by Lisa Daniels
“Do you really think that I just go around bleeding all over someone just because the person is injured?”
Cyprian laughed, and it made Ivy feel warm, as if she was in a hot spring relaxing. “Good gods, not at all. But I know that you will go too far for friends.”
“Friends are one thing. I don’t know her at all.”
“I’m sorry, you two have lost me.”
Cyprian quickly spoke up, “Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t you dare think that is an adequate explanation.” Noely’s voice was threatening, and Ivy could not help but let out a little giggle at the sound.
Suddenly the group went silent as the thief sat up. “Well, I have to say that I am touched that you guys are concerned.” Her voice shifted to mimic those that she had heard, and she held in the laughter as they heard their voices coming out of her mouth, “Cut her hand off to fix her.” The voice was Noely’s. “No, no, I’ll just bleed on her because, you know, that is a great way to fix a person.” The voice was a spot-on version of Anani’s even though she had only heard it a couple of times. “We need to give her time and think about what to do next.” The voice was Cyprian’s, the softer version that he had used since her injury. Suddenly, Ivy went back to her own. “I don’t know you,” she pointed at the one called Anani, “so I have no idea why you feel you have any kind of a say. And Noely, I am incredibly disappointed in you. Why is it the guy who hates me is the one talking rationally and treating me like I should have a say?”
Noely was frowning as Anani looked at her blankly. It was Cyprian who stood up and came over to her. Sitting down next to her, he picked up her hand. The warmth went down her arm, and Ivy closed her eyes for a moment. His voice brought her back. “I never said I hated you. I just didn’t think we had time to deal with someone so… raw.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
The newest stranger spoke up, “You will.”
Ivy looked at him. “I take it that you are Ash’s replacement.”
With a shrug, Anani replied, “Apparently so, although I am still trying to get my bearings. Not quite sure why he didn’t just let you go or have you locked up. No, I take that back. He’s really enamored with that human. That boy never learned moderation.”
“Yes, that is what I’m afraid of,” Cyprian was frowning at Ivy’s bandaged hand. “He spent too much time with Hisa while you were off pouting.”
“I was not pouting.”
Cyprian said nothing as Anani glared at him. Instead, the shifter massaged Ivy’s wrist.
Ivy watched the motions, then looked up at him. “That feels better. What are you doing?”
“Getting the magic to start flowing.”
Ivy waited for a few moments to see if he would explain further. Her eyes looked at the other two, who suddenly seemed unable to look at her. “What does he mean?”
Anani bit his lip, then turned his attention to Noely. “Ash said that you two had gotten together. I must admit that this sight comes as a shock. I mean, he’s being very attentive to another woman, something I would never have thought possible in your presence.”
Noely laughed and Cyprian did not seem to register the comment at all. Ivy was increasingly curious about the other woman because she had not realized it, but Noely did not seem jealous of the attention at all. Noely looked at Ivy. “There is nothing for me to be jealous of in what is going on. It makes my heart proud to see him caring and tending to someone else the way he has loved me for so long.”
“Oh, gods,” Anani groaned and leaned back. “There it is. That’s really the kind of thing I was expecting. Good for you, Cyprian. Glad you were finally able to win her over.”
Cyprian looked up from whatever he was doing. “I’ve tried to fill the void once with another woman. It nearly destroyed me. Either I have my love or I don’t – I will never try to replace her again.”
Noely blushed, “You didn’t replace me.”
Cyprian smiled, and Ivy felt a twinge of envy. “No, she was not a replacement. She was a kind and generous woman, but in the end, had I not chosen her, she would still be alive.”
Ivy began to pull her hand away. “Well, thank you very much for the magical healing, but I think I’m going to vomit if I have to keep listening to this.”
“Seconded,” Anani said.
Standing up, Ivy wiped off her clothing with her uninjured hand. “Well, as messed up as this has been, I think it is time for me to get going. After all, there are plenty of people out there needing a thief to teach them a lesson.”
