Entwined Fates (Editing)

Chapter Ten

He gently pressed his lips to mine. They were warm, soft, and slightly chapped. But they felt... wrong.

Not like Eli's kiss, which had felt natural. I placed a hand on his chest, and created a gap between us, and looked up at him. His cheeks were covered in a light blush, and he seemed shocked at himself

"I..." he tried to explain. He fumbled with his words for a few more minutes before giving up. "I don't know. I shouldn't have done that, but I had to. I needed to, before... Anyways, sorry." I brushed it off, but it left my stomach churning. I felt as if I had betrayed Eli, though I never told him if I loved him back. Do I?

"Of course you do, silly," Driana teased. I hushed her up, instead focusing on the silence that had settled between De and I.

"I... I'm really sorry. I really am, but I don't feel the same way about you. I just..."

"I understand. You can't love two people at the same time," he explained for me.

"What? No, I... I don't love someone else." He stared at me skeptically.

"Sure," he drawled out. I don't love someone else. I don't. Do Not. Right? "You might not know it yet, but I do. I can see the way you look at him," he explained.

"What?"

"Nothing." He refused to explain any more to me, no matter how much I bugged and bothered him.

We rounded the corner when I saw Eli glaring at us.

"Where'd you go?" he asked bluntly. I tried hard to keep my facial expression neutral, while I thought of a believable excuse. My hesitating must have alerted him, because he raised an eyebrow at me.

"We were caught up looking some precious gems back there," De said, the lie rolling off his tongue easily. Sadly, Eli didn't look like he believed it one bit. He glared at me, before climbing on Alarn and taking off. I felt a pang of hurt at his harsh look, while the other half of me wanted to knock some sense into his head.

"Come on," De said quietly, grabbing my hand and giving me a lift up

The flight to the next town was awkward and silent. Declan was keeping his mouth shut, not cracking any jokes like he usually did. He answered my questions with short choppy answers, and there was unseen tension between us.

 Eli was flying fast, faster than normal, Alarn's large wings sliced through the air easily and efficiently, but it was harder for Driana to keep up. I could tell that after a few hours of fast flight, Driana was beginning to feel fatigued, but not admitting it to me.

"Eli!" I yelled. He didn't turn around. I tried again, with the same result. Frustrated, I sent a small fireball shooting at him. Without even seeing it, heswatted it out of the air with his staff, and looked back at me with harsh eyes. Under his mask, though, I saw pain deeply rooted. I sighed deeply, feeling my heart strain.

"Can you slow down? She's tiring," I yelled, knowing he would know who I was talking about. Once the pace was more comfortable for Driana, she started talking again.

"The things love does to a person. Has he told you yet? Never mind, he did, didn't he? Why don't you just say 'I love you' back? You know you do. Wait, you do right? I mean you've known him all your life. You have got to like him, at least. Like can grow into love. Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go. Go tell him!" Her endless babbling was driving me crazy. I cut her off, and felt her disappointment momentarily. But she perked up soon enough, and started babbling again, though I tuned her out this time.

We heard the next village before we saw it. There was yelling, cheering, and screaming going on. I wonder what's going on down there, I thought idly. We found a place to land, before venturing in.