Mated To An Enemy

Myka, too, needed to make time for Peter.

He talked with Alice to let her know that he would be available if she needed him but that he would not be coming around every day. She had laughed at him and told him he worried too much, assuring him she was okay.

While he was glad, he was still worried and made sure to arrange for Stefan and Sadie to continue to visit her for lunch most days, even if he could not.

As he looked at his schedule, Myka wasn't willing to lessen his time with the children. They had all made excellent progress in coming out of their shells and being more willing to talk with others. However, he was concerned that if he was suddenly less available, it would set some of them back or make them feel abandoned.

This left only one more area where he could free up some of his time.

In truth, he had been thinking about it for a while, even before he and Peter had discussed making time for each other.

Myka wanted to help Ashleigh. He wanted to give her hope and find some solid leads on how they might be able to bring Caleb back. He truly believed it was possible and that Caleb wasn't dead. But unfortunately, he hadn't found anything to prove that, or that might lead to an answer.

He spent hours every day hiking around the mountain near the portal, listening for even the slightest change. Ashleigh questioned him over and over, but he was never able to hear anything different. He spent hours looking through old files from Spring and history books from Winter. He found many stories about the gates, but they were all just stories or theories on how the fae used them.

More and more, Ashleigh had been pushing to go to Spring, but every report that came in said it wasn't safe. As much as he wanted to help her, he didn't think risking their lives on a gamble was right.

It was time for Myka to pull away from the search. But, unfortunately, there wasn't much more he could do to help her right now.

He knocked at the door and then opened it. She rarely answered but always left it open for him to come in.

It was still early, so he wasn't surprised to see Ashleigh sitting in the living room with several maps on the coffee table. She would search for a route into Spring and then look again through the history books before heading up to the mountain to begin the exact search she performed daily.

Ashleigh looked up from the maps, her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was disheveled. Myka looked at the side table and saw three mugs of coffee. It was obvious that she hadn't been sleeping.

"Myka!" she called out. "I'm glad you're here… look, I think I may have found a way in!"

Ashleigh shoved the maps in his direction, knocking over several papers and crumbled wrappers for oatmeal bars.

'Is that all she's been eating?' he wondered.

She pointed excitedly to the map. There was a spot along the water lines that she had written notes on and was now tapping aggressively with her finger.

"Here… it's pretty far south," she began, "but if we come up from the territory below, we can probably climb up the mountain and cross the river to get in."

Myka glanced at the area she was talking about. He shook his head.

"Gorn covered that side of the mountain with pitfalls and spiked traps," he said. He pointed to the water lines above where Ashleigh had suggested they enter. "And these waters are home to alligators."

He saw the look of disappointment quickly settle over her features. Then, finally, she sat back on the sofa and sighed heavily.

"There has to be a way to get into Spring," she whispered.

"Ashleigh," Myka said, "I don't know if Spring is the best option. Even if we find a way in, the mountain is covered in fae."

"And why are they there, Myka?" Ashleigh asked, sitting forward and staring at him. "Why, of all places, are a large group of fae concentrated there? At the very place where the Dark Queen's mound was? Because they feel it, they feel the ley line."

Myka took a deep breath.

He had already tried to explain to her that the fae creatures did not have the same kind of connection to the ley line as the ancient fae.

The Dark Queen, the Goddess, and the original Lunas had a direct link to the ley line. So they used its power and actively sought it out.

But the creatures didn't. When he had connected with the frog, he felt it. They followed orders forced on them by the Dark Queen, not by the ley line. They were drawn to the places that she sent them. It was far more likely that the creatures gathered in Spring saw it as their territory and were simply choosing to stay there.

Unfortunately, Ashleigh was not willing to hear that. She believed Spring held the answer to finding Caleb, and she wasn't ready to let the idea go.

"Ashleigh," Myka called out softly. "I need to talk to you. Can I have a seat?"

Ashleigh looked up and motioned toward the chair covered in pages of the Spring files. Myka picked them up and set them on the ground.

"What is it?" she asked. "Did you hear something? Is it the portal?"

"No," Myka shook his head. "Look, I want to help you find Caleb. I do. But I don't think going to the mountain every day is getting us anywhere."

"That's why we need to go to Spring!" she shouted with frustration.

Myka sighed.

"I don't think you'll find your answers in Spring, either," he said softly. "I think it's best if we take a break."

Ashleigh furrowed her brow and looked at him. Then, her expression darkened, and she turned away.

"You want me to stop looking for Caleb?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "I'm not saying you should stop, just that you need sleep and to eat some real food. If you take a couple of days to clear your head, maybe you'll think of a new angle."

"You're giving up," she said with quiet anger, shaking her head. "Just like everyone else."

Myka took a deep breath. He understood why she was upset and didn't blame her. No one could imagine what she was going through.

"I'm not," he said, "but I can't keep searching the mountain with you every day."

Ashleigh scoffed and looked away.

"I'll still try to go at least every couple of days. I'll listen whenever I can. And I'll keep looking into the research," he said, trying to reassure her. "But I have to give a little more time to other things right now."

Ashleigh didn't respond. She just continued to look away.

"Ashleigh?" he called out to her.

"Just go," she said. Her voice shook, and Myka knew there would be tears in her eyes if she looked at him. "Please."

Myka felt a painful guilt in his stomach, but he did as she said and left without another word.