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AARYN

Heeding the warning Gahrye had given, Aaryn stepped into the traverse, nerves jangling just like they had the first time, because he still didn\'t know what to expect.

Gar\'s grip on his shoulder was iron, his fingers digging between muscle and bone, but Aaryn welcomed it. It grounded him. And they still didn\'t know what would happen if Gar let him go even when the voices were gone.

But once again, when they stepped into the dusty, dry cavern, there was nothing. No voices. No temptations. No threats. No attack.

Halfway across Aaryn felt Gar\'s grip relax, and Aaryn was able to breathe a little easier too. He didn\'t know a single Anima who\'d crossed the traverse more than Gar. If his brother was feeling confident, Aaryn believed him.

Time seemed to shift differently in the traverse. By the time they reached the other side and the blue glow of the portal was easily visible, it felt like they\'d been walking for a year, and also only a handful of minutes. Aaryn didn\'t know what to make of it.

But then they stepped through, their skins glowing with the icy blue until they passed out of the traverse and back into the cave.

Aaryn sucked in a deep breath. He\'d done it. He\'d done it twice. He\'d crossed the traverse safely and…

"That was insane," Gar muttered as they both stalked along the tunnel, the two guards at the end coming to their feet, obviously surprised to see them back so quickly. "Either you\'re the strongest protector we\'ve ever seen, or something is happening to the voices Aaryn. Because that\'s just… that\'s just insane."

As they turned into the main cave, Aaryn peered forward to see how much light was coming into the mouth of the cave. To his dismay, it glowed brightly.

Full dawn.

Holy shit. El.

Aaryn swallowed hard. "I have to get back," he said quickly. "I\'m really sorry to ask, but… she needs to know, Gar. She thinks we\'re going tomorrow. She\'s probably already looking for me and headed to train with the Protectors. Can you…"

Gar growled and shook his head, clawing a hand through his hair. "You better fucking pray my mate is still asleep."

As they stepped out of the cave, Gar shifted and Aaryn climbed on his back, swallowing back the humiliation when the guards watched. But no one said anything, and Aaryn didn\'t have a chance as Gar leaped forward underneath him.

*****

GAR

After dropping Aaryn in the Royal meadow, he\'d turned tail and run back to the fishing cave, arriving when the sun was still low behind the mountain so the clearing itself was still half-shadowed and cold. But elsewhere in Anima, dawn had begun to creep between trees and into the clearings.

As he passed the firepit, he shifted back, panting slightly from the long run, but not even breaking stride as he powered forward to the cave praying there would be no more interruptions for them—and that they could find their way together. That the bond would cement before they headed back to the Tree City the next morning. Aaryn had been too preoccupied to scent them, he hadn\'t noticed. But he would. Everyone would if they went back like this.

And for those who weren\'t willing to trust a human, the questions would come thick and fast.

Gar\'s body hummed with tension as his mind churned over all the ways Gahrye had warned them. All the things that would be changing in the coming days. He shouldn\'t be selfish. He should be gathering Rika and their things and heading back to the Tree City, back to his people.

But he refused, dammit.

He was going to find the bond with her!

Forcing himself to slow, to take care in case she was sleeping, Gar opened the door slowly and crept into the cave—only to find Rika sitting up in the furs, reading a book she must have brought with her.

When he cleared his throat, she looked up at him—she hadn\'t startled, so she must have heard him coming after all.

Then she grinned. "That was fast."

"Not fast enough," Gar muttered, stripping off his shirt as he darted across the cave to join her in the furs where, to his delight, she\'d gotten naked again after they left.

"Oh! You\'re cold!" she squealed when he slid between the furs and reached for her. "Gar! Stop!" she giggled, pulling her knees up and trying to guard her warm, flushed skin from his cold. "Stop! You have to tell me! How did it go for Aaryn? Is he okay to take Elreth tomorrow?"

Gar sighed, laying on his side alongside Rika who was still sitting up. He met her eyes, measuring her. He didn\'t want to think about everything that had just happened. Everything he\'d learned. But she was right. She needed to know.

"Aaryn, was fucking amazing," he said. "At least, I think he was. He walked in and the voices just never even showed up. I\'ve never seen anything like it."

Rika\'s face went very still. "You\'re serious?"

Gar nodded, watching her. "What?" he asked a moment later when she didn\'t respond.

Rika swallowed audibly "Do you think… what do you think kept them away?"

"I don\'t know. That\'s the point. I\'ve never seen that before. I mean, maybe Aaryn\'s just different? Or maybe since there\'s two traverses they all had to be at the other one for a while, or something?"

"I don\'t think that\'s it."

Gar shrugged. "Aaryn didn\'t either." When she looked away, her brows pinched, Gar frowned. "What is it? What\'s wrong?"

"I don\'t know. I can\'t know. I just… I know they were talking about a way to get a lot of people across the traverse. They knew if they were ever discovered coming through, having to send people one by one would put us all at risk of just getting slaughtered by Anima the moment we stepped through. So they were talking about ways to… to clear the traverse for a time. But they never told me how. Or if they managed it. I thought from the way they spoke about it they\'d given up."

Gar\'s head jerked back. "How did they think they were going to do that?"

"That\'s the thing, I don\'t know. I wouldn\'t have even known they were trying, except that my manager got pissed when they sent me across, because he thought they should be waiting until they could find out if they had the chance to do it more safely. But… it was a passing comment. He never… I mean, the others talked about the voices when they came through. I just assumed… I never thought they could do it."

Gar swallowed. "You\'re saying they thought they had a way to stop the voices, so people could just cross?"

She shrugged. "They wanted to try, so they could get a lot of people across. All at once."

Gar lay back on the furs.

Fuck. Fuckity fuckity fuck.

Elreth needed to know this. They all needed to know this. The guards needed to be warned—and more guards put in place.

But this was his time!

FUCK.

Rika put her book aside and slid down under the furs, bending an arm over his chest and leaning her chin on her hand. "Forget about it. I\'m sure they didn\'t figure it out, Gar," she said. "That was only like three months ago, and they talked like it wasn\'t going to happen. If they\'d been this close, they would have waited. I\'m sure of it. It\'s probably a coincidence…" but she trailed off when he looked at her, because they both knew, this was a very unlikely coincidence.