by S. D. Grimm
His mother had always told him the women worth chasing were mysterious. Boy, was she right.
Chapter 42
Dangerous
and Beautiful
Serena’s eyelids fluttered open. The familiar reliefs on the walls and the gray woolen blanket tucked around her told her that she was still in the Tree of Wisdom.
No pull in her chest let her know that people had entered one of the Healer’s sacred places to request healing, so Logan had either died or was no longer in need of a Healer’s touch.
Hunger pangs gnawed at her insides. How long had she been recovering from the sting of venom in her veins? Many Healers slept for up to seven days. Powerful ones, like Tabitha and Lydia, had been known to only sleep for a day or two when they worked together. Three and a half days if they healed alone.
The candles, dispersed all over the walls of the tree, were lit and the rose petals used to make them gave the room a comforting smell. Slowly Serena sat up. The blanket fell to her waist. The reddish wolf who had stuck close to Logan jumped down from the bed and silently padded over to her. His mate followed him.
They were graceful animals, wolves. Serena had never really thought of them as such. Large and intimidating by their very presence. Stealthy to the core. But also graceful. These two were beautiful. Like dragons.
If any Healer ever knew she’d even had that thought about dragons, they’d surely switch her arms until the gash was deep enough to remain open for more than a moment.
Dragons. Healers called them kin of death. But they weren’t. At least, she didn’t think so. They were made by the Creator during the days of creation. Formed with light and love. Blessed with gifts like all creation. How could something like that be considered evil? How could something like that be lumped in with the vile creatures that were made after the days of creation had ended? Born of shadow and malice and envy. Creatures of the Mistress of Shadows, born to destroy and kill.
History stated that the Mistress had created a dragon of her own. Her personal mount. But surely that creature could not compare to the animals the Creator had made.
Serena’s gaze turned to the man on the table. Logan.
Her father.
All her life, she had been told he was dangerous. That he would take her to the queen if he ever found her. All her life, Serena had feared this man.
She rose. The edge of her white silk skirt fell to her feet. The wolves walked with her the few steps to where Logan lay.
She placed her fingers on his temples. He felt weak, but his strength was quickly returning. When it finally did, how would she face him without trembling?
“Will he be all right?” Ethan joined her at Logan’s side, his faithful dog following.
She smiled. “He is gaining strength as we speak. How long have I been asleep?”
“It’s evening.”
“What day?”
“The same day. Or the next day, depending. I mean, it hasn’t been a full day since—”
Serena turned to face Ethan, heart hammering. “Not even a whole day? Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Ethan’s eyebrows furrowed. “Are you okay?”
Blood still stained his arms and clothes, his shirt was torn in various places. Of course it was the same day.
“I’m fine. How are you?” Serena raised her hand to touch Ethan’s temple. He held perfectly still. The black lion had sunk its claws into him, yet no venom had tainted him. Strange. Perhaps the beast’s claws weren’t red when they cut him. That would mean venom wasn’t being pulsed into him.
Serena looked into Ethan’s eyes. The strange pull tugged between them even stronger than before. Could he feel it?
His eyes rounded. “Please, pretend you’re sleeping. The dark-haired woman said she could only keep the Circle out of here until you woke up. I don’t know what they’ll do if—”
The door opened and Ethan whirled to face it, sword ready.
Rochelle came through the opening. “I brought some supper.”
“Any news?” Serena put a hand on Ethan’s bloody arm and he put his weapon away.
Dash’s head entered the tree. “Glad to see you awake.”
“It hasn’t even been a day!”
“Didn’t you think you could do it?”
“I wasn’t sure, but I should still be asleep from the venom.”
“You’re more powerful than even Tabitha and Lydia thought.”
Dash’s words resounded in Serena’s thoughts. They knew she was powerful, but this powerful? They’d never let her leave now. Let her do the good that she could be doing out in the world. But that was a whole different matter.
