Page 21

Awareness returned slowly, piece by agonizing piece. Every bit of me felt bruised and bloody, like I’d been taken apart piece by piece then haphazardly put back together.

So haphazardly, in fact, that it felt like there were still parts missing.

I instinctively twitched my fingers and toes, and though it hurt like blazes, they all responded. And yet, the notion that things had changed, that things were missing, grew.

I opened my eyes, only to be met with utter darkness. For an instant, panic surged, then the darkness gave way to silver glistening in a sea of black.

Stars, no longer stained by the bloody hue of the moon.

I wearily—carefully—rubbed my forehead, though it didn’t ease the pounding ache, and looked around. I was still lying on Kaia’s leg, my feet touching the end of her nostrils, her warm breath washing up my legs. She remained asleep, and though her thoughts were still and distant, I could still hear them.

What I couldn’t hear was the other drakkons.

I sat so abruptly, pain hit in a wave and doubled me over. I clasped my arms over my stomach and rocked back and forth, breathing deeply in an effort to control not only the agony but also the soft “What the fuck have I done?” litany running through my mind.

Footsteps approached, and I forced myself to look up. My vision swam, briefly blurring the figure, but it was very clearly female, not male.

The Prioress, not Damon.

Disappointment—and perhaps a touch of anger—washed much of the pain away. “Where is he?”

She stopped just shy of the circle we remained encased in and raised an eyebrow, her expression tolerantly amused. “I’m so pleased to see you, too.”

“I haven’t the energy for word play right now—where is he?”

“The scribes weren’t working in this place, so he returned to Esan in order to report to your parents.”

It wasn’t a lie... but it wasn’t the entire truth, either. “Why didn’t you go?”

“Your appreciation of my presence and my efforts truly makes my heart swell.”

I sucked in another breath and tried to calm the anxious anger rising within. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so?—”

“Rude? Ungrateful? Curt?”

I waved a hand, the movement weak. “All of the above.”

She sniffed and crossed her arms. “How do you feel?”

“Weirdly incomplete... and I can’t hear the other drakkons. Are they okay?”

“They’re all alive, if that’s what you’re asking. Whether they are all okay is something we will only know when they wake.”

“Kele and Hannity?”

“Also alive. They, like their drakkons, stir, but have not as yet woken. I expect they will soon.”

“If the drakkons stir, why can’t I hear them?”

“Because, dear child, you bound your being—your essence—to your drakkon. Any ability to hear the others has now likely gone. We did warn there would be a cost, remember, and if that is the only loss you face, then you will have escaped lightly. Can you flame?”

I reached for my inner flames, but pain rose instead, clubbing me so hard that tears sprang to my eyes. I gasped and bent over, once again clutching my stomach even though the pain was absolutely everywhere.

“That would be a no, then,” the witch replied, somewhat dryly. “Though I do suspect it’s too soon to be testing the range and limitations of the merging. You will need more time for flesh and essence to heal.”

“We haven’t got time,” I ground out, rocking back and forth again in an effort to control the waves of agony still rolling through me.

“The spells performed here tonight are the most powerful spells Angolan witches have ever done, and the fact all survived is a miracle. The bigger miracle will be them working as designed. Remember, while the base spell was listed in our archives, the framework we built it upon was never tested, hence our harping on the dangers involved.”

I nodded. There was nothing I could say, nothing I could do now, except hope. “Is Damon okay? I’m aware blood magic takes a serious toll on the body?—”

“Indeed, it does, which is why I stepped in to finish the spell. We could not afford to have him drained to the point of utter exhaustion. Not now.”

I frowned. “Why not now?”

She waved the question away. “He will tell you when he is able.”

“A reply he’s made multiple times and, let me tell you, one I’m getting mighty tired of hearing.”

“There are many sorts of evil in this world, young woman, and sometimes it takes the form of a king who believes there is nothing more divine in these lands than his right to rule.”

Which was basic confirmation that Aric was behind whatever was going on with Damon. “My mother’s visions suggest it involves Damon’s sisters as much as his father—do you deny that?”

“I neither deny nor confirm. It is not my place.”

“But what harm can there be in at least joining the dots?—”

“There will be no dots connected on my watch. As I have said, it is for Damon to tell you, and he is not likely to do so until the problem has been sorted, one way or another. Now, you should close your eyes and get more rest, while you still can. Darkness comes, and you must be prepared to fight.”

“I can’t fight without fire.”

“You are more than your flame, young woman, and you jump to conclusions that are far from reality just yet. As I said, the spell appears to be successful, but it will take time for body and soul to heal. Only then will you and the drakkons be able to access old skills and new. Now, go to sleep.”

Though I was desperate to question her further, her magic obviously still lingered within the circle, because my eyes closed, and I was soon fast asleep.

When I next awoke, Kaia’s thoughts were alive in mine. Even though I’d sensed her the first time I woke, the relief that swept me was so fierce tears stung my eyes. I’d lost the other drakkons—and likely my ability to talk to any other animal, including Desta and my grey hawk, Veri—but at least I still had Kaia.

