I got dressed and headed outside to use the bathroom. Once again I missed modern plumbing.
I’d just finished up when I heard Elron calling me. “Ainsley?”
“I’m out here.” I headed through the darkness back toward the house.
“What are you doing outside alone?”
“Using the bathroom.” I went with blunt.
“You should have woken me.”
“I figured that wasn’t something you needed to be part of.”
“It is unsafe for you alone out here.”
“I needed to go pretty bad.”
“Next time wake me.” His long hair was wild, and I could tell he’d just awoken from sleep.
“Hopefully there won’t be a next time. Hopefully I will be in Belgard by tonight.”
“Did you sleep?” He blinked a few times.
“A little. You?”
“Enough.” He shrugged.
“I had a vision,” I blurted out.
“Me too.” He gestured for me to come back inside.
I followed. “What was yours of?”
“A man I never met.”
“Same here. Although mine was just a voice. I don’t get the pictures. Just the voices.”
“I wonder if it was the same man.” Elron appeared pensive.
“This voice told me to trust you.”
“Voices that come to you are usually worth listening to.”
“Not always.” I thought of Gregor and the vision I had of him.
“What do you mean?”
“I had a vision of someone who tried to kill me. Trusting him wasn’t a good thing.” Although trusting was a weighted word. In the end it hadn’t been my choice to return to Energo. Blake had taken it into his own hands.
“Did you really trust him and follow him?” Elron seemed to read my thoughts.
“Not exactly. I went from that hole toward him.” I tied my hair up using the hair tie I thankfully had around my wrist.
“The hole with the corpses?”
“Yes. I know how crazy that all sounds.” It still sounded crazy to me, and I lived it.
“Not the craziest thing I have ever heard.”
“But what was your vision?”
“A man reaching out from the realm of the dead urging me to protect you.”
“From the realm of the dead?” I let the words sink in.
“Yes. The realm beyond our living world.”
“Uh, never heard of that one.”
“There is a lot for you to learn.”
“I suppose I am the girl he wanted you to protect?”
“It would seem that way. Unless I am about to meet another girl in need of rescuing.”
“Let’s hope you don’t. I’m enough to worry about.” I hated being a burden on anyone, but it wasn’t by choice. Eventually I’d get out of this mess, and maybe I’d be able to return the favor to others.
“Not a worry.” His expression softened. “I hope I am not making you feel like a burden.”
“You were worried. You didn’t want me outside alone to use the bathroom.”
“I do not mind worrying. I mind what you are running from.” He looked through the window into the darkness.
“Like I said. A mess.”
“You are important.” He watched me with such intensity I felt uncomfortable.
I looked away. “Uh, not really.”
“You are. Far more important than you even know.”
“Glad you think so.”
“It is more than my thinking so. It is the truth.”
“Does that mean you are more inclined to take me to Belgard?” I got right to the point. Whatever Elron thought of me didn’t matter beyond that.
“I was already going to… but back to your vision. The voice was different? Not the one who tried to kill you?”
“No. This one was…” I hesitated, debating whether to say out loud what I could barely admit to myself.
Elron waited patiently. Far more patiently than I would have been.
I opened my mouth to speak and then closed it.
Elron gestured for me to speak.
I nodded. “I think it’s my dad.”
“The one you never met?”
“Yes. He made it sound that way.” What else could he have meant about me figuring it out? In another context I would have thought the idea was crazy, but I was far past that point now.
“And do you trust him?” There was nothing leading about Elron’s question.
“He was right about the haze.”
“The haze?” Elron raised an eyebrow.
“Oh right. I haven’t told you that part yet.”
“It seems you have a lot to tell me.”
“You did say it was a long ride, didn’t you?”
He smiled. “Yes, I did.”
“Then I can tell you everything on the way.” Anything to keep us moving. We’d wasted enough time already.
“What if what you have to tell me changes whether I should take you there?”
I shrugged. “Then I probably shouldn’t tell you.”
He shook his head. “You should.”
“Funny how you have that opinion.”
“I like to help.”
“Why?”
“Because it gives me a purpose.” He twisted a silver ring around on his finger.
“I thought you had a job? You are a watcher or something like that.”
“I am.” He let go of the ring and dropped his hands to the side.
“Then why do you need another purpose?”
“A job is different than a purpose.”
“Not always.”
“Always.” He walked out of the room.
“Where are you going?” I still didn’t know why I trusted this guy.
“To get ready.”
“What do you need to get ready?” I squinted to see into the dark room he disappeared into.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“I like to be prepared.”
“Is that why you were out in the woods after dark with no provisions?” He returned with a satchel over his shoulder.
“Ok. You have a point. But that was out of my control.”
“Which brings us back to the story you are supposed to be telling me.”
