Blasted men and their attitudes. She’d had enough male posturing in the last twenty-four hours to last her a decade. She tried to wriggle upright, ready to head-butt her dad, Ramsay, or any other man stupid enough to open his mouth.
The dreamscape spun the same way her room had the first time she’d gotten drunk, and a blowtorch heat wave blasted through her torso. “Whoa.”
Had she moaned the word out loud? Or only thought it? She could’ve sworn she’d felt her chest vibrate as she’d said it, followed by the tightening of Ramsay’s arms and a string of muffled shouts around her.
Okay, so moving wasn’t the smartest idea. She focused on her father’s unseen presence and narrowed her thoughts. “What’s wrong with me? Tell me what’s going on.”
She felt more than saw Kazan’s spirit shift, an invisible specter her eyes refused to register. “You’re mid-awakening.”
Mid-what? “I told you I wasn’t ready to receive my gifts. I can’t. Not right now. Ramsay needs me—”
“Not your Spiritu gifts, sweetheart. Your Myren ones.”
Wow. She must have been more exhausted from the trip to Eden than she thought. Even with a direct mind-to-mind convo, her father’s comments weren’t registering right. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t understand because you never made it to the information in the box your grandfather left you,” Kazan said.
The box. Lexi had offered to take her to it after Trinity finished unloading the details of Ramsay’s asinine behavior on the walk back to the castle. She’d bypassed the chance in favor of a good night’s sleep, exhaustion and the killer ache in her arm too much to deal with.
Her heart rat-a-tat-tatted about thirty times faster than normal and her strangely weighted torso clenched on a bated breath. “I think it might be a good idea for you to start with the most relevant information and work your way into the details, starting with the grandfather bit.”
Kazan’s sigh fluttered around her. “You were supposed to find out naturally. It was the agreement I made with the Black King.”
“Find out what?”
“I was allowed to share your Spiritu heritage, but you were to learn of your Myren blood as The Great One intended.”
Spiritu and Myren? God, was there anything human about her? “And?”
“Free will has a tendency to monkey with destiny.” A comforting stroke drifted across her cheek, a phantom touch but still comforting. “Don’t get me wrong. Destiny never gives up. It circles around until you’re ready to own it, but a person’s will can keep it at bay longer than necessary.”
Even in her detached state, she itched with the need to move and pace, like the motion might somehow speed fitting all the pieces together. “But we got the box. We were going to study it.”
“And Ramsay healed your arm. He thought you were only half human and half Spiritu. The action triggered your awakening.”
The bruise from his grip in the tunnel. The burn she’d felt afterward. By the time she’d fallen into bed, it radiated through her torso, alongside a case of fatigue so deep she wasn’t sure how late she’d sleep.
Her father’s spirit shifted. “Honestly, if I couldn’t see the fear in Ramsay’s eyes right now and the way he’s holding you cradled against him, I’d beat him black and blue.”
Quiet stretched long and loud in her dreamscape. In the real world beyond the white, the voices steadied and a soft, calming stroke registered at her shoulders. “He’s afraid?”
“Very.” Kazan didn’t even try to hide the pleasure in his voice. “They don’t know what they’re working with and Ramsay’s too damned stubborn to let his Spiritu in to help.”
Well, that wasn’t surprising. Ramsay didn’t appear to be interested in letting anyone in. Or when he was, he found the fastest escape hatch he could find. That wasn’t her problem though. Right now she needed to get through whatever his insta-band-aid trick had started. “Am I going to be okay?”
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “Another two or three hours and you’ll be able to play with your new powers. I’m holding the pain away while you transition. A whole lot better than even Ramsay’s healer sister could have done for you by the way.”
“If I’m awakening my Myren gifts, does that mean I can’t ever accept my Spiritu gifts?”
“It’s still possible, but to embrace both, to live in their world and see their futures as they unfold without guiding them unduly? I wouldn’t wish that for you, sweetheart. Keeping guidance from you all these years has been the worst kind of torture. The only thing that held me back was knowing you’d have no one to truly be there for you.” He paused.
The pregnant silence practically flashed a neon sign for her attention.
“You have someone now though, don’t you?” he said.
Did she? Ramsay promised they’d talk once he got his head clear, but who knew if it would actually happen. For all she knew he was only saying that to get away from her. “I’m not so sure about that. Not anymore.”
A comforting touch feathered her forehead, one that filtered through every inch of her with the same warmth of a down blanket on a cold winter morning. “We’ll see.”
Her spirit self stilled and focused on the strength of the man holding her. He was here, right? Maybe she wouldn’t be alone when she woke up. “So I’m not human?”
Kazan’s chuckle billowed out, more distant now than a moment before. “Stop asking me questions I can’t answer, Trinity. Relax, let the process work, and let your old man take care of you.”
Chapter 22
Serena stifled a yawn and started over on the same paragraph for the third time. Praise The Great One, scholars made for dry delivery. The damned history book she’d pilfered from her father’s library was over a thousand pages long. How many different ways could they drive home the fact that their mother tongue was dead, dead, dead?
A loud thud and the clash of something tinny on marble sounded from the foyer. Shouts of concern and heavy footsteps clipped toward the sound.