Rochelle closed the door when Dash left. “The Circle is still in a meeting. They won’t come out until everyone is in agreement.” She moved close to Serena. “Dash said you were awake, but I was surprised.” She leaned in and spoke for Serena’s ears alone. “I wish to come with you.”
Serena’s thoughts raced. Did they all expect her to leave with Logan?
It was true—something connected her to Ethan and Jayden. But to leave? This was the only home she’d ever known. Not family, perhaps. But could she, a girl abandoned by two families, ever hope to belong?
“Serena? Have I upset you?”
She touched Rochelle’s hands. “No.” Having Rochelle with her would ease her worry with Logan, but if Rochelle remained here, that could be good for other things. Possibilities flooded her thoughts. “Right now, let’s sort out this mess with the Circle.”
“Of course.” Rochelle set a tray of biscuits and fruit on the table. “Miranda has gone to the library to look up something in the Old Custom that might let you be free to go with them.”
“Really?” Why was Miranda so willing to help? “What kinds of things?”
“About bonds. Perhaps I should check on her?”
“I think that would be wise.”
“I won’t tell anyone you are awake until I am asked.”
As if that would delay things. Serena sighed. “Thank you, Rochelle, but the Circle will demand an update as soon as they come to a convenient conclusion.”
Ethan rubbed the hilt of his sword. “We’ll leave. We’ll take Logan and leave before they come.”
Jayden gravitated closer to him. “You sense something?”
“Nothing helpful.”
Jayden put a hand on his shoulder. “You need to relax.”
“Relax?”
“Jayden’s right.” Serena’s comment bought her both of their attention. “I think the best thing to do will be to wait and see what Miranda finds. Then we can plan what we’ll say to the Circle.”
“Why are you still wearing your bloody clothes?” Rochelle blinked. She was staring at Ethan. She motioned toward the back door of the tree. “There is a brook right out back. And I imagine I could find you a shirt. That bloody, shredded linen you’re wearing is not fit for clothing.”
Ethan turned his arms over and picked at his shirt, inspecting it for what looked like the first time. “I have a different shirt.”
Rochelle smiled at him. “I’ll fetch one for you.”
“I can fetch my own shirt.”
“Ethan.” Jayden extended her hand. “Give me that sorry excuse for a shirt, and go wash.”
Ethan clenched his jaw, pulled the shirt over his head, and tossed it at Jayden. “Sitting around here isn’t doing any good.” He headed out the door.
When he was gone, Serena turned to Jayden. “He’s right, you know.” Serena tried a smile. Clearly she was tied to Jayden, too, but more than that, Jayden was a kin to her. She could not help but like her immediately.
Jayden simply raised an eyebrow. “You have some sort of plan?”
Perhaps Jayden did not return the same immediate affection. Serena cleared her throat. “I am still working on that.”
Jayden walked over to Logan. “He’s not dangerous to you.”
A tight ball formed in Serena’s throat. Men had been responsible for the Imprisonmen
t of the Healers. Only women could be born Healers. Something about bonding to unicorns. “For centuries, Healers have tried trusting men. There isn’t one story in the history books that tells of a Healer who wasn’t betrayed by the man she trusted. Used. Raped. Imprisoned to make more Healers.” The only man she’d ever known, the one she’d called father, had betrayed her, too. And Logan had been the one to choose this other man to raise her.
She looked over at Jayden and saw the horror she felt mirrored in her sister-kin’s eyes. “We don’t generally trust men.”
“Perhaps they don’t tell the good stories.”
“Perhaps there aren’t enough worth mentioning.” But Ryan and Ethan were. Surely there were others out there like them.
“I can assure you, Logan is different.”
Serena composed herself. “There was a letter, written by my mother, saying he would take me to the queen.”
“That’s a lie. How do you not see it?” Jayden fisted her hands. “Logan’s son, another of the Deliverers, was taken by your mother to the queen. Not by him. Logan will protect you from the enemy. Can’t you see I’m telling the truth?”
