Avow

CHAPTER 41

Heather was feeling better. And by “better”, she felt “sane.” Her body was still itching beyond belief and she had a pressing desire to chew on her nails, but she hadn’t seen any floating fish or dragonflies recently, so she was feeling optimistic about surviving the next few minutes.

She walked between Gabriel and Nate through another long, blue tunnel and tried not to accidentally brush up against Gabriel’s ridiculously oversized shoulder. The boy really needed a hobby outside of the gym or bus throwing or whatever it was he did in his free time that gave him those shoulders. They were distracting.

As were his hands.

And his lips…

O-M-G, had she really just been looking at his lips?

Maybe the craziness was coming back. Or maybe she no longer saw him as the oversized, lying, hot guy who had dated her best friend, but rather the oversized, compassionate, hot guy who had carried her through the forest and held her while she cried.

She glanced over at him at the exact same time he glanced at her and things got weird.

Clearing throats, darting eyes, shuffling feet.

Awk-ward.

“So,” Nate said loudly. “Does anyone want to clue me in on what I missed that’s making this walk so tense and silent? Because I’m starting to feel like I’m traveling with Scarlet and Tristan here. Except with less kidnapping schemes. You do not want to know the inner workings of their brains, trust me.”

Gabriel shrugged casually. “We’re almost to the Fountain of Youth. It’s what we’ve been seeking for five hundred years and it’s only a few miles away.”

Nate slanted his eyes at Heather, then at Gabriel. “Right.”

“…as long as there aren’t any other avalanches or tidal waves.” Scarlet’s muffled voice echoed through the tunnel and Heather stopped walking, as did Nate and Gabriel.

“Did you guys hear that?” Nate cocked his head to the side and followed the sound of Scarlet’s voice further down the tunnel, then called out, “Scarlet?”

“Nate?” came Scarlet’s voice from around the corner.

Everyone rushed to where the tunnel intersected with another tunnel ahead and Heather almost crashed into Scarlet as she rounded the corner.

“Hey!” Heather smiled at Scarlet. “You guys are still alive. Yay.”

Scarlet nodded and smiled back. “Yep. Still alive. No thanks to the cave. It practically fell apart on top of us and forced us through a deadly sea of whirlpools and waterfalls.”

“That’s odd.” Nate scratched his head. “Our cave floor disappeared and we had to Indiana Jones our way across a chasm.”

“That’s crazy.” Scarlet sighed. “Well, I’m just glad everyone’s safe. Do we know where we’re going from here?” She looked around at the four tunnel choices they had before them.

Nate pointed to a tunnel on the right. “That one should lead us straight to the fountain.”

There was a moment of tension as everyone looked down the dark, blue corridor.

“Let’s do this,” said Scarlet.

Everyone headed down the cave and Heather’s shoulder accidentally brushed against Gabriel’s. He glanced at her.

Okay, this was just getting ridiculous. Suddenly feeling hot and short of breath, Heather moved forward to walk next to Scarlet, where there was less sexual tension and no gigantic shoulders.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.” Scarlet smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“Crazy. But I’m not seeing things at the moment, so yay for that.”

“I’m sorry we got separated yesterday.” Scarlet frowned. “Were you guys okay?”

“Yeah. I mean, I saw invisible fish and had a total freak on a cave island and then almost fell into the pit of hell—literally—but other than that, it was a pretty smooth hike.”

“You had a freak out?”

She waved a hand. “Yeah. But Gabriel talked me down. And then he swung me to safety on a whip.” She paused. “That might be the weirdest sentence I’ve ever said.”

Scarlet shook her head. “I’m so sorry for getting you wrapped up in all this What a disaster. I’m glad Gabriel was there for you yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Heather looked at the ground. “He’s a good guy.”

Scarlet eyed her for a moment. “Yeah,” she sad slowly. “And he’s pretty hot, too.”

Heather felt her pulse rise and tried to give a casual shrug. “Yeah.”

Scarlet gasped and her eyes twinkled. “Heather. Baxter.”

“What?”

“You’re not gushing.”

“So?”

“So, you gush over every hot guy—except the ones you really like. Holy cow. You have a crush on Gabriel.”

“O-M-G. Shut up.” She felt her cheeks warm. “I do not.”

“Liar.” Scarlet grinned. “Liar, liar, pants on fire—”

“Okay, fine! I think he’s sweet. And protective. And he smells really good, like all the time. But I don’t have a crush.”

“You so have a crush.”

“No. I have a crazy kidnapped bonding thing. It’s like Stockholm syndrome, but for people who’ve been kidnapped together. I’m sure there’s a term for it. Like the Hostage Hotness Syndrome or something. And besides, he’s your ex. Like…yuck.”

Right?

“Nope.” Scarlet smiled. “Don’t you dare try to use me as a crutch. And he’s not really my ex. Well, he is. But it’s not like that. For sure not now. And Gabriel’s totally into you.”

“Can we talk about something else, please? Like maybe this bright red mark?” Heather lifted Scarlet’s arm and pointed to the red ring around her wrist. “I know why I have marks like this on my wrists, but why do you?” She wagged her eyebrows. “Did things get kinky in the caves last night?”