“Why do you care so much?” I followed him into the small kitchen where we’d eaten. “It’s not your problem.”
“Along that reasoning I shouldn’t be helping you at all.” He opened a cabinet and pulled out some more bread. “But I am.”
“Which begs the question of why.”
He put the bread and some other cloth wrapped item in the satchel. “Because I like to help those in need.”
“Really?” I narrowed my eyes.
“What other reason would I have?”
“I don’t know.” But I did know people always had ulterior motives.
“I realize you are an attractive enough young woman, but that is not why I am helping.”
“Attractive enough?” I raised an eyebrow. That had not been my line of thinking.
“Attractive. But that is not the point.”
“Are you hoping for a reward?” I was being unnecessarily nosy, but before I got on a horse with this guy again, I wanted to understand his reasoning to help me.
“The only reward I am hoping for is answers.”
“Answers to what?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“To what you were doing in the woods. I know that story is important. I only have visions of important things.”
He was right. It was important. I wasn’t narcissistic enough to think that saving me was, but if saving me meant stopping whatever Blake had planned, then yes. Finding me was very important.
He pulled out a few other canisters.
I pointed to the containers in his hands. “Do you think you’ll be gone that long?” I hoped not. I wasn’t sure how long I could be away from James—or how long we had until he did something that could never
be turned back.
“It pays to be prepared. I thought you agreed.”
“I do…” I tried to quell my impatience.
“Then help me.”
“I have no clue where anything is in your kitchen.”
“I am sure you can figure it out.” He turned his back to me.
There is something strange about rifling through someone else’s cabinets for supplies. It feels almost as if you are looting even when the aforementioned person is the one egging you on.
I found a couple of empty canteens. I figured those might be helpful. Elron accepted them with a smile. “I think that should be sufficient. If we need to we can to find more sustenance along the way.”
“Great.”
“But I do need to ask you something first.” His face became serious.
“Ok.” I braced myself for what kind of question would be coming.
“Are you eating for two?” His face reddened.
It took a moment for his words to sink in. “Uh. No. Not that I’m aware of.” Considering what was going on with James, that wouldn’t be a good thing. Elron had really been stepping out on a limb with that one.
“So the other vision I had of a baby was separate from you?”
“Uh, yeah.” I assumed any vision he saw had to do with Charlotte. Or I guess there had to be countless other women who were pregnant in Energo.
“Ok. I thought it was, but I wanted to make sure.”
“What would that have changed?”
“It would have meant we needed to be even more careful, and that I should not offer you spirits.”
“Were you planning to offer me spirits?” Not that I wanted to drink anything. Adding anything else into the haze in my brain would have been a bad idea.
“I packed some.” He tapped the satchel over his shoulders. “Shall we go?”
“Yes.” We had no time to waste.
We walked back outside and over to where his horse waited in the stable. He brought the horse out and helped me on. For someone who had been uncomfortable around horses a week before, I was getting used to them now.
He got on. “I hope you will be warm enough.”
“I will be fine.” I wasn’t nearly as cold as I should have been. Maybe there was some truth to what Gregor and James were talking about. My time in the frozen lake had done something to me, I just didn’t know what exactly. The lack of knowledge scared me.
Without another word exchanged, we rode off into the darkness. I assumed the sun would be up soon, but I didn’t even know what time it was. I was so thrown off it wasn’t funny, but at least the haze was nearly gone. But the ache was back. I wanted James, and I knew the feeling would only get worse.
“You can start in anytime.” Elron broke the silence.
“Start in on what?”
He sped the horse up. “The story.”
“Oh, yeah, that.”
Elron laughed. “Come on now, it cannot be that difficult of a story to tell.”
“I’m not even sure where to start.”
“Start at the beginning.”
“The beginning?” I thought about his words. Technically the beginning was finding James in my bed. Or maybe it started earlier than that. Maybe it started with the call from professor Morgan to housesit for his friend. When I’d accepted that offer I’d unwittingly changed my life completely and irrevocably.
12
James
Gregor wanted me to kill him. I saw it in his eyes when he provoked me. He wanted nothing more than for me to take his life. But it was not a death wish. He was expecting a different outcome, and I needed to know what that outcome was. I already had a sinking suspicion, but I needed to know for sure.
I walked off into the woods. The soldiers were around, but I had no fear of them. They were bound to follow my command.
I closed my eyes and slipped into another unfamiliar memory.
As my vision cleared I watched Alexander jump off a horse in the middle of a clearing in the woods. “What dispute is here?”
My father appeared from in the trees. “I suppose it was taken care of without your help.”
“That is a bold faced lie.” Alexander frowned. “Why did you lead me on this wild goose chase?”
“Because it is time you tell me the truth,” Blake replied calmly.
“What truth?” Alexander’s eyes gleamed. “I have no idea what you could be referring to.”
