“Very interesting. The different groups of wolves do not usually get along.”
“I can’t say these got along either.” I remembered the initial meeting with the Dire Wolves. It was Talen that caused the biggest problem.
“Ok, continue.”
“And so I got pulled through a hole like I told you.”
“With corpses,” he interjected. “The corpses part is important.”
“See I did already tell you a lot.”
“But not everything.”
I nodded. “Ok. So then I ended up back in Energo, saw the stuff from my vision, got thrown into a frozen lake with a bunch of other guys, and then James rescued me.”
“Putting aside the part about there being a bunch of guys in the lake.” Elron said guys as though it were a dirty word. “If James rescued you, where is he now?”
“In order to rescue me he needed to get help.” I closed my eyes and focused on the feel of the wind rather than the dark reality I was about to share.
“And where did he get help?” Elron asked when I didn’t continue.
I took a few long deep breaths and opened my eyes. This was the part I didn’t want to explain. I had no idea how Elron would respond, but I doubted it was going to be as calmly as he had with everything else. “The Essence refused him.”
“Oh…”
“Yes.” My whole body tensed. “And so he got help from the last place he wanted to.”
“The Cipher is not truly dead…” Elron wasn’t asking a question. “We have known it all along.”
“His body is gone.” Or so I’d been told. I’d been thrown into a world with no instruction manual. Then again, what kind of manual would that be: the history of evil incarnate and how to save your world from it?
“A body is only a temporary resting place for the Cipher’s power.”
“Yeah well, I think it’s using James now.”
“You think?”
I sighed. ”Ok, I know. James almost killed someone. The guy from my vision who is supposedly his half-brother.”
“Blake had another son?”Elron asked with what sounded like genuine surprise. Everyone may have known of James, but no one else seemed to know what else Blake had been up to.
“It seems that way.”
“Was there a reason this other son threw you in a lake?” Elron slowed the horse as we turned into the woods. He led us a little ways in before stopping in a clearing.
“Why are we stopping?”
“It is time for breakfast.”
“Can’t we eat on the horse?” Time was all we had, and wasting it couldn’t be a good thing.
“No.” He hopped off and held out his hand to me.
“Is it safe for us to eat here?” I glanced around at the trees surrounding the small open area.
“You tell me.”
“Why would I know more than you?” I accepted his hand. Despite not wanting to waste time, I was more than ready to take a break from the horse.
“You are the one hanging out with evil’s sons.”
“Hey.” I put a hand on my hip. “What ever happened to you not passing judgment?”
“That was about you finding a man in your bed. That situation was out of your control. You have the choice to pick who you spend time with.”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“Meaning?”
“I am James’ kindred.” It felt strange to admit it out loud but also good.
“His kindred?” Elron spread out a blanket on the ground. He really did travel prepared.
I nodded. “Yes, so it may not have really been my choice.”
“Interesting.”
“I should probably also show you the other thing.” If I was going to trust Elron, I probably needed to trust him with everything.
“Show me the other thing?” He raised an eyebrow. “What other thing?”
I let out a long slow breath before revealing the mark below my collar bone. “This.”
Elron took in his breath. “Did James tell you what that mark meant?”
“He says it is the Mendel Crest. Their darn crest again.”
“It is that crest. Did he put it there?” Elron looked right into my eyes.
“No.” I shook my head. “Of course not.”
“So it just appeared.” Elron looked off into the distance before turning his attention back to me. “Did he tell you the symbolism of it showing up on your skin?” Elron ran his finger over the mark.
I jerked away.
“Sorry if that upset you, but I wanted to see something.”
I shrugged. “Thanks for the apology, but warn me next time you are going to touch me.”
“Did he tell you? About the symbolism?” Elron repeated his question.
“No.” Dread crept over me. “Why do I get the feeling I am not going to like what you have to say?”
“Because you will not.” His words were blunt.
I accepted them, and his point. “But I probably need to hear it.”
“You do.”
“Ok.” I sat down on the blanket. I wasn’t sure if I could handle any more bad news while standing. “Tell me.”
He sat down on the other side of the blanket. “First, tell me what you know about it. I find it difficult to believe that James told you nothing.”
“He had no clue what it was either. I mean he recognized it, but he didn’t understand the significance.” He’d been telling me the truth. I refused to believe anything different. Despite everything that had happened, he had been honest with me about some things.
“Was this before or after he asked his father for help?” Elron pulled the satchel close to his side.
“Before. The mark showed up after the first time.” I looked down. “Remember no judgment.”
“Understood.”
“After the first time we had sex.”
“I see.” Elron nodded.
“And then there was this whole poison thing.” This part of the story was really difficult to tell. It wasn’t something I had any interest in dwelling on.
“Poison thing? I do not understand how poison could ever be an aside.”