Noely giggled as Cyprian gave her a stern look. “Do you really think that you get to leave, just like that?”
Ivy gave him a pathetic look. “My hand, I have to get it treated.”
The shifter rolled his eyes. “And here I was starting to think you might not be so bad.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t help you with my hand like this.”
Anani stood up. “Well, I’m going to let you guys resolve this. I need to go have a quick chat with Ash because-”
“Too late.” Cyprian stood up and brushed the seat of his pants before walking over to Noely.
“And exactly what do you mean by that?” Anani was watching him with a critical eye.
“It is just like it sounds. Look around you. It’s night. You’ve been gone a while, but surely even you can figure out what that means, despite how much power he used today.” Cyprian pursed his lips before turning and responding to Ivy, “I tell you what, Ivy, if you stay with us, I can guarantee you that your hand will be fully recovered by the end of the week. No amputation, no one bleeding all over you, no more undesired touching by a man you don’t know.”
Ivy tilted her head to the side. “I have no problem with men I don’t know touching me, as long as they know what they are doing.”
Noely bristled, but Cyprian laughed. “Oh, I know what I am doing, and I can show you that, too.”
Ivy probably should have realized that there was something to what he was saying that was not to be taken the way she took it, but for a brief moment, she felt a bit of triumph. Perhaps Cyprian was more liberated than Noely realized. Batting her eyes at him, Ivy gave him a sweet smile.
Anani was looking toward the town. “Alright, I will stay here and babysit her,” his hand gestured toward Ivy even though he wasn’t looking at her, “but I will need to check on Ash tomorrow. I’m really concerned about the boy. What you said has me nearly on edge, but not much I can do now.”
Cyprian was looking at Noely, one of his hands reaching out and touching her hip. “Then you really should have stuck around. He really took Hisa’s lessons to heart, and this is the price for your neglect of him during his impressionable years. Still,” he looked over, “thank you for taking care of Ivy. Now if you will excuse us, I’ve been warned that we are a little too loud at night.” He didn’t say anything else as he swept Noely off of her feet and disappeared from sight.
Anani sighed, “And this is why I prefer my mountains.” He moved far too fast. Ivy didn’t even see him stand up before she was aware of his hand on her forehead. “It is best you sleep this off. One of us being disgusted is enough.”
Ivy grabbed his hand with her injured one, but she didn’t even feel the pain as she felt her consciousness slipping. It’s a trap. Ash has left me in a trap with beings that will toy with me until I die. It was not a comforting thought as she slipped into a deep sleep.
Chapter 4
Flight Instead of Fight
When Ivy woke, she was pissed. “What the hell is wrong with you people?” Looking around, she realized that there was nobody there. “Oh, great,” she muttered. “Knock me unconscious and just leave me here for wild animals to find me. The next time I see Ash we are going to have words.”
It was only when she placed her hands on the ground and pushed up that she remembered her injury. Pain shot through her arm, and she let loose a steady stream of curses.
“Ash, you asshole!” she
shouted at the leaves of the forest. “I should have let you drag me off to prison because this is horseshit. Why the hell did I trust you? Your idea of saving someone is like a doctor thinking that stabbing the patient will fix them.”
Suddenly she heard voices a ways off. Looking around, it was obvious that they had moved while she was asleep. Her face turned up as she tried to determine how much time had passed. “I was out for several days?”
Unwrapping her hand, she peeked at it. Though it still had a hole in it, it appeared that it had started to heal. She moved her hand a bit, trying to understand what had happened.
Then she heard a scream. Ivy immediately began to run toward the scream because she knew that it was Noely.
Bursting through some bramble, Ivy ran right into Noely pinned down under a tree. It looked like it had been knocked on top of her. Though the tree wasn’t crushing Noely, there was no way for her to get out from under it. More concerning was the creature that was standing near her. Ivy’s head turned toward the sound of fighting, and on the other side of the clearing were Cyprian and Anani. They were fighting something large and dark – it looked more like a shadow than a real creature. Cyprian looked like he was shouting, but his words were muted.
