CHAPTER 223: CHAPTER 223 ENOUGH! (BONUS)

The silence didn’t last long.

"We need to keep moving," Rhydian said again, his tone sharper this time. He looked at the bruises on his arm, then at the fading trail left by the witch. "If we stay here, they’ll attack again.

Damon still had his hand on my arm. His breathing was steady, but I could feel the rage simmering just beneath the surface. His jaw clenched tighter.

Rhydian’s eyes flicked to Damon. "You walked through her spell like it was nothing. That wasn’t fae magic. What the hell are you?"

Damon snapped toward him, his eyes hardened with seething fury. "You’re worried about what I am? How about we talk about where we are?" His voice was low but firm.

"This is your ’safe’ route, right? Through the witches’ realm? Then tell me, why were we just attacked by every kind of rogue crawling through the dirt?"

Rhydian stepped forward. "We’re in No Man’s Land. This was bound to happen. You knew that."

"No," Damon shot back, his voice rising. "I knew there’d be danger. But not this. You led us straight into a trap. Werewolves, Vampires, Demons, and Corrupted witches. That wasn’t random, they were waiting."

"You think I planned that?" Rhydian said, scoffing. "Why the hell would I put Aeris in danger?"

"Maybe because you think you’re the only one who can protect her," Damon said, taking a step closer. "But guess what? You’re not doing a very good job."

"That’s rich coming from someone who won’t even admit what he really is."

"Better than dragging us through cursed terrain without a damn clue what’s waiting on the other end," Damon said. "You’re so set on going to the witches’ realm that you’d walk us through hell just to prove a point."

"Stop it," I said quietly. Neither of them heard me.

Rhydian’s nostrils flared. "I chose this path because the fae are still hunting her. We can’t go through the werewolf realm without getting caught."

"So your solution is leading us straight into the hands of bloodthirsty witches?" Damon asked. "That’s brilliant. Really."

"At least I’m trying to think ahead," Rhydian snapped. "You’re just running on instinct and ego."

Damon’s fist tightened. "Say that again."

"Instinct," Rhydian said slowly, eyes locking onto Damon’s. "And ego. That’s all you are."

"I said stop it," I repeated, louder this time. They both ignored me again.

Mr. Four Eyes stepped back, sighing, "Not again."

Alaric stood still, his eyes narrowed, watching them like a lion waiting for the first real strike.

Damon took another step, his face barely inches from Rhydian’s. "You wanna talk about ego? Let’s talk about the fact that you think Aeris will choose you just because you know how to draw a few glowing lines in the air."

"Damon," I warned, my chest tightening.

Rhydian laughed, but it wasn’t that of amusement. "This isn’t about her choosing me. This is about keeping her alive. Something you clearly don’t understand."

"I just saved her life," Damon said, his voice cold and sharp like a blade.

"And I fought off a witch and half a rogue army while you were playing hero," Rhydian spat back.

"That ’hero’ part is the only reason she’s still breathing right now."

"I would’ve reached her..."

"But you didn’t."

"Because I was holding off the witch..."

"And she still slipped past you," Damon interrupted. "But sure, keep pretending you had it all under control."

"ENOUGH!" I snapped.

They both went silent. My hands were shaking. My throat was parched from the shock of being suffocated to death.

"We just survived an ambush. We’re tired, bleeding, and all you two can do is throw blame around like it’s going to fix anything?"

Damon’s gaze dropped slightly. Rhydian stepped back, dragging a hand through his hair.

"This isn’t helping," I said, quieter. "We can fight later. Yell at each other later. Right now, I just want to get somewhere safe without more blood on the ground."

Neither of them spoke. The only sound was the soft flutter of Golden’s wings somewhere behind me.

Rhydian finally looked away, muttering something under his breath. He walked toward the floating crystal insect and waved it forward. "We’ll reach the witches’ border before nightfall if we move fast."

Damon didn’t say anything. His eyes were still locked on the spot where the witch had vanished. He looked like he wanted to hit something. But instead, he just nodded stiffly and turned to follow.

Alaric brushed past them both, his voice low as he passed me. "You did good, keeping them from ripping each other’s throats out."

Mr. Four Eyes limped slightly as he followed. "That was... intense. I give it a nine out of ten. Great insults, but terrible timing."

I let out a long, shaky breath and looked down at my hands. There was still blood on them... I wasn’t sure whose.

’Why does it feel like I have four kids to watch over, with two of them extremely stubborn and overbearing?’ I felt shivers run down my spine.

I didn’t know what I was more scared of, the next rogue ambush... or the two men walking ahead of me, one on each side of the path, with more secrets between them than the trees around us.

The tension didn’t disappear. It just hovered in the air, heavier than before.

We kept moving, but no one said a word. Rhydian walked a few steps ahead, the path-lighter glowing weakly in front of him. Damon stayed a few paces behind, his expression unreadable. Alaric and Mr. Four Eyes stayed in the middle, walking beside me like silent guards.

I was still in the center of the storm, but this time it wasn’t a battle against rogues. It was a battle of egos, with both sides pulling me in opposite directions.

The forest thinned a little, revealing a rough ridge that overlooked a stretch of dark, crooked trees. Rhydian paused at the edge, letting the path-lighter hover in place.

"We’ll need to climb down this way," he said without looking back.