Free Enduring Light by Alyssa Rose Ivy

unprotected to you?”
     
    “I knew one of you guys would be out here. I’m going to go. Listen for my screams.” She walked toward the woods, the lantern letting us know where she stopped.
     
    Henry groaned. “Not funny, not funny at all.”
     
    “Yes it is,” she yelled over her shoulder. At least she had her sense of humor. That was usually a good gauge of how she was doing.
     
    Calvin ran out of the inn, buttoning his pants in the process. “Charlotte? Charlotte?” He hadn’t bothered with a shirt. Yeah, no more pretending.
     
    I didn’t bother to look at him. I couldn’t look at him. “She’s peeing in the woods.”
     
    “Why not just use a chamber pot? Or at least tell me?” Calvin asked.
     
    “Because she’s Charlotte. Charlotte would always prefer the woods to something like that. Don’t you know her at all?” I stormed back toward the building. I was positive Calvin would make sure she made it back to their room.
     
    Henry laughed. “Glad to know you are up on Charlotte’s bathroom habits.”
     
    Even from the entryway, I heard Charlotte’s response. “What? What does Liam know about my bathroom habits?”
     
    I smiled. At least she was still the same Charlotte.
     
    ***
     
    Traveling to the swamps didn’t sound particularly appealing, but at least it meant Charlotte and Calvin wouldn’t get any more alone time for a while. There wasn’t a chance that Charlotte was letting Calvin touch her with Henry and me sleeping close by.
     
      “Are you ready?” Calvin asked, helping Charlotte into the saddle of their horse.
     
    She turned to smile at him, and it was a different smile from the one she usually gave him. It was intimate, and I hated it.
     
    “Liam? Are you going to get on your horse?” Henry asked.
     
    I had to shake my mood. Charlotte was going to notice, and my jealousy would only make things worse.
     
    Calvin mounted the horse to sit behind Charlotte. “We will cut straight across the plains until we reach the Sutuni desert. We need to be prepared for a difficult crossing.”
     
    “Why? At least this time Charlotte will be able to make us water.” Henry laughed, referring to when we’d entered Energo just weeks before.
     
    Charlotte turned red. Her emotions were always so clear on her face. “Shut up, Henry.”
     
    He grinned. “I wonder if this is what it is like to have a sister. I thought brothers were bad.”
     
    “Brothers are bad.” She laughed. “Although, I kind of wish Kevin was here now.”
     
    “Why? Would you feel safer?” Calvin asked.
     
    Seriously? That’s what he asks? What about the fact that she misses her brother, the closest person to her in the world—or any world.
     
    “I just miss him.”
     
    “I’m going to tell him you said that,” I teased.
     
    “Go ahead. He probably won’t believe you.” She ran her fingers through her hair. She struggled with it for a moment before giving up and tying it up in a ponytail.
     
    I laughed. “Or he’ll think you lost your mind.”
     
    Finally satisfied with her hair, she let her hands fall to her sides. “Doesn’t he already think that?”
     
    Henry grinned. “We all do.”
     
    “Aren’t you going to defend me, Calvin?” Charlotte gripped the reins. She looked pretty natural.
     
    He pulled her back against him. “Not when I know you can defend yourself.”
     
    When I put my revulsion at watching his hands roam all over her aside, I could admit that was a good answer. Charlotte didn’t say anything, but she smiled. She hated when people thought she couldn’t take care of herself. That probably came from being in a family of protective men. Between her father, Kevin, and Monty, she had plenty. As the Essence, she also had an entire Guard of protective guys in her life. I didn’t envy her. It would have driven me crazy.
     
    Charlotte started their horse forward at a slow gait.
     
    Calvin said, “All kidding aside, Charlotte cannot be expected to make us