“The truth about how you became Gerard.”
“The Source selected me.” Alexander grinned, but there was something sinister in his grin. Something off.
“You said yourself it was more than the Source.” My father seemed to notice what I did. Alexander’s smile and eyes said far more than his words did.
“I was meant to rule. I did what I had to in order to ensure it. Unlike you who wasted your time playing games.” Alexander pointed to my father.
“I was never playing games.” Blake’s hands twisted into fists at his sides.
“All your stolen time with Emma. You think I do not know about them?” Alexander laughed dryly. “We all knew what you were doing, and now even you realize it was a waste of time.”
“I have loved her since before I could remember.” My father’s words sounded raw.
“And that was your downfall. Letting love cloud your judgement and understanding.” Alexander looked off into the distance. “Love is your greatest weakness.”
“Do you deny loving her?”
“I feel something for her now. I have to. I am her Gerard, but I am not weak enough to pretend it is love. I would die for my Essence, but I will never have to. We will rule together for years and years. And you, my once friend, get to watch.” Alexander sneered.
“You like that. You enjoy watching me suffer.” Blake’s eyes widened. “What happened to you?’
“Everything we want in life comes at a cost. No cost was too high.” Alexander pulled out his sword and turned it so the sun reflected off the blue blade.
“What did you do? Tell me!” My father demanded.
“Why should I?” Alexander smirked. “You are my inferior now.”
“Because I need to know. I am on the Guard. I need to know what I will have to protect Emma from.”
“If you want I can take care of that for you.” He turned his sword around in a circle.
“Take care of what?”
“Having to watch.”
Blake’s eyes reflected a sudden understanding. “You cannot mean to kill me? A member of your Essence’s Guard?”
“She has plenty of Guardians already. She can do without you. You upset her. She does not want you around.”
“She does. She loves me.” My father’s body stiffend.
“And that causes her pain. I can take away that pain.”
“You cannot kill me.” My father took a step back.
“I can.”
“You would not.”
“I can because I am strong. Whereas you are weak. You would have been unable to kill me.”
“What darkness possesses you?” My father glanced around as if looking for someone.
Alexander pointed his blade at my father’s chest. “Take out your sword.”
“Why? If I am so weak, why bother?”
“Because I want to enjoy this.” Alexander’s eyes darkened.
“Who gave you the black magic?” My father demanded. “Tell me.”
“It is not a simple tale to tell.”
“Simple or not, I want to know.” He stepped back, but Alexander followed with his sword.
“Why should a dying man care?”
“What are you going to tell her?” My father asked.
“I will tell her you died taking care of the dispute. You are the one who created that story.”
“And what of Monty? He will never believe you.”
“I will kill him as well.” Alexander’s lips twisted into a smile.
Blake pulled out his sword.
“So you ha
ve decided to play along.” Alexander’s eyes twinkled.
“I am not playing. You threatened Emma and her family.”
Alexander slashed his sword only to be easily parried by Blake. “What is her family to you? You are not the Gerard. You are nothing.”
My father’s eyes darkened. He struck back with a series of fierce attacks that forced Alexander to back step as he blocked each strike.
“Still having trouble swallowing that are you?” Alexander grinned. He stepped toward my father as he pointed the sword at his chest.
“Do not do this. You have already caused enough trouble.”
Alexander laughed. “You have not seen trouble yet.” In a swift motion he struck at the hilt of Blake’s sword to dislodge it from his grip and then swung his foot around knocking my father to the ground. He quickly moved to pin him down with his boot. “She said your name once, you know?”
“What?” Blake struggled for breath as Alexander loomed over him.
“When she was in my bed. Only once though. I made sure she would never forget who her Gerard was again. She will never disrespect me again.”
Rage was clear on my father’s face as he flung Alexander off. As he regained his footing, Blake charged at Alexander, lifting him nearly off the ground as he made contact, slamming him against the ground. He held him down with his knees on Alexander’s chest. “You hurt her. You hurt Emma.” His body shook.
“What I do to my Essence is of no concern to you.” Alexander laughed.
My father repeatedly punched Alexander’s body for several seconds before slamming his head into the dirt ground. A look of actual fear crossed Alexander’s face. “Stop. We can come to an agreement.” All color drained from his face, and he held up his hand to shield from further attacks. “I surrender. Let us settle this like gentlemen.”
I watched with confusion.
“I swear you will never hurt her again.” My father did not seem to hear Alexander’s words. He rose, grabbed his sword from on the ground, and stabbed his sword through Alexander’s chest. “You are no longer the man you once were. You do not deserve to breathe the same air as the Essence. You deserve nothing but death.”
Alexander’s eyes widened with surprise. “Your heart is not as pure,” He coughed as blood spilled out of his mouth. “As I thought.”
Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) Page 8