They set up protection around me, but it failed now that they are in trouble. Ivy shook her head, not understanding how she could possibly know that. The one thing that was clear was that Noely was in trouble, and Ivy was the only person who could help.
Ivy quickly moved up to the beast and jammed one of her daggers into the creature’s flank. It wailed, spitting saliva all over everything. Ivy’s face twisted as some of it flicked across her, but she kept her attention on the beast. Before it was able to attack her, Ivy slipped another dagger out of her boot and sliced off a small part of the creature’s tail. She beamed at it and winked, causing the creature to roar again.
Ivy took off into the forest at the other end. The creature immediately took off after her. She had no idea what it was or what it could do, but she was certain that whatever it was, the creature was sent to kill Noely. Well, she’s safe now. Well done, idiot. Ivy was just barely able to stay in front of the creature, although she had no idea how she managed it.
She didn’t know how long she had been running, but it seemed like forever. She was glad that the one thing she was very adept at was running when it was needed. Ivy never seemed to get tired.
The only reason she stopped was because she realized that she had run into a chasm. For some strange reason, she did not fall. Slowly, Ivy turned her head to look at the creature, which was now standing on the side of the precipice, roaring at her. With a snort, it turned and left her. Ivy looked down and confirmed her greatest fear – there was nothing under her feet. She was literally standing in the middle of the air.
“What the hell?” Her hand was throbbing after all of the running, keeping her from entirely appreciating how strange her situation was.
Suddenly the conversation that had gone on around her started to come back to her. No one in the group she was with thought she was human. Perhaps all of this was because she could actually use magic.
She can fix it on her own. The words of Anani flitted through her head as Ivy looked at her hand, avoiding the much more serious problem of her standing over a large chasm. She scrunched up her nose trying to figure out how that was possible. “I’m not a fucking medic. I’m just…” Suddenly snatches of other conversations ran through her head. References to her not knowing herself and needing to learn or control things – she couldn’t remember exactly because she had only been half listening as she had tried to formulate a way out of the predicament.
Ivy’s eyes were wide open as she held up her hand. Not wanting to see how bad things were, she focused on the pain, on the bones and muscles and how they used to feel. The way they had worked together countless times to help her pull off some truly remarkable thefts. Back when she had been part of a guild, Ivy had often been sent on some of the most difficult missions. As her renown grew within the guild, the more others mistrusted her. Ivy had never been good at being humble, so it was no wonder that others had learned to hate her. It was what had taught her to try to be likeable - having nearly 100 people actively trying to kill you would do that.
Since she had left the guild, with everyone believing that she was dead, Ivy was forced to remain in hiding. She was limited in what kind of heist she could pull off without attracting attention. During those rough times, she had focused on every part of her body and the way things worked to help her better accomplish the tasks that she set out to do. Working alone was incredibly risky, and without being able to plan anything elaborate, her life had been relegated to petty theft. The only way to survive was to stay constantly aware of every aspect of her body.
Focusing on the way things used to work, Ivy was surprised to find that the pain was slowly receding. Her breathing came a little faster, then her hand felt as if it would burst with sudden pain. Suppressing a shout, she ripped the bandage off, thinking that chopping off her hand was the only way to stop the pain. Her eyes flew open as she looked around to find something, anything to stop the pain. Her breathing was ragged as her eyes cast around her surroundings and fell on the bags that Cyprian and Noely had brought. Before going over to them, Ivy let her mind sink back into herself, and to her shock the pain was gone.