No feel fire , she said.

“Nor I. The witches believe it will take a little time for our bodies to recover.”

Feel no heat within.

“I can’t either, but it’ll come.” I had to believe that. Had to believe the risks we’d all taken were not for nothing. “Can you still talk to the other drakkons?”

Yes. They not happy. No fire.

I laughed softly but didn’t reply as the Prioress returned. She didn’t say anything, nor did she look at us. She stopped inches away from the circle, a knife held loosely in one hand and her other raised. After sprinkling what looked to be more herbs onto the ground, she began to spell. As the power lingering within the circle pulsed in time to the rhythm of her words, she raised the knife and sliced open the tip of her finger. Once the steel had been bloodied, she bent and dragged the point through the line of herbs and jewels. The power remaining within the circle bled through the fine gap she’d created, and the air seemed suddenly colder.

She straightened and wiped her blade clean on a cloth. “You may both leave the circle now, but try not to do anything too strenuous for the next twenty-four hours. As I have said, your essences need time to embrace the abilities we have cross-pollinated.”

I climbed from Kaia’s claws and walked a little unsteadily toward her. “Do we have to stay here? Or can we return to Esan?”

“I do not think any of us want to remain here longer than necessary. Besides, we will need your guidance back through the tunnels.”

I stepped past her, heading for my clothes. Behind me, Kaia rose and stretched. Am hungry.

So was I. Famished, in fact. She said not to hunt.

Am queen. Others hunt for me.

Can you order them to hunt for Yara and Rua too? They need to rest as well.

Will. They want flame. Won’t risk losing.

I shivered my way into my clothes, then tugged on my boots, an exercise that left me exhausted and panting. Walking down the mountain would likely be a nightmare. As I laced up my coat, I met the Prioress’s gaze and said, “I got the distinct impression from Damon that coming into Esan was not something you’d planned.”

“You have more riders and drakkons to magic, do you not?”

“Well, yes, but?—”

“Young lady, I am old. I need my comforts—bath, hot food, good conversation. There is none of those things to be found here.”

For drakkons, perfect, Kaia commented. Go now, see Gria .

She rose and, moving at a far more cautious pace than normal, left the upper aerie. As Yara and Rua followed, I spotted Kele and Hannity getting dressed.

I slowly headed over, nodding at the two younger witches as they walked past to join the Prioress. Both looked pale and drawn, their faces almost skeletal. It suggested the Prioress hadn’t stepped in for them, and I couldn’t help but wonder again why she’d done so for Damon. There was something other than Kaia’s size behind it; of that, I was sure.

I stopped in front of Kele and Hannity. They looked as crappy as I felt, which in some ways was comforting.

“Before you ask, I feel like I’ve been trampled by a herd of capra,” Kele said. “Who fucking knew the mere act of breathing could hurt so much?”

“You’ve obviously never broken ribs.” I glanced at Hannity. “And you?”

She grinned. “I can hear Rua. I can talk to her. Who cares if every bit of me is screaming in pain?”

“I care,” Kele said. “Especially when I can’t reach my fire. I hit a wall of pain every time I try.”

“Apparently our ‘essences’ have to heal before we’ll know if the transference really worked or not, and that may take twenty-four hours or more,” I said. “In the meantime, we should get back to Esan and see what has happened while we’ve been gone.”

“If they’d been attacked, we would have seen the smoke, at the very least.” Hannity’s gaze was on the aerie’s entry. “But dawn rises, and the sky is clear.”

I glanced over my shoulder. She was right, but that didn’t help the deep-down uneasiness. “Kele, you lead. Hannity, keep close to our witches. I’ll take rear guard.”

Kele frowned. “Why the cautiousness? No one is going to attack us in the aerie, and the drakkons are no danger.”

“I know. I just—” I stopped and shrugged.

Kele grimaced and glanced at Hannity. “Meaning, her gut is telling her trouble is closing in.”

Hannity’s eyebrows rose, amusement lurking. “And is her gut generally right?”

“Sadly, yes.” She saluted me lightly, then gathered the now empty packs that had held the smoked white fin and headed across the vast, still-shadowed emptiness, making her way toward the ramp. Hannity walked over to the witches and asked them to follow her, then followed Kele across the aerie. I watched for a second, then walked to the very edge of the aerie’s entrance, one hand on the wall to steady myself as the wind tugged at my hair and limbs. Esan glistened like a black jewel far below me, but in Mareritten, dust rose. They were on the move—and Esan would not see them. Not even the war room, lined as it was with long viewing tubes, could see that far into their lands.

The death I’d dreamed of was coming.

I needed to get home and warn my father.

I spun on my heel and headed for the exit ramp. The ruddy glow of the sands in the bottom cavern lent the air a deep warmth, but there was a chill growing inside of me now, and it was all I could do not to push into a run. The Prioress had warned me not to do anything strenuous, and the last thing I needed was to endanger the healing and perhaps destroy the bonding.

