Free Immortally Ever After by Angie Fox Page A

wasn’t strong enough for this. Yes, I admired Galen’s faith, but I wasn’t sure it meant I had to risk everything for him and his kidnapped asset. And for what? I had no idea how to make this work out right.
    Only faith.
    He gave me a knowing look. “I can see the wheels turning.”
    I snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re enjoying this.”
    “I missed you,” he said quietly.
    It was too much—his nearness and his touch and, well, him. “I’m not yours.”
    Not Marc’s. Not anybody’s.
    “I know,” he said simply. But he didn’t let up. “We can brave this, Petra. I’ll still do whatever it takes to help you find peace.”
    Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.
    “Yes, well, what if we get caught this time? What if they discover you and Leta and they figure me out too? We could wait a hundred years for a prophecy to come true. What if the bronze dagger never shows up? Worse, what if it does? I have no control and no guarantees and I never signed up for this.”
    “Anything else?” he asked.
    I sighed. “Can you be with me on this? Maybe try and freak out too?”
    “No.”
    At least he was honest.
    I ducked back out of his tent, more frustrated than when I’d gone in. But at least I wasn’t alone anymore.

 
    chapter seven
     
    Marc wasn’t home when I made it back to my tent, which was good. I didn’t want him to have to watch me move out.
    Or worse, help.
    At least I was doing something to take charge of my life. Something that didn’t involve dragons or prophecies—or Galen.
    Luckily, my friend Rodger wasn’t busy. Or if he was, I didn’t notice. I’d found him halfway to the mess tent and informed him I was moving back in with him, and that I needed him to help me grab my things.
    After all, what is it they say about good friends? A good friend will help you move, a true friend will help you move the bodies. I thought back on what Galen had told me and hoped I wouldn’t be testing Rodger any more than necessary.
    My breath hitched when I spied one of my books on Marc’s desk. It would be the last time our things were together like that.
    Rodger stood behind me while I lit the lantern. “Why is this place always so dark?”
    “Not the time, Rodger,” I said, sliding my footlocker out from under my cot.
    “I’m just saying.” He shrugged, picking up the footlocker as if it weighed nothing. “It’s like a crypt in here.”
    I opened my duffel bag and tossed in a few loose books and some shoes. I crammed my shower kit in and stuffed my pillow under my arm.
    It was for the best. Marc and I couldn’t keep going on like we had.
    “At least you’ll get to see more of Galen,” Rodger said, taking my duffel and hooking it over his shoulder.
    “No,” I said, grabbing my snack box. Hell, aside from my bookcase, I was already packed. Or—a niggling thought stuck in the corner of my mind—maybe I’d never really unpacked.
    “This doesn’t have anything to do with Galen,” I said, as we made our way outside. It truly didn’t. What I had with Marc was broken. We both wanted to fix it, but that didn’t mean we knew how.
    Outside, the heat of the desert stung me. I sighed and glanced out over the endless wasteland. Hell, if I had to guess, I’d say Marc had proposed in order to fix it. If we’d been able, we might have even had children in order to try and make things right.
    We’d keep going down that path because we were too afraid to get off it.
    Rodger and I trudged side by side. What had happened was awful. But at least it had forced me to take a hard turn.
    Right off the edge of a cliff.
    No, I refused to think that way. I had my werewolf buddy and the rest of my friends. I had a job I was good at.
    I didn’t need a man or a relationship to make me feel complete. That in itself was freeing.
    I’d learned a lot, grown more than I ever imagined.
    We drew curious looks as we made the trek to my old tent. “I feel like I’m moving back in with my parents.”
    Rodger grinned at that.