Closing her eyes and pressing them tight, Ivy placed her left hand over her injured right hand. At first, her touch was delicate, looking for the bone that had been protruding from it, but all she felt was skin. Slowly, she opened an eye as she held a hand up in front of her face. Both of her eyes flew open as she looked at her hand, now exactly as it had been several days before, back before she had fallen into a tunnel. Before her encounter with Ash and the medic. Even before she had left the barn where she had been sleeping. The scratches from breaking into that barn were gone.
“Holy shit. What in the infinite hells is happening?” Her mind was racing as she looked around. Cyprian had said something about getting the magic flowing. Had he somehow infused her body with magic so that it would fix her hand? That seemed more likely than that she had done it herself.
Terror began to grip the young woman as she looked around for an explanation, any explanation. It was then that she was reminded that she was still in trouble.
“Fuck this!” Terror was coursing through her as she tried to make her way back to the bramble. Slowing her breathing as much as possible, Ivy let her senses feel around her. Somewhere behind her, the thief could hear the rest of the party, and she desperately hoped that they were alright. It was better than thinking about her own situation. Slowly she was able to make out the individual words, although she wasn’t sure how she could hear them. Having run for so long, she knew that they were at least several miles from her current location.
She smiled as she realized that the three of them were now alright. Since she got rid of the most immediate danger, Cyprian and Anani were able to focus on the creature they had to face. Yet their voices sounded like they were still in trouble. Closing her eyes, Ivy tried to figure out what was the problem now. Her eyes flew open when she realized that their current emotional discussion was about her.
They were panicking because she had disappeared – they were afraid of what had happened to her after she had saved Noely. Closing her eyes again, she tried to make out what they were saying. It hasn’t occurred to them that I might be able to take care of myself? I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever had people protecting me. It’s not like I don’t know how to get out of a really rough situation.
A slick, thick voice surrounded her, “Of course they are worried. You were supposed to be of use to them, a use that you can’t fulfill now. They had you tied down so that you wouldn’t go anywhere. I freed you.”
Ivy fought the urge to open her eyes. Her instinct told her that she did not want to see whatever was talking to her. She also knew that the creature was lying. It was the two shifters who had protected
her, not trapped her, even if she had felt more like they were imprisoning her. With her injury, they were keeping her from attracting additional attention.
She was rather angry that the speaker thought she was so stupid. Look, you shit, what the hell is going on?
There was a light laugh like nails on a chalkboard. “They wanted you to awaken, but Cyprian has gotten soft. A month ago, he would have forced you awake, because he loathes humans. He would not want a humanoid to act like a human in his presence. His little pet has really turned him back into the tame animal that is too weak to see what is going on.”
There was a hissing laugh, “Yes, I suppose we have you to thank for finding that out. The way he treated you after your fall and sudden injury showed us how much of a façade he was keeping up for the sake of protecting himself. He is slippery, but now we have him in a position where he will be easy to manipulate. Of course, Anani is going to be a problem, but I think that we can turn that to our advantage as well. He was always predictable when it came to those who are weaker than him. It is so… pleasing to see them both so weak.”
Ivy felt sick to her stomach as she listened to two voices that she now realized were speaking directly to her mind. Fighting the urge to get upset, she took a deep breath. Too afraid to open her mouth, she spoke back to them with her mind. What about Ash?
“Ah, yes, the child. He is off chasing a woman.”
“He wouldn’t have been a problem even if he had stuck around. His kind are foolish beyond any of the others.”
There was an eerie laugh that reverberated around Ivy. Despite what she had last thought of Ash, the way these creatures were underestimating him was making her angry. Experience had taught her to keep that kind of anger bottled up. Something told Ivy that Ash was not done with the expedition, that his role was that of a savior, although she didn’t have any understanding of why or how she knew. What she did know was that that instinct was never wrong. Instead of pressing them about Ash, the thief decided to find out what they wanted with her. They were claiming to have freed her, and that might mean that they were the ones to have fixed her hand. And they may be the reason why she hadn’t plummeted into the chasm under her at the moment. Without giving away too much, she began to turn the topic of the conversation.