171: Ada's POV
171: Ada's POV
Bryant could not, in fact, portal us all the way back to the coast of the Kingdom of the Moonglade. While we’d all initially laughed at Phoenix’s comment about packing up the longboat, it ended up being our saving grace.
The portal he’d dragged us through dropped us somewhere in the middle of dark waters under a moonless sky. The sea frothed up over the sides of the longboat, our supplies shifting in the boat. Collectively, we all grunted from the impact on the water. Paul and Dagger sent Bryant a scathing look, with the fae sighing as he looked back over the horizon.
“Do you need to rest?” I asked gently, arching an eyebrow at Bryant.
He nodded, his chest heaving with each breath he sucked in. Within moments, Bryant was curled up and sleeping between the seats of the longboat. Soon, the Lennox brothers’ snores joined his. Phoenix kissed my forehead and lay back. Blade and Dagger, who were situated at the other end of the boat, were scanning the open waters.
I tucked myself beside Phoenix, trying to shield my body from the cool sea breeze. There was no telling how far we were from where we needed to be, so there was no point in sitting here and getting worked up to try and figure it out. Heath was sleeping restfully for the first time since we’d thrown the last body overboard, and that was enough of a win to make this worth it.
With no moon in the sky and the sun still not up, I wasn’t sure exactly how long Alpha Bryant rested before he got up and looked at me. I shifted and offered him a flask of fresh water. Blade watched the interaction from across the way. Out of everyone in this group, Bryant seemed to be the one the fae were still the most wary of.
The man who’d raised me to believe he was my father drank from the flask quickly. When he handed it back, he bowed his head with thanks, “Do you think we should wake everyone before I try again?”
“Probably, but maybe we should wait a bit more for Heath’s sake.” I took a swig from the flask. My heart began to pound in my chest. I sucked in a deep breath and rushed out. “Did you ever love me? I mean, like, really loved me like I was your daughter?”
“Up until the moment your mother left me,” he answered quickly, as he wasn’t surprised I’d asked this question in the slightest, “And even then, I still did. I just couldn’t love you more than I hated her.” he looked down at his lap. “I hate myself for it, genuinely. I’m finding the longer I’m not around Francine, the more the hatred ebbs. I’m hoping that at some point I’ll be back to where I was once.”
I nodded slowly. The change in him had been slow at first, but it was like he was having the reverse transition of Heath. His skin had taken on more color, his eyes had become less sunken in. For a while, he’d looked like a drug addict who was strung out. Slowly, the man I’d known as my father was coming back. But if there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that we would never fully return to where we were before all the lies.
“I’ll never think of you as my father again, Bryant,” my voice was firm.
“I understand.”
Blade’s voice flittered into my mind for the first time in weeks. Something doesn’t feel right. We need to move.
As he said it, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Bryant looked at me, cocking his head to the side. There was a sound to the left of the boat, a deep ripple in the water. Dagger shifted in his seat, peering over the side of the longboat. He gripped the edge, his head snapping in my direction. I met his eyes, seeing his irises begin to glow in the darkness.
“Bryant, go. Now. Portal us out of here,” I gripped the edges of either side of the longboat, placing my legs over Phoenix’s body to pin him down, “Now. Go, go, go!”
The fae had moved, irises glowing wickedly, to cover the three sleeping Lennox brothers and hold them down. With a whoosh and a snap, the boat disappeared through a portal of blackness. I was expecting the feeling of unease to start to lift, but it seemed to settle like a pit in my stomach.
Phoenix jolted just as the black portal closed above us and moments before the boat was going to smack into the water once more. I pressed my legs onto him harder, keeping him pinned. “Stay down! Bryant, again!”
We sank into another portal, Bryant letting out a loud and strangled cry. Yet again, the feeling seemed to increase. Something was with us.
“Again!” Blade screeched, shoving down the Lennox brothers at their shoulders.
Another portal. Another scream. Another descent into darkness. And still that feeling of something watching, making its way toward our destination with us.
“AGAIN!” Blade and I screamed in unison.
This time, as the portal opened, Blade and I moved in unison, released Phoenix and the brothers. We grabbed the hilts of our blades that were lying beside us and leapt toward the edge of the boat. We both slashed through the air, bringing our blades down toward the side of the boat right as we slipped through the portal.
An inhuman cry echoed through the edges of the dark, cavernous portal. Blood spurted, leaving a trail above us. Something I couldn’t quite make out flailed away from the boat, just as it crashed against a sandy shoreline and my vision faded into darkness.