Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) (3 page)

Unwrapping further she smiled, not
surprised to find a dagger as the final gift. Lifting it gently from the cloth,
she held her breath as she studied it. The quality was unlike any she'd ever
seen, the size and balance perfect for her.

Bo let out a low whistle of
appreciation.

Holding it up to the light, she bit her
lip at the markings on the blade and hilt. "Are those Elven runes?"

Garen stood and moved closer to Bo,
looking at his dagger.
Yes, though what they represent I do not know. They
are simple in form. I would assume they stand for things like staying sharp,
not rusting, not breaking. Simple spells.

"Simple spells," she muttered
in disbelief. "Wither me." She slipped the sheath onto the belt and
stood to put it on. The dagger slid in perfectly.

"And this, for Kei." Bo handed
over another package.

Kei frowned, but opened it, revealing a
small, intricately carved wood box. He flipped open a folded note, his jaw
clenching as he read. Muttering under his breath, he crumbled the small piece
of paper and tossed it in the fire.

"Kei! What is it?"

Clearly annoyed, he shook his head as he
stood and jammed the box into his pack.

While she cleaned up breakfast, Bo
repacked everything while Kei got the horses ready. It was early yet, and if
they made good time they hoped to reach the Were settlement by mid to late
afternoon.

Though breakfast and discovering
Prince's gifts distracted her for a time, they barely got moving before her
thoughts again returned to Prince.

The new dagger at her side certainly
didn't help. Every so often her fingers would brush the pommel, a constant
reminder of him.

Too soon, her sad lonely thoughts
returned.

Chapter 3

Think of Me

After a while of riding in silence, lost
in her thoughts and memories, Bo startled her by calling her name loudly.

Turning in the saddle to look over where
he rode the other Elven steed beside her, she held in a blush at the frown on
his face. How many times did he call her name?

"I said we should discuss what
we're going to do with all of this." He gestured to the packs. "I
don't think it would be wise to carry it into the city."

She quickly pulled her thoughts back to
the present. "True. If anyone knew what we carried we'd be robbed in an
instant." She turned to her right, searching the trees for Kei. Though
they had three horses now, he still preferred to run. The extra horse plodded
along behind Bo's mount. "Kei?"

"I doubt he's far."

Grimacing, she turned back to Bo.
"Well… maybe we could hide some in the woods."

"Or see if the Were will hold it
for us. Garen insists they are quite trustworthy."

"We can bring it up with
Rhee-En."

He nodded and scratched at the long scar
on his cheek. "How are you doing?"

She blinked at the change in subject.
"I'm…I'm fine. As can be, I guess."

He gave her a small smile. "It will
get easier with time. You know that."

Lowering her head, she nodded slightly. She
knew. They'd lost so many friends. Prince wasn't dead, but he was still gone.
It was almost the same thing. The thought of Avery's death didn't steal her
breath away anymore. She could even talk about him sometimes. Cain's being more
recent still hurt. She couldn't talk about him without feeling the pain of his
loss, but his death didn't constantly haunt her now. While awake, anyway. Her
nightmares often included the deaths of all the boys she'd lost. Prince had
helped her with them. Now that he'd returned home, would they get worse again?
At least she still had Kei. Even though he couldn't calm her dreams, his
presence at night still helped.

They rode quietly through the morning. Multiple
times Bo would begin to speak with her and then change his mind. Kei returned a
few times to give her strange looks she didn't understand before running back
into the woods.

After he made another such venture, she
watched his retreating back for a moment before turning to Bo. "What's
wrong with him?"

He snorted and shook his head.
"He's worried about you."

"He shouldn't be. I'm not crying
hysterically."

"You're not really here though,
pup." He tapped his temple.

"I haven't lost my mind, if that's
what you're saying. I've just been thinking. He's not even been gone a day. I
should be allowed to miss him."

"Of course you are," he said
quickly. "You're just not acting like most girls would."

She clenched her teeth for a moment, not
sure what to yell at him for first. Finally, she settled with, "Since when
have I ever acted like most girls?"