“When I don’t have him I get sick.” I looked down at my lap. The whole situation was embarrassing. I’d never imagined I’d been discussing my sex life with an Elf.
“Have him?”
I felt blood rushing to my face. “Sex.”
“Oh.” He fidgeted. “Then are you ill now?”
“I don’t feel amazing, but he seemed to think we could be apart for a while now. We uh, stored up.” Oh my god. This was beyond embarrassing.
“He knew you were leaving? I am still trying to follow.”
I forced myself to look at Elron. “He told me to get to Belgard to get Charlotte’s help. The darkness was taking over, and he was going to do something horrible for his father.”
“And the horrible thing had to do with a new gate?”
“Yes.” I watched him warily. “How do you know?”
“I am a watcher.” He tapped his temple. “Remember?”
“Yes. I do.” And I wondered how much else he knew but hadn’t told me. I was busy telling him my whole story, but I knew very little of his.
“I am surprised he let you go. If he truly has the Cipher in him then he must have far stronger willpower than anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“That mark on your skin has significance.” He touched the spot on his own skin.
“Are you going to tell me what it means?” I wasn’t really sure if I was ready, but I needed to know. It was likely my life and survival was tied to it.
“It signifies you are a vessel. My guess is that is what the poison is.”
“Huh?” I tried to follow.
“You are a vessel. James may be the Cipher, but you have the dark power too. You are a weapon.”
I shivered. “A weapon? Like a suicide bomb or something?”
Elron closed his eyes for a few moments and then op
ened them. “Who are your parents?”
“We’ve been over this. I don’t know my dad, and my mom is from my world.”
“But you had visions of your dad… is that what you implied?”
I nodded. I hadn’t heard the voice again, and my thoughts on the matter hadn’t changed.
“Then have another.”
“Uh, I can’t just have another vision. Besides, you didn’t answer my question.”
“Which question?” Elron leaned back on one hand.
“The one about the suicide bomb.”
“Not in the way you are thinking. You are not a sacrifice. We do not have time to play around. Get another vision.”
“I can’t do it. It doesn’t happen by will.” And it was never something I willingly wanted to experience. The visions were forced upon me.
“Then describe what he looked like.”
“I can’t,” I admitted. “It was just a voice. I guess it wasn’t really a vision, just a voice in my head.”
Elron sighed. “Then I will just have to follow my instinct.”
“And that is?”
“You are a daughter of Belgard.”
“Um, that’s what James said. I don’t understand what that means.” And I wasn’t sure I wanted to. The more I learned about my role in all this, the worse off I seemed to become.
“It means you are a Winthrop, or somehow that blood runs through your veins. That is the family the Essence always runs through, and I am sure that is why James picked you.”
I shook my head. “James didn’t pick me for anything. We hit it off, and he brought me here to protect me.”
“But he told you what you were.” Elron straightened. “He knew.”
“He only knew after he got his dad’s power.”
“Ok.” Elron let out a deep breath. “I need to make sure we are on the same page. Do you understand what any of this means?”
I went with honesty. “Kind of.”
“You have royal blood. You are related to the Essence, and there are only a few ways that could have happened.”
And then everything clicked. “The uncle. The one who played basketball.” He had been in Chapel Hill. Technically it was possible. A stretch, but everything in my life was crazy.
Elron’s brow furrowed. “I have no idea what basketball is, but the Essence does have two uncles. One ran with her to the lost world.”
“Yes.” I thought about what Charlotte said. The closed door in the castle and the sadness on her face when she talked about him. “But he’s dead. Charlotte said that uncle died.”
“Blake killed him.” Elron’s face lit up.
“Why are you happy about that? Whether he’s my dad or not he was someone. Death is never a good thing.”
“I was not there, but we need to talk to someone who was. We need to know more about how he died.”
“Why? And what does this have to do with the vessel thing?”
“It does not directly relate, but it is important.”
My head spun. “You asked me before about us being on the same page. We are not on the same page.”
“We have a choice to make.”
“Ok.” Choices could be good or bad things.
“Either we go to Belgard as you requested, or we take a detour to find out more about that mark.” He pulled out several containers from his satchel and spread them out on the blanket.
“What kind of detour?” I couldn’t believe he was still thinking about food after our conversation.
“A detour to my land.”
“And how would that help?” Not that I had anything against the land of Elves, or whatever the real name of it was, but we had no time to waste.
“You were marked for a reason. It means the Cipher had plans for you. But you have royal blood. That changes things. We may be able to fight the poison.”
“Wouldn’t Blake have known that? You said he chose me for a reason?” The possibility of ending the poison connection both excited and worried me. I wanted to feel strong on my own again, but was it worth slowing us down?
“It would not be strong enough alone, but with magic anything is possible.”
“Magic?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Elven magic.”
“Oh.” I thought over his words. “But we don’t have time for a detour.”
