Fantasy Land

Chapter 28

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Jayna

I have never felt better to take off a dress in my life. I get to my room, tearing the fabric from my body as fast as I can before getting into the shower to wash the sweat and blood from my body. After that I wrap myself in a fluffy robe, grabbing a couple things and going to the bathhouse to soak in a nice bath.

I get there, submerging myself into one of the private hot springs. It feels amazing, finally getting to cleanse my body of the weeks prior to this. I mull over the memories from the past several days. So much had happened in that span of time, I felt like a completely different person now. I run my hands through my hair when something touches my forehead.

I open my eyes, spotting the thing touching my forehead. It's the charm from Callum's bracelet. I stare at it as that memory comes back to me.

The gunshot that rippled around the room, so loud. Callum crumpling to the ground after realizing what had happened, after seeing the hole in his chest. The sounds of my screams as I rushed to him, rushed to my friend's body as the life left his eyes. The blood, how it soaked into his clothes and pooled around him. How it soaked into my hands.

My eyes flicker to my hands that look like they're still soaked in that blood. I dip them into the water, rubbing at the skin. But the blood doesn't wash off. I rub harder, desperately trying to get the blood off my hands. I'd killed him. If I wasn't so stupid, if I'd paid more attention to the surroundings he wouldn't have had to die. If I was braver, I could have saved him. I press the heels of my hands into my eyes as I cry. I grieve my friend who had died because of me.

When I finally have no tears left to cry, I get out of the bath, drying myself off and wrapping up in that fluffy robe again. I slowly make my way to my room, aimlessly walking the halls.

"You're going to walk into a wall at that rate." Callum's voice reaches my ears. I turn around so fast I almost give myself whiplash. There he stands, same cheeky grin on his face. "I knew you were clumsy, but you're better than that." I just stare at him. He stands a couple feet from me; I wouldn't take much to get to him. He's alive? He's alive! But how can he be alive. "Goddess, say something Jay."

"You're alive?" I ask so softly I don't think he could hear it. He just nods as he looks down at his torso.

"Yeah, miraculous recovery, right?" He tries to tease to lighten the mood, but I don't look away from the place where the bullet hit him. My mind flickers between the memory of him dying and the way he stands before me now. I step forward, raising my hand to press to the exact spot he was shot.

"You're alive." I whisper, watching my hand raise and fall with his chest as he takes in a deep breath.

"Yeah." He says softly, teasing façade dropped completely. I've always known Callum to be a silly guy, but he is the Gamma of this pack. And he is extremely serious under his joking, boyish mask. It's a defence he uses to stop people from getting too close to him.

"How?" I ask as his hand comes up over mine on his chest, over his heart.

"You." I say as our eyes lock. I hold his eyes for what feels like forever before I choke on a sob in my throat. Callum gathers me into his arms as he hugs me close as I cry again.

"I thought I killed you." I cry. He shushes me, running his hand up and down my back.

"I'm right here Jayna. I promise this is real." He tells me over and over again until I've calmed down. He walks me to my room, slowly, taking extra turns as we go. I don't say anything, enjoying his company I thought I'd lost.

"What was it like?" I as him.

"What, dying?" Callum asks me. I only nod. "Are you sure you want to know?" Another nod. "It was dark, and cold. No light at the end of the tunnel, no life flashing before your eyes, just nothing. And then there was this warmth, and I woke up." He gives my hand a squeeze. "Willow explained that you're a rare type of elf. A light elf crossed with the royal family which means you're very powerful. Somehow you managed to return life to my body."

"Why did you give this to me?" I ask as I pull the bracelet from my wrist.

"I don't know, crazy ramblings of a dying man I guess." He tries to play it off, but I see through it. I choose not to say anything though, keeping it to myself.

"Well, I kept it safe for you. You can have it back now." I hand it to him, but he doesn't take it.

"Keep it." He tells me as we make it to my room. "I'm happy to see you're okay Jayna." He places a kiss to my knuckles before turning to walk back down the hall.

"Callum." I call before I can hesitate or let him get too far. He looks at me over his shoulder. "Will you stay with me? I'm scared to be alone." He gives me the softest smile as he walks back to me.

"Of course, I'll stay with you Jay." He says in a way that makes me blush for some reason. I open the door, walking in first. Callum closes it behind him as he turns on the light to my room. I walk to the closet, changing into some night clothes. I walk out a little while later to see Callum sitting on the edge of my bed. "Just tell me where you want me." He says with a cheeky smile.

"Are you flirting with me?" I ask him in a dramatic way.

"Depends."

"Depends?"

"One what kind of reaction my answer would illicit." I walk over, playfully hopping into his lap so I'm straddling him.

"Then answer the question honestly." I whisper, our faces not far apart.

"Will you run away again if I kiss you?" He asks me, snapping me back into reality. The way I'm sitting in his lap, the look he's giving me, the way his hands are holding me. I freeze. "That's a yes." He gently pushes me off of him and into my bed. He stands tossing the blankets over me. I let out a sound that sounds similar to a squawking duck as he walks to the other side of the bed, laying on top of the blankets. "Get some sleep Jay."

A yawn leaves my lips as I snuggle into the warmth of my bed, the evets of the week taking their tole on my body. I blink to try and keep myself awake.

"I'm jealous of your mate." I yawn again between my words. "She's so lucky to have a man like you, so kind and gentlemanly. Maybe chivalry isn't dead." I nod off towards the end, not knowing if he responded at all or not. But he did.

"Yes, you are. And I'm the real lucky one." The words I didn't hear would echo in the silent room.