"True." He smiled ruefully. "And
we are thankful for that at times."

She cast a glare his way, not sure if she
should be offended or not.

"I remember," he said slowly,
"my first love. I was around your age. A barmaid at a tavern in the
city."

When he didn't continue, she prodded him
along. "Was she beautiful?"

He chuckled. "I thought so. As did
a number of others. She had curves in all the right places and–" He
stopped abruptly and cleared his throat.

"What happened? Did you court
her?"

"I did. But like I said, so did a
number of others. I got into many fights over her. She was the type who liked
to play games and would set us against each other. I lost a good friend because
of her." He shook his head, trying to toss the memory aside. "In the
end she wed none of us. Broke a lot of hearts. Mine included." He turned
to look at her. "Even us men feel the pain of it, Aro."

She didn't know what to say. Prince
hadn't really broken her heart, not this time. He just…was gone.

"Young love is the hardest,"
Bo continued. "But it's the most wild, the most exciting. As you grow
older, the feelings are there, but don't overwhelm as much."

"Did you ever fall in love
again?"

His loud laugh echoed through the trees.
"A few times. That is the thing with falling in love. You can do it more
than once. You can fall in, you can fall out."

"Were you…" She hesitated.
"Were you ever married?"

"Ah, no, pup. I wasn't the settling
down sort."

"Or you didn't find the right
girl."

"That, too," he admitted with
a crooked smile.

She wondered if he wanted to have a wife
one day, or children, but bit her tongue to keep from asking. Now wasn't the
time, and perhaps the question would cause him pain. Her thoughts instead
jumped to the idea of him being her age. Studying him for a moment, she tried
to picture how he would have looked. He was almost thirty now, with some gray
in his hair and lines crinkling at his eyes and around his mouth. Did he have
the scar back then? She didn't know, and for some reason just couldn't make a
younger version of him form in her mind.

"If you want to talk, you know we
are here."

She scowled and looked away. Talking
wouldn't work when she didn't even know how she felt. "I'm fine! I wish
you'd all stop acting like I was made of glass."

"We worry about you. That's what
family does. Leave it be."

That, she couldn't argue with. He did,
however, leave her alone afterward.

Quickly enough, her thoughts turned back
to Prince. The pain of missing him clenched her chest. The pain of not knowing
when she'd ever see him again spiraled through her whole body. One day. Rotting
Prince. Had he done that on purpose? Perhaps he thought it romantic. Maybe he
just didn't know. Her brows drew down in anger. He could have been a bit more
specific. She knew Elves didn't see time like humans. He could have meant he'd
come again when she rested on her deathbed. Stupid, stupid Elf. Maybe
everything yesterday hadn't been real. Maybe…

"Aro!"

Her head jerked up.

Bo cocked his head to the side. "I
said…we're stopping to eat and rest the horses."

She tilted her head up, surprised to
find the sun high in the sky.

The boys chatted while they ate. Every
now and then she'd nod or make a sound like she was listening, but really she
wasn't.

"Aro."

She started and glanced up at Kei.
"Yes?"

"We're ready to go," he said
softly, his brows drawn together in worry.

With a nod, she stood and rubbed at her
temples. She needed to stop thinking but just didn't know how. "Maybe I'll
run for a while. Clear my head."

Bo flashed her a grin and left to
arrange tying her mount behind the others.

"You didn't eat much," Kei
said.

"I just wasn't hungry."

He nodded once and forced a smile.
"Run with me?"

"Of course."

"Would you…" He hesitated.
"Would you like to try using our bond? You can try to find me."

Perhaps working on improving her magic
skills, or whatever the Fey bond was, would help. "Sure."

Garen stayed by Bo and the horses, and
they set out once more. For a while, she just ran side by side with Kei through
the trees, focusing her thoughts on not tripping and paying attention to the
woods around her.

Finally, he slowed and she did the same.

"So how do we do this?"

He let out a soft sigh. "We are
bonded twice. Friends and family."

She nodded and when he didn't say more
prodded him along. "This makes our bond stronger?"