“I can. But if Logan lied to you and you believed him, you could be telling me the truth and it could still be a lie.”
Jayden straightened her spine and crossed her arms. “Then when Logan wakes, you can ask him yourself.”
The fire in Jayden’s voice made Serena smile a little. “It does comfort me that you trust him so much.”
“Good.” Jayden’s eyes narrowed. “But you trust Ethan, don’t you? How does that make sense?”
“Ethan is . . . different.”
A flush of red dotted Jayden’s cheeks. “Really? How?”
The door creaked open and Rochelle returned with a shirt for Ethan. “I found this and had to tell Mary that it was for Ethan, but I did get a shirt for Logan as well, since his is ruined.” She set the clothes down. “Did I interrupt something?”
Something Jayden said sparked a thought cycle. “Rochelle, I need you to go to my room. Take this key.” She handed Rochelle the cord she wore around her neck. A metal key dangled on the end. “There’s a box under my bed. This will open it. There’s a letter inside marked with the red wolf-head seal. Please bring it to me?”
Rochelle took the key. “Of course.”
She’d have Logan read the note when he woke. Then she’d learn the truth.
And why had no one else thought to test the letter? Oh, right. Of course it was true because Logan was a man. By his very nature, he meant to harm her.
The door opened and Ethan returned shirtless, his dark hair wet. He sat next to them, one hand propped on his bent knee. “Have you given any more thought to how we’re going to get out of here?”
Serena’s stomach clenched. Going with them meant trusting them. All of them. “When you say ‘we’ . . .”
Jayden put a hand on Serena’s shoulder. “You mean to come with us, don’t you? You have to—”
“She doesn’t have to, Jayden.” Ethan’s eyes met Serena’s gaze.
She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him. He had no idea how much it meant to her that she would actually have a choice.
Ethan’s eyebrows drew together. “Hey, it’s your Destiny Path. No one can walk it for you. Besides, we aren’t going to force you to do anything. Okay?”
How did he do that? Understand her so easily. He had to feel the connection.
“I—” She wanted to say she’d go with them. She wanted to go with them. If Ethan left this place, she’d follow this time. She’d trust him with her life, and she’d protect him with hers. “I need to talk to Logan first.”
Ethan nodded.
“Ethan, she’s one of the Deliverers. If she doesn’t come with us and Franco gets his hands on her—”
“I know, Jayden. But don’t you remember how unwilling you were to take up this Destiny?” The lopsided smile he gave her was so different than the one he showed Serena.
Jayden faced Serena. “I was reluctant. I thought the Feravolk killed my family. Helping them was not something I was willing to do. I know you don’t trust men, but you do trust me?”
Trust. Such a heavy word.
Serena closed her eyes and breathed in.
Jayden’s voice was quiet. “Strange. I thought I felt connected to you. I thought we were bound together somehow.”
“I do feel it.” Serena opened her eyes. “I feel connected to both of you.” She glanced at Ethan and he smiled back.
“Good.” Ethan leaned back against the inside wall of the tree. “So I guess that means we wait here until Logan wakes up?”
Serena’s gaze fell on a thick, red scar on the right side of Ethan’s stomach. The Healer’s compassion in her grew like a white-hot fire. The scar appeared healed, but a dull ache still emanated from it. She stood and plucked the shirt Rochelle had brought off the table and gave it to Ethan. Then she leaned closer.
“What happened?” She motioned toward the scar.
“It’s already healed.”
She hovered her hand over it. Opened a different door of her talent. Not the door for Healing, but for probing. A dangerous door, but not for what she wanted to do. Besides, if she was about to follow these two into the unknown, she should really check to see how much of her talent she could control. How much of the forbidden parts. “Forgive me, Dash.”
A stabbing sensation filled her middle and sliced through her. She wanted to retch, but she probed deeper. She needed to know what had happened to Ethan when he’d receive this injury. If it was possible that the legends were true. The pain churned her stomach, forced tears to her eyes.