Great, another accident. The sixth or seventh she’d inadvertently caused today. Her father had stormed into her suite after the second and insisted she get a grip on whatever angst had her influential skills spinning out of control.
Thank The Great One he never set foot in their home midday. Otherwise he’d be forcing the sedative he’d threatened her with down her throat.
She tuned out the chaos from the hall beyond.
With the more accelerated growth of the human race and the inclination of Myrens to fluently interact with their sister inhabitants, the original language for our species began to rapidly wither around one thousand years after the earliest Myren recordings. More scholarly and language-conscious intellectuals assumed knowledge of other tongues, but the predominant language naturally adopted was English. Given the limited means for recording important records at such a primitive time, few original texts remain. Those available in a consumable format are translations of the originals and prone to incorrect interpretation or error.
Lovely. A fancy way of saying even if she found a translation, she may not end up with more than she knew right now.
She slammed the book closed. Where in histus was Angus, anyway? He should have been here an hour ago.
The door behind her swished open.
Serena stood and spun.
Their butler blocked the doorway, his scraggly salt and pepper hair slicked back in a tight queue.
With a flick of her hand, she opened the doors the rest of the way and cut the servant off before he could utter a word. Behind him, Angus stood in his stiff white, unadorned council robes. “I’ve got this, Otter. Have refreshments sent for my guest.”
Angus shuffled into the room and smirked as Otter closed the door behind him. His hands were crossed at his stomach, and the way the sleeves covered them made him look like a well-dressed human monk. “Home confinement not agreeing with you, Serena?”
Don’t react. Stay calm. Bury the emotion.
She’d already burned one of the four days Uther had given her. Finding another source would be next to impossible. “You never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. I suppose you and I are somewhat alike on that score.”
A suck-up and a reminder at the same time. Eryx might have lopped off her freedom, but he’d demolished Angus’ lifelong political career in less than five minutes. All because Angus had dared to act in the malran’s stead while Eryx searched for Lexi.
“Indeed.” Angus frowned and tottered deeper into the room, studying the room’s details. “A most ornate home. Reminds me of the humans’ peacock, all show with little purpose.”
Not a surprising reaction considering the man’s upbringing. The room was ornate indeed—lush lavender and plum furnishings, fine crystal and china accents, and dove gray, handmade rugs. Unlike her, Angus had earned everything from the ground up, scraping for every ornamentation and honor. Now he was little more than a figurehead.
“Thyrus tells me you’re in need of some of our most ancient texts.” Angus eased into one of the more comfortable chairs facing the door. “Care to tell me why?”
“Don’t play coy. I’ve no doubt Thyrus already told you.” She picked up the book she’d been studying and settled beside him, laying the large tome so he could see it better. “I’m researching the prophecy. Looking for clues that might aid in unseating the malran. Between Eryx’s new mate and the mysterious instances of humans being brought to Eden, I couldn’t help but wonder if more knowledge might benefit our cause. Something we might be able to use to our advantage.” Fiddling with the fine overlay of her ivory gown, she wrapped him in a subtle cloud of influence. You want to unseat Eryx. You want your power and prestige back.
Angus puckered his wrinkly mouth. “And this idea came to you out of nowhere? Out of the blue?”
“Where else would it come from?”
“I haven’t a clue,” he said. “But the timing is intriguing. Just this morning, the royal couple made an unexpected and unprecedented appearance at the sacred halls and carted off all books documented in the original Myren language.”
Serena shot to her feet. “They what?”
A crash from above shook the room, followed by muffled sobs and shouts.
“I see I’ve struck a nerve.” Angus eyeballed the ceiling for a second or two and chuckled. “Perhaps it’s you who’s being unnecessarily coy. I find it hard to believe your request is based on simple research.”
Serena strode to the window, fists clenched so tight her wrists and forearms ached.
Two guards stood at attention near the gold-flecked brick streets, a matching set outside the front door.
Angus gripped the armrests hard enough to turn his already pale skin whiter and one of his legs bounced in a nervous tick, but other than that, he seemed unaffected by her emotional outburst. Probably because he’d only been exposed to her for five minutes instead of twenty-four hours.
“I need those books,” Serena said.
“Well, I’m certainly not going to ask the malran for them, so I’m afraid I can’t help you on that score.” His voice trailed up at the end, as though he had more to say.
“But you might be able to help me on another?”
“Depends.” Angus released his death grip on the chair and reclined against the cushions, arms folded on his belly. “What’s in it for me?”
Serena smiled, a welcome wave of appreciation and downright respect dissipating the moroseness of her thoughts. Hard not to like the crotchety bastard when he copped such an attitude. “You want Eryx off the throne, correct?”
“I don’t think I’ve made that a secret, not even from the malran.”
Serena strolled toward him, grateful for the emotional equilibrium. “When he’s gone, the new ruler would require an advisor. Someone with extensive experience and connections. Someone well decorated and powerful in their own right.”
“I don’t see any contenders for the throne.”
“Just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Angus studied her, his nondescript hazel eyes sharp despite his nearly six hundred years. “The strategos. The one who brought me to Evanora’s place.”