Scarlet pulled her hand back and blushed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“O.M.G.” Heather’s mouth dropped open and she smiled. “Scarlet Marie! I am flabbergasted…and I totally want details. Was it hot?”

“We’re not talking about this.”

“Oh, we are so talking about this. Maybe not now, in the death caves. But when we get out of here, I want a play-by-play.”

Gabriel watched Heather walk beside Scarlet. Her blond hair was a complete mess, but her spirits were high and she’d been lucid for a few hours, so Gabriel was able to breathe easy.

Tristan eyed him as they walked along.

“What?” Gabriel said.

He shrugged.

Heather started biting her nails again and Gabriel’s stomach tightened. He really hoped Scarlet was right about the Avalon fruit. If there wasn’t a cure, if Heather was going to be addicted to fountain water forever—

Tristan was looking at him again.

“What are you looking at?” Gabriel snapped.

Tristan was trying not to smile. “You tell me.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Quit being a girl.”

“Hey.” Nate squeezed in between them as they walked behind the girls. “What an adventure, huh? Killer vines, collapsing caves, crazy blonds…I’m totally writing a book about this when we get back. I’m going to call it Whip Adventures.” He made a face. “Okay, maybe not that. I’ll work on the name. So,” he rubbed his palms together, “who’s excited to be mortal?”

“Mortal?” Gabriel turned to him.

“Yeah. You’re drinking the water, right?” Nate said. “It will permanently negate your immortality. Not to mention, heal all those super rad thorn marks on your arms and probably your Bluestone cuts too.”

“I don’t know…” Gabriel eyed the shallow cuts on his body. He’d never thought about becoming mortal before, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it now.

Immortality was powerful. Unique.

Was he ready to give that up? Maybe.

Maybe if he were no longer immortal, he wouldn’t be empty inside.

“Why not, dude?” Nate grinned. “Tristan’s drinking the water so the life-force that exists outside this cave doesn’t kill him. So he’ll be mortal. And I’m turning in my Immortal Awesomeness card.”

Would Gabriel want to be immortal without Tristan?

He glanced at his twin brother.

No.

He wouldn’t.

“Come on, dude!” Nate seemed genuinely excited. “It’ll be fun. Just think of all the life and adventure and wrinkles and band-aids in store for you!”

“Are you peer-pressuring me into drinking fountain water?” Gabriel laughed. “That’s ironic on so many levels.”

“Can we take a break?” Heather asked. “I’m starving.”

Everyone stopped walking and took a seat in the cave, rooting through their packs for water and snacks.

Gabriel started to move closer to Heather, but froze when he caught Tristan eyeing him.

“What?” he said again.

Tristan raised his brows. “Nothing.”

Gabriel shook his head. “Shut up.” He went and sat beside Heather.

“Hey, you.”

She smiled. “Hey.”

“Team meeting!” Nate pointed a finger into the air and everyone looked at him. “Since we’ll be at the fountain shortly, I thought it would be best to talk through our strategy. We know Raven and her Ashmen made it into the caves, and we don’t know where they are. But there’s a chance they’re either already at the fountain or on their way there, so I think it’s best if we all prepare for a showdown.” He smiled. “Hopefully, no one will get hurt. This is your Team Captain speaking. Peace out, Team Awesome.”

Nate looked at Scarlet and walked deeper into the cave.

Heather groaned. “I hate Ashmen. They’re so mean and they make me lose my pink shoes.”

“I know. Ashmen suck.” Gabriel looked at her, suddenly afraid for her well-being. “Hopefully, we won’t see any at the fountain. But if we do, you have to fight, okay? You can’t let the craziness get inside you. You need to be Tomb Raider.”

She groaned again.

“I believe in you, Heather. You can do this.”

Scarlet followed Nate into the tunnel where they had some privacy. “What’s up?”

He looked her over with a serious expression. “Are you still considering sacrificing yourself?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Then I’m going to tell you what I told Tristan when he was trying to kill himself,” he said. “You’re stupid.”

Scarlet shook her head. “I won’t let Heather die, Nate. We can’t cure her unless I do this. And we can’t break the curse and save Tristan unless I do this. I’m not going to let the people I love die. Wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

“What about Raven? Maybe we can accidentally push her into the tree and oops! she’s dead, but yay! we have fountain water.”

“That’s a great plan.” Scarlet nodded. “And I’d loved to bring Raven down, but there’s no certainty in that plan. We don’t even know if she’ll be there. I’m not taking any chances.”

Nate nodded with pursed lips. “I was doing some reading in your father’s journal today and I found out what controls your return to life. It’s the Avalon tree. It bares the Avalon fruit once every century, and when that fruit blossoms, it calls you back to life. And when you die, so does the fruit. But if the fruit is eaten, then the Avalon will die.”

Scarlet blinked. “Well, good. The Fountain of Youth has never done anything positive for anyone. I hope it dies.”

“You don’t understand. If the Avalon dies, you can never come back to life. There’s no hope of it.”

“Okay…? What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, don’t die, dammit! There’s no safety net here—no chance of you returning.”

“I know that. And I’m fine with it.”

“But I’m not.” He shook his head. “This curse has been robbing you of joy and love for five hundred years. I’m not giving up yet. There has to be another way.”

“There is no other way,” she said. “And I’ve already made my decision.”