A strong grip curled around her wrist, broke the connection.
She stumbled to the ground, Ethan still gripping her arms. The wild look in his eyes told her that she’d scared him more than herself.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She caught her breath. He might have broken her connection before she was done, but she’d seen enough to know what was possible for at least one Healer.
“You—you could feel it, couldn’t you?” Jayden stared at her with her eyes wide. “His scar. You could feel what happened to him?”
Serena trembled. “Yes.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Feel?”
Serena stared at him. “Ethan, how are you alive?”
He released her arms and shrank away from her, a cornered-gryphon look in his eye. “What are you talking about?”
Oh, he knew very well what she was talking about. “A sword stabbed you through.”
He was quiet for a while. “I remember.”
Jayden gasped. “How did you survive that?”
Serena cocked an eyebrow. “My question exactly.”
Ethan glared at Serena, then looked at his lap. “Obviously someone knew what they were doing when they took care of me.”
“Obviously,” Jayden whispered.
It looked like he wasn’t going to give her the information she needed right now. There was time. Serena turned to Jayden. “How did you know I could feel it?”
“I spoke with Rochelle last night. She told me how you feel what you’re healing.”
Ethan ripped the shirt from Serena’s hand. “I told you, it’s healed. And what do you mean feel what you’re healing?”
“Legend says we can feel things from scars. They don’t teach that here. Healers don’t exactly have scars, so I was curious.”
“Curious?” Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. “Serena—”
“I just want to know what I’m capable of. The things they don’t teach here. Why would the Creator give us these other powers if He didn’t intend for us to use them?”
Dark powers.
Ancient powers that play with fire.
Like a dragon, unicorns were beautiful and dangerous.
Ethan made hard eye contact with her. “If you can feel what you are healing, then let’s get one thing straight—”
“Ethan,
healing is my job. I’ll heal whom I choose when I choose, and asking me to refrain is nothing short of insulting.” She locked eyes with him.
His jaw clenched several times before he nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He pulled the shirt over his head.
The shirt was a brilliant white with laced cuffs and a wide collar that hung to his shoulders. Serena pressed her fingers to her lips to hide a smile. Even Jayden giggled.
Ethan looked down at himself. “This isn’t my shirt. Where’d you get it? The palace?”
Jayden’s laughter exploded. “The frilly sleeves are quite becoming.”
He gave Jayden a wry smile. The three of them laughed together and Serena sighed. Something about this moment. It was almost how she imagined it would be to have a family. A strange lump formed in her throat.
Jayden glanced at her. “Are you all right?”
Serena nodded. “So, you think I’m a Deliverer?”
“You most certainly are.”
“So I’m supposed to help keep the Mistress of Shadows from escaping? I know she’s close. The black lions have been back hunting unicorns since before I was born. But how are we to do this?”
“We need to find our Whisperer. She will guide us.”
“Whisperer. You’ve come to the right place. The Healers of the Forest of Legends guard the stone of Ishkar.”
“What’s that?” Ethan asked.
The stone. Healers were supposed to protect that stone with their lives. That and the sword . . . she shook her head. They didn’t want the sword. Besides, they needed the stone to find their Whisperer if they were to defeat the Mistress. “I’ll take you to it.”
Chapter 43
The Stone
of Ishkar
Jayden bit her bottom lip. Was it really that simple? Could Thea really be trying to help her? She’d been right about the woman who couldn’t see and now the stone of Ishkar. And, as much as Jayden didn’t want to admit it, Thea had been right about “The Frog and Fox.”
Did that mean she couldn’t have Ethan?
Of course it did.
Because Thea was also right about Jayden’s death.
Letting Ethan know how she felt would only end in heartache—his heartache—assuming he’d grown to feel the same way about her. Jayden looked at Logan’s still form. He breathed easier, as if he were just sleeping. As soon as he woke, she’d tell him what Thea had said about heading to Balta after meeting their Healer, because she wasn’t about to lead them all into capture.