"Yes. Remember, Fey magic is of the
heart and soul. We are bound by such. You should be able to sense where I am,
if not exactly, then at least the general direction. Perhaps how far away I
am."

She already knew he could find her. He'd
proved that before. "How do I…" She waved her hand in the air between
them. "Make it work?"

His brow crinkled in annoyance.
"The connection is there. I just… It should…" A growl of annoyance
escaped his lips. He let out a loud irritated sigh. "You need to think of
me. You need to see me."

Think of him she could do. She didn't
understand what he meant by seeing him. If she could see him, then obviously she'd
know where he was.

"Ready?"

The expectant look on his face made him
look younger and she couldn't help but smile and nod.

"Wait a little, and then try to
find me."

Nervousness suddenly made her palms
clammy. "So, I just have to think of you."

With a final nod and grin, he darted off
into the trees. She set off at a jog, trying to concentrate on where he might
be. After a while, she stopped, closed her eyes, and pictured him in her mind.

Nothing.

She turned slowly, trying to feel the
bond they shared.

Nothing.

This isn't working,
she thought to
him.

Keep trying. You can do this.

She tried and then eventually gave up
and ran a bit farther ahead and tried again. No matter what she did, she
couldn't sense Kei.

When he finally came back to her, she
put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I don't know why it's not
working. I usually don't have so much trouble with magical things." Magic
came easily to her. Even if she didn't master it immediately; she always had at
least some small success.

"Let's run."

She cast him a curious glance before
nodding. Again they ran silently, and she was left to her thoughts. At first she
tried to figure out what went on in his head. He appeared lost and sad, and she
wasn't sure why. Frustration she could understand. Not being able to get their
bond to work frustrated her, as well.

It did not take long for her thoughts to
return to Prince. Once they started, she couldn't get them to stop. He'd left
her with too many unanswered questions.

A branch smacked her in the face and she
cursed.

"Pay attention," Kei called
back when she automatically slowed to rub her burning cheek.

"I am," she muttered, picking
up the pace again. Except she wasn't, and knew it.

She didn't miss his quiet snort. They
ran for a while longer, and she struggled to clear her mind of rambling
thoughts.

Do you want to try again?

He glanced over at her in surprise
before nodding and slowing to a walk.

Walking beside him in silence, she concentrated
on slowing her heartbeat. "So…what do you think I'm doing wrong?"

Stopping, he took her hand. "You
think too much."

She grinned wryly at that. "I often
do."

A small smile crossed his lips.
"But for this, with Fey magic, you don't use this." He tapped her
forehead with one finger. "You use this." He rested his hand over her
heart.

"It's not really mind magic, then?"

"No." He paused for a moment.
"You need to stop thinking about him, and think about me. Only me."

"I was!"

He shook his head vehemently. "No,
or it would have worked. Find me in your heart, Aro, and you can find me
anywhere."

She stared into his golden eyes, shocked
at the intensity not only of his words, but of his stare. She hadn't realized
how badly he wanted her to be able to master this. Perhaps this meant more than
she thought it did, at least to him.

Nodding slightly, she forced a smile.
"I'm trying."

"I know." He knocked his
forehead against hers. "Maybe this isn't the best time."

"But I want to think of something
else," she protested. "I can't get him out of my head. I can't stop
worrying maybe…" She shook her head.

"I'm here. I'm always here,"
he said quietly.

"I know. It's just…hard."

"Love is always hard. But loving is
what matters. Not if the other returns it."

She scowled. "Of course it matters
if they love you back! What's the purpose otherwise?"

He shrugged a shoulder and dropped her
hand as he turned away. "Love is love."

She didn't understand what he was trying
to say and for the first time in a while, cursed his stilted, short way of
speaking. "Did you want to try again or not?"

He shook his head. "You aren't
ready yet. Right now, I can't compete with him."

"It's not a competition."

"No, but you haven't learned how to
do this, how to separate the loves in your heart. Right now, he is all you can
think of. Your heart is full of only him." He tilted his head, looking up
at the sky. "We have time. We'll try again."