Chapter 295

“Um,” I say, looking up at him and tucking a strand of my hair back behind my ears. “I think so? I think I killed them…all…”

“He did,” Heggardy says, bitter, and Jackson snaps his head to him. “That was the end of my team. How the fuck did he do that?”

“Do what?” Jackson asks.

“How did he hide like that – we searched this entire plateau for him,” Heggardy says, spreading out a hand to encompass the entire place. “We even got his binoculars and his map – but he was…nowhere. Did you like, hang off the side of the cliff or something, kid?”

I pause for a second, not knowing what to say, or even how explain where I really went.

But this means…

God, I didn’t imagine it, did I?

Somehow…somehow I really did go somewhere else.

“Um,” I say, a little awkward, edging closer to Jacks. “I’m just…small. I…can hide.”

“I guess so,” Heggardy says, heaving a sigh and heading for the path. “Come on, this was the end of my team – the Games are over, I guess. Unless Wright has anyone left.”

“Really?” I ask, looking up at Jackson, confused and shocked as Heggardy and the other Cadet move down the narrow path.

“Yeah,” Jackson says, looking down at me with a little smile on his lips and an incredible rush of pride surging down the bond. “Luca was the only one left on Wright’s team but he just surrendered.” Jackson cocks his head at me with a frown. “How do you not know that?” he reaches up and taps at his earpiece.

I reach up for my own, taking it off and peering at it, seeing that the little green light is off. “Guess it…broke.”

“Hey,” Jackson says, curling a finger under my chin and tipping my face up towards him. “The Ari I know would be crowing his victory, flipping out. And you’re all quiet.”

My body sags and my lip trembles as I look up at my make, shaking my head, not knowing what to say and completely unable to contain my fear anymore.

Because – what happened to me? Where did I go?

“Ariel,” Jackson whispers, grabbing me to him, wrapping me tight in his arms and looking around frantically for something wrong. “What happened?”

“I can’t tell you here Jacks,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his waist, my whole body shaking now as I loose my control, as I let the fear I’ve been holding back sweep through me, let Jacks protect me. “But I was so, so scared.”

“Of those guys?” he asks, petting a hand over my head. “Ari, it was a game and it wasn’t Wright’s team – you can relax – you were never in danger.”

But I just cling to him for a long time, not saying anything.

Because how do you explain to your mate that you somehow fell into a different world – a world of darkness, with three moons?

And that now that I’m back, now that I’m safe in his arms, I can take a minute to realize that the darkness that has been curling inside me for days…felt at home there.

What the fuck just happened to me?

I have no words for it. I just tuck my head against Jackson, holding him tight, focusing on my breathing.

“Come on, Clark,” he whispers to me after a long few minutes – actually, maybe longer than that. I don’t know – I kind of…lost track of time. “Let’s get you home, get some food into you.”

“Not hungry,” I murmur into his shirt, not wanting to move or face reality. Just wanting to stay here in his arms.

“Well, you’re going to let me feed you,” he murmurs, turning me with him towards the little trail that leads down the cliffside. “Because you’re really freaking me out right now, and I don’t know what else to do. Come on. Your mom called ahead and made sure the kitchens stocked up on strawberry ice cream.”

“Really?” I whisper, looking up at him for the first time, a tremulous little smile crossing my lips.

“Yeah,” he says, smiling down at me and softly stroking my cheek. “Let’s go get you a bowl.”

“Okay,” I whisper. And slowly and carefully, Jackson leads me down the little path to the basecamp and the waiting helicopter. We climb inside, the final two, and soon after the chopper lifts us into the air and takes us home.

Back at the room, Jackson takes immediate charge.

Rafe obviously knew something was up with me the whole ride home since my spirits were down and I spent the entire trip leaning hard against Jackson, not saying much when I should be celebrating my victory. And when we get back to the room and not much has changed, Jesse likewise notices the second I come through the door.

“What – what’s wrong with her?” he asks, dropping the streamers he was ready to throw in the air to celebrate our collective victory. “What happened?”

“She’s fine,” Jackson snaps, keeping an arm around me and leading me across the room.