Yes, definitely shrewd. Angus had met Uther only once and yet quickly discerned his abilities. Granted, the one meeting comprised of Uther finding, capturing, and bringing Angus to Maxis’ hidden warrior camp, so it was bound to make an impression. “Do you care so long as you get what you want?”
Angus’ lips twitched. He stood, the motion surprisingly spry considering how long it had taken him to sit. “It’ll take a few days.”
“I don’t have a few days. I need them now.”
Angus shuffled toward the door. “Tomorrow by sunset at the earliest.” He opened the door with an insolent flick of his wrist and turned at the threshold. His stooped shoulders gave his frail form an almost sinister look. “You’ll owe me for this, Serena. I might be old, but I’m not the one with banishment and the loss of powers hanging over my head.” He turned to exit. “I have no compunction ensuring evidence comes to light to make that eventuality happen.”
Chapter 23
Ramsay leaned forward in the chair beside Trinity and propped his elbows on his knees, hands clasped between them. She looked so tiny in his big bed. A damned sunshine faery minus any sign of consciousness. It freaked him out seeing her void of expression, like someone had offloaded every scrap of her vibrant personality and left only a living shell behind.
The scratch of paper on paper startled him.
Reese slouched deeper in the wingback across the room, all attention riveted on the book he’d pretended to read for the last hour. He’d never known Reese to be a reader, and given his warrior’s attire, it sure wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his morning. Galena had probably guilted him into babysitting and brought the book to avoid meaningful chitchat. Still, good of the guy to keep Ramsay company. Especially when he factored in what a dick he’d been to Reese for the last seventy years.
Prying his fingers from their death clench, he stroked the area he’d healed on Trinity’s arm. Smooth, creamy skin. Not one mark left behind.
Well, no mark except the drastic change in her physical capabilities.
Idiot. He’d known better than to use that kind of energy on her. Healing humans was one thing, but healing a Myren with such an uncontrolled blast? Nothing short of a transition hot-wire.
“It was an accident.” Reese sat the open book in his lap and right-angled one leg over the other. “You didn’t know she was Myren.”
Well, technically he’d considered it. Hell, he’d hoped for it. But then he’d gotten so damned zeroed in on her being Spiritu, he’d forgotten the possible ties to his own race. “I was angry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“People do stupid shit. But the smart ones figure out where they went wrong and recalibrate.” Empathic words from a man who’d had his own lessons to learn. Seventy years he’d hid his ugly secret and lost everything he’d ever wanted in the process. Now he was a changed man, free of secrets and mated to the woman he’d always wanted.
“I guess that makes you pretty smart then,” Ramsay said.
“Took me long enough. Worth it though, to be with Galena.”
Ramsay flopped back in his chair, knees wide. “Still can’t believe we hung for four years and not once did you let on you had a thing for my sister.”
Four years of warrior training. Four years of having a friend of his own outside Ludan and Eryx. Until he’d used Reese’s perceived deceit to split ties and destroy the man he’d once called a friend.
Reese shrugged and shut the book. “You going to tell me you wouldn’t have punched me back then?”
“Not past punching you now.” Damn, but he hated when Eryx was right. He really had kept everyone at bay. He smoothed the back of his fingers against Trinity’s forearm. If he hadn’t been so stubborn, so guarded, things with Trinity could have gone a whole lot differently. “I ow
e you an apology.”
Reese cocked an eyebrow. “Thought we already covered that.”
He could let it slide. Not say another word and mosey on down the road. No vulnerability. Safe, but a total chicken-shit approach. “I apologized for judging you. Can’t say I’d have coped with Maxis being my brother any better than you did.” His lungs hitched and his tongue froze up, his mind glitching off line. “Truth is, I had no intention of letting you back in. Too risky.”
“Takes a while for trust to rebuild. Don’t blame you for that.”
Ramsay shook his head and refocused on Trinity. “You’re giving me too much credit.”
“Or you’re not giving yourself enough. Hate to point it out to you, but for a guy not interested in letting an old friend back in, it kinda sounds like you just took the first brick off that wall.”
Fucking Reese. Always able to see to the heart of everyone. Except himself. Probably the reason they’d gotten along in the first place. He shifted in his chair and fought to keep his feet still. He’d give anything to pace, maybe take about thirty minutes on a heavy bag to let out some tension.
“Why don’t you go check in with Eryx,” Reese said. “Grab some food. Bathe and change at least. If she does wake up, you’re going to scare the hell out of her.”
Ramsay held her hand. Warm, with a steady beat at her wrist, thank The Great One. “She doesn’t know you. I don’t want her to wake up without someone here she knows.”
If she wakes up.
The stupid thought had slammed around in his head so many times, his brain tissue was bruised. No one slept this long after an awakening. Even Lexi, who’d had the ritual from histus, woke up hours before this.
“Galena’s going to be here in another five minutes,” Reese said. “Go. Change. Stretch a little bit. I swear I’ll let you know if she wakes up.”
“She doesn’t know Galena either.”
“Really, man? We’re talking about your sister here. The one person in this family who could charm the horns off a demon.”
Waking Eden (The Eden Series Book 3) Page 18