“We do. It is the right decision.” He nodded.
“You said we had a choice to make. I need to listen to James and go to Belgard.”
“Look at me, Ainsley,” Elron demanded.
I listened and met his gaze.
“Do you believe in your heart James had no knowledge of the significance of the mark when it first appeared?”
I nodded.
“Then you have to disregard his directions. That mark changes everything, and it means those in Belgard may not be so welcoming. We need answers.”
“Charlotte saw the mark.”
“And what did she do?” He started to fix himself a sandwich similar to the one the night before.
“She worried about it.”
“Why did she refuse to help James?” He took a bite of his sandwich.
I had no appetite, but who was I to stop Elron from eating? “He said something about her not trusting him and thinking she could do this on her own.”
“The detour will be quick. We will hardly lose any time, and afterward I will take you to Belgard.”
“What happened to them not being welcoming?”
“They will have to welcome you once I can prove your Winthrop blood.”
“And going to your land is going to help us with that?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“How?” I helped myself to a piece of fruit, more because it seemed natural than anything else.
He set aside his food. “I am not your typical Elf, Ainsley.”
“You are a watcher.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And I’m guessing there is more?”
“I can also step into the realm of the dead.”
“Wait.” I set aside the half eaten fruit. “We aren’t going there. Right? We aren’t going to where dead people are. I thought we were doing Elf magic.”
“We will do both.”
“I’m not sure I can handle this.” I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. That need was becoming more and more frequent now.
“The first part will be easy. I assure you my people will be very welcoming.”
“The Elves will welcome a girl with a Mendel mark?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Did you notice me recoil from you when I saw it?”
“No. You didn’t.” His demeanor had stayed the same, and he’d touched it.
“Exactly. We can tell when someone has an evil heart. You do not. Not at all.” He smiled.
“But I have darkness in me.”
“Yes, but not enough to change your heart. That is the key.” He held up a finger.
“This conversation is making me dizzy.”
“Then eat.” He shoved the containers toward me. “And more than fruit. You will need your strength.”
“I thought we were in a rush. Shouldn’t we go?”
He finished off his sandwich. “No matter how rushed we are, there is always time to eat.”
I started making my own sandwich. “You are a really strange man.”
“I am going to take that as a compliment.”
14
James
“We need to go after her.” Gregor brought Ainsley up for the third time that morning. I’d ignored him the previous times, but the tactic did not appear to be working.
“We have been over this. She is fine.”
“But we need her. I can feel it. Letting her go was a mistake.” He started to pace again. He did that almost as frequently as he pestered me with questions.
“It was necessary.” Although the reason behind my decision was becoming harder and harder to remember and understand.
“But we have no other weapo
n.”
“We have plenty of weapons. She is worth more than that.” She was worth so much. She was the only thing that seemed real beyond the darkness. Her face still appeared when I willed it to. I would see her again. I would have her again.
“It would not have hurt her. She would have survived.”
“I will say it again, she is worth more than any weapon. Any risk would have been too great.”
“You are weak.” Gregor sneered.
“No. I am strong.” Not strong enough to fight the darkness completely, but strong enough to protect her. She was my everything.
“I am going to find her.” He started toward the woods.
“You will not.” My words stopped him in his tracks.
“What are you going to do about it?” He taunted. “Kill me?”
“I cannot.”
“Why? It is not as if you care.”
“For the same reason you want me to do it.”
“So you do understand how it works.” He grinned. “Yet you came close to taking my life.”
“I was out of control.”
“And that means you were willing to risk it all?”
“No. I will stay in control, but that does not mean I will make your life enjoyable.”
He gritted his teeth. “Fine. I will see to the army.” He disappeared into the trees and left me worried. I hoped he was not going to do anything stupid.
My world had shifted and changed over and over in the past few weeks. I had believed happiness would finally be mine, and then I had it taken away. But I would get it back, and Ainsley and I would spend the rest of our lives together.
“The gate is ready.” A soldier’s voice carried into the clearing.
“Are you sure?” I had heard that news before, but each time the gate had failed to provide access to the lost world. Bridging the worlds was more difficult than my father had anticipated.
“We believe so.” The lack of confidence in the soldier’s voice was anything but reassuring. The first two times the messenger had been certain.
“You believe so?” I felt anger surging through my veins. “And that belief was enough to bother me with?’
“We believe so, sir.”
I stepped toward the soldier. “You believe so?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe you should stop believing and start doing.” It took every last ounce of strength I had to resist throttling the soldier. It was not me I reminded myself. I did not want the gate. I did not even understand why we were building it rather than taking over one of the others that already existed, but I saw it was necessary. I tried to remind myself over and over that all of this was for my father and not myself, but it was becoming increasingly harder to do. The darkness was spreading. I needed Ainsley. I hoped she would make it to Belgard soon.
Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) Page 10