He’d never failed at anything he’d undertaken, and he didn’t plan to fail now.
“Aeric?” Lissa whispered again, hopping from one branch to another having switched yet again to feline form.
“What?”
“We should talk about this, shouldn’t we?”
“No.”
“But what Rumpel did to you—”
He snarled, it was on the tip of his tongue to lash out at her, tell her it was all her fault. That she’d brought this mess on his head, but her furry little face was screwed up into one of wounded concern and just like every other time he couldn’t.
He sighed. “Is over and done with. I’ll face that bridge when I come to it.”
“I want to be with you.”
Deep down he knew it was irrational for him to be so angry with her. She didn’t do it on purpose. But the fact that she’d called Rumpel to her, without even consulting him, why would she do that? Why?
“Lissa, you’ve helped me out a lot and for that, I’ll be forever grateful. But ever since finding you nothing has gone right. I’m not this bumbling fool I’ve suddenly become around you. I think it’s time we parted ways.”
Her mouth dropped. “What? You don’t want me around anymore?”
He did. And that was part of the problem. Ever since finding her he’d found himself growing weaker and weaker. Touching her would soothe him, her words made him laugh. Rumpelstiltskin was right, he’d always been a sucker for a woman’s tears and fears, he couldn’t function right with her around. He had a job to do and he had to get out of Wonderland.
Hopping over onto the center of a thick branch, he grabbed hold of the branch above his head and stared her in the eye, saying as softly as he could, “I’m used to being alone. It’s how I operate best. I’m sorry, Lissa, but I can’t do this.”
Her eyes were wide and luminous, but her jaw trembled. “I only tried to help.”
Damn him to a thousand pits of hell if she started crying. Refusing to look at her any longer, he shook his head. “It’s the best way.”
She sniffed and he clenched the branch tighter, wedging a jagged bit of bark into his already bloodied palm. He hissed.
“After I’ve caught Chrysalis, I’ll return. To you. To help you. I swear it.” He wanted to look back at her, but sensed that she might be crying. Regardless that cats shouldn’t cry, she wasn’t a typical cat either. If he saw the tears he’d be ruined. “Good bye, Lissa.”
Calling his sand, Aeric made a hasty escape, rolling so far into the distance he knew she’d never be able to trace to him. Tomorrow he would find the creature. Tomorrow he would leave Wonderland, and someday, when her tears no longer hurt him, when he’d paid his debt to the devil, he’d help Lissa to find whatever needed finding.
That was a vow.
*
“Was that not an adventure last night? That Lissa would walk him deliberately into that trap.” Reflection chortled. “He sold his soul to the devil, I honestly do not think we could do better! We must still kill her, but perhaps we can hold off on that for a bit longer as she’s suddenly become positively entertaining.”
Chrysalis splashed the water, not feeling the joy reflection did.
Blue eyes sparked like flames. “Toughen up. I sense your disquiet and it sickens me. Find him. Tonight we ruin him once and for all. You know the plan.”
“I cannot find him. He’s traced, there are no tracks to follow.”
“You are weak. Spineless. You could find him if you wanted to,” the words poured like venom through her soul, making her wince in response. “If you won’t find him, I will. Once Rumpel gets his hands on the huntsman he’ll be forever out of reach. He’s growing fond of Lissa, hit him where it hurts.”
She shook her head. “I am not weak,” she muttered.
Reflection blew out a disgusted breath. “I share your soul, I feel it. It clings to me like leeches, the only thing I cannot figure out is why.”
Chrysalis grabbed her head, shaking it back and forth. Her wounds were already healed from the fight she’d had with the Huntsman, but something felt wrong with her. Inside of her.
“Yes,” reflection nodded, “you sense it too, don’t you? The light creeping into the darkness? That light will kill us. Light obliterates dark. It will take us and consume us. You would condemn us to that because… why?”
She shook her head again, hoping to drown out the words, to deny it. To escape the truth of what she felt. “No,” she moaned.
Nostrils flared. “Why? Answer me!”
“I can’t. I don’t. I—”
“Yes, you do. You know. You know. You tell me now, tell me now.” The word was a sharp command, brittle and unyielding, demanding a response and Chrysa had no choice but to give it.
“Because he’s innocent. I cannot do that to—”