show the empty area ahead of us, and Jonas nods his head as tears run down his face in relief.
“Fuck, it felt so real. Is this what you felt?” he asks Bast.
“Yeah, I think they are pushing something into the air. I have a headache,” Bast confirms.
“Everything about what I saw felt real. It’s a mindfuck. I just want to finish this and get the fuck out of here.”
Staggering as he stands, I follow, making sure he can walk okay. I may seem to be a grumpy ass most of the time, but this trial is throwing off my normal attitude. I want to complete this and know we’re all safe. My family is Levi, Bast, and Jonas. I don’t know how I feel about Chastity at this point, even though I threw a fit when I thought Levi was claiming her for himself.
I’m giving myself whiplash with how much my feelings change for her. I want a second chance with her, even though Chastity Cross scares the shit out of me.
Blowing out a breath, I check the map. We retrace our steps and find the next clue. The three of us see a blank piece of paper, and Bast snorts.
“This must be for Jonas, but you were triggered without the stimulus because you’re worried about your sister,” Bast explains.
Jonas jerks his head in agreement. “Fuck, am I glad mine is over. I’m going to have nightmares for years,” he mutters.
I throw my arm around him to offer him a small bit of comfort, and he hugs me back. Continuing through the tunnels, I realize we are nearing the Chapel. I wonder if this was done by design. Knowing the Elders, it was.
“There’s one last clue, and then it looks like that’ll take us to our reward. So far, each clue has revealed something that we’re afraid of,” Bast muses. “How does that relate to the reward though?!”
Sighing, I shrug. “It sounds like we’ll just have to continue to the end, Bast. It doesn’t have to make sense, as long as we get out of here with our reward. I’m having a hard time grasping the point of this exercise, other than as a way to make us work together and face what scares the shit out of us.”
“It helps me appreciate what I have,” Jonas says sadly as we walk. “I am terrified of losing my sister, so I need to remove the reason she’s in danger.”
“Please don’t do anything without us,” Bast pleads, but Jonas’ eyes are hard, his body language unyielding.
I know we're not going to be able to change his mind right now, so I shake my head at Bast. We won’t press him for now, but after this, I will find out what he means.
The flashlight flickers twice and then dies, and we groan together.
“It’s a good thing we memorized the damn thing. Jonas, stay close to us. We can’t lose you again,” I tell him.