“She’s not fine,” Rafe barks out behind us. “Something happened, Jess, and neither of those two assholes will tell me what –“

“Ice cream,” Jackson growls, turning to glare at my brother and my cousin as soon as we get to the bathroom door. “Strawberry. Now. She’s taking a shower, and then she’s going to take whatever time she needs, and then she’ll tell you if she wants to.”

Rafe growls his discontent, but spins away towards the dumbwaiter to put in the order as Jesse just gapes at us.

But I don’t say anything, letting Jackson take control and lead me into the bathroom where he immediately turns on the shower, hot and steamy just how I like it. Then, quite gently, he takes off my cap and tosses it aside, deftly unbraiding my hair so that it falls around my shoulders.

I keep my eyes on him, my face turned up to his, as he turns his attention next to my muddy clothes, quickly tugging the shirt up over my head and then kneeling down at my feet to untie and tug off my boots. He sets this all aside and then undoes my belt, unbuttoning my pants and slipping them down my legs, holding them steady at the floor so that I can step out of them.

A little smile starts on my lips as I look down at my perfect mate, being so incredibly sweet to me right now. Because none of this is sexual – he’s just doing everything he knows to clean me up and make me feel better.

He stands, tugging off his own shirt and tossing it to the ground before flicking his eyes over my bra and boy-short underwear. “You want those on?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at me. “I don’t want you to feel like –“

But I just shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest and tugging my bra off, tossing it aside onto the pile of dirty clothes.

Jackson gives me a small smile, holding my eyes with his, and then wraps a gentle arm around my waist, tugging me close for a second. He presses a simple kiss to my mouth, warm and pleased, and then gives me a little push towards the streaming water. “In,” he orders.

I turn towards the shower, pushing my panties down and walking out of them as I enter the steamy flow of water, exhaling a long breath as I let it pound down around me.

Jackson joins me a moment later, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me closely against his chest. And we stay like that for longer than we probably should.

Something about it, though – about the pounding nothingness of the sound all around me, about the warm solidness of his body next to mine…brings me back to myself. Reminds me that I’m home, and I’m safe, and that even if I don’t understand what happened…I did come back. And that no matter what it is…Jackson will help me figure it out.

I exhale a long breath and straighten up, lifting my chin. Jacks takes this for the signal that it is – that I’m ready to move on, and he reaches for the shampoo, handing it to me as he grabs the soap. We shower quickly then, sharing the materials, helping each other – though still, none of it is sexual, even if it is incredibly intimate.

I smirk, as I turn, and see that he’s still wearing his own underwear, which is soaked through now. I raise my eyes to him, quirking a brow.

He laughs, giving me a little shove. “I didn’t want you to think I was…taking advantage of you or something. That I was enjoying myself or something while you were so upset.”

“You’re very sweet,” I say, leaning against him and smiling up into his face.

“Yeah, well,” he sighs, pressing a kiss to my wet forehead. “You’d better get out of this water and dressed before I stop being so sweet and start taking advantage. There’s only so much I can resist.”

I laugh, stepping away from him and quickly conditioning my hair before stepping out of the shower and starting to towel off. I grin as Jackson turns the water to a starkly cold setting and stands beneath it for a moment. When a knock comes at the door, I hurry over to it, peeking through and grinning when I see that it’s Jesse there with a big bowl of ice cream balanced over two uniforms in one hand, his other hand slapped across his eyes.

“I want to know no details,” he murmurs, holding them out to me. “I am merely the delivery boy.”

“Thank you!” I say, my voice more chipper than I thought it would be, taking the supplies from him and swiftly kicking the door shut. When I turn back into the room, Jackson has a towel wrapped around his waist and is using another to dry his hair, looking at me curiously.

I pout a little, sad that he got all covered up the moment I started feeling better. He smirks at me, nodding to the closed toilet. “Sit,” he commands. “Eat. Talk.”

I do as I’m told, perching on the closed toilet and lifting a big spoonful of ice cream to my mouth, savoring the sweetness of it on my tongue.

And then I swallow and begin to tell my mate everything.