Could it be destroyed, without destroying us both?

I didn’t know, and I certainly didn’t want to find out.

But not knowing how well it had—or hadn’t—worked was so damn frustrating .

I flexed my fingers, but no fire warmed their tips. I yet again reached for my flames, and yet again hit that wall of pain. I swore and closed my eyes, breathing slow and deep until the pain fractured and slipped away. Maybe it was my imagination, but that seemed to happen a whole lot faster this time than it had only minutes ago.

We reached the breeding cavern, and Gria ambled over for her ridge scratch. I complied but could see the confusion flicker through her eyes. Once again, a deep sense of loss swept me. I didn’t regret the decision I’d made, because it was necessary and needed, and yet... I gulped and glanced at Kaia. Have you told her the spell that shared my fire took my ability to speak to her?

Have. Said she wants fire, but also wants to speak . Should still understand your talk because we kin.

And there was only one way to test that.... “You’ll be able to speak to your own rider, Gria, if that’s what you want when you’re older.”

Wants , came Kaia’s amused reply.

I glanced at her again. Will the other drakkons?

Five more come.

Which would give us eight fire-breathing drakkons if we could find more stregas willing to become kin. Presuming, of course, the spell did work as it was intended. I scratched Gria’s eye ridge a final time, then hurried after the other women. But as I neared the tunnel, I spotted the harness hanging on the wall, and instinct twitched.

I stopped. “Kaia, would you mind terribly if I put the harness on you?”

Why necessary?

“The Mareritt are coming—I saw the dust of their movement rising from the upper cavern—and we may not have time to get back up here. If you’re wearing the harness, you can come to us.”

We still fight if no flame?

“Yes. I have arrows and I can get spears. Both will kill the Mareritt, as will your claws.”

Like this plan. Do.

I glanced at the younger drakkons. “Yara and Rua? Can I harness you?”

Both say yes.

“Thank you,” I said to them both.

I grabbed the harnesses from the hooks and carried them over. I started with Rua and worked my way around. By the time I’d finished Kaia, I was shaking with exhaustion and dripping with sweat.

So much for not doing anything too strenuous.

I gave all three drakkons an eye scratch, then finally left. I’d expected to be well behind the others but found them waiting for me near the exit onto the mountain path.

The Prioress looked me up and down, then sniffed. “You look like shit. Take this.”

She thrust a brown bottle at me. I accepted it somewhat dubiously. “What is it?”

“Strength potion, and you’ll be needing it. Trust me on that.”

I raised an eyebrow and gulped it down. It tasted like mud. Sour mud. I blanched, and the Prioress chuckled. “Has that effect on some, but it’s always a good sign. Means it’s likely to be more potent in your system.”

“Meaning it’s likely to be less so in mine because I didn’t react that way?” Hannity asked.

“Maybe. And maybe it just means your system needs less boosting.” The Prioress accepted the bottle back from me, then glanced at Kele. “Off your butt, young woman. We need to get moving again. I feel breakfast a-calling me.”

With a slight groan, Kele obeyed. The two younger witches followed her through the crooked exit, with Hannity behind them.

The Prioress didn’t follow, instead drawing a scribe quill and tablet from her pack and shoving them toward me. “Damon will have made arrangements with your father to have rooms ready for us all, but it would be best if you warn him we’re on our way and will brook no delay in reaching our accommodation. If he wants a report, we shall provide one once rested.”

And that was an order, not a suggestion. I raised my eyebrows but, as she followed the others, nevertheless obeyed.

Damon did say the Prioress would likely demand rest on arrival, came the response. Was the spell successful?

Unknown. I’ll explain when I get there.

No, you’ll explain once you’ve rested. Rion can wait.

Meaning it was Mom manning the scribe, not my father. Tell him the Mareritt are on the move, and if the dust was any indication, there’s a lot of them.

I will. I’ll also arrange for a meal and shamoke to be waiting for you in your room.

Thanks, Mom. I paused briefly. Is Damon there?

He went to rest after reporting to us last night. Haven’t seen him so far today.

Which, given it was still relatively early, wasn’t really surprising. And yet, that annoying spark of suspicion rose within me again. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was happening. That the witches, while they were definitely here to help us, were very much involved in whatever else Damon was doing.

If you do see him, tell him I’m on my way home.

But even as I wrote that, I knew she wouldn’t be seeing him.

And Vahree only knew how damn frustrating it was to be getting these snippets of suspicion without getting anything in the way of answers.

The cursor blinked out. I tucked the quill and tablet into a pocket and started after the others. It was a long and tiring journey down the mountain, made worse by the torrential rain that swept in when we were halfway down. By the time we reached the gates, I was soaking wet, freezing cold, and barely able to remain upright.

I wasn’t the only one. Kele looked bone weary, Hannity was shivering so badly her teeth chattered, and the two younger witches looked like death warmed up. Even the Prioress looked pale and gaunt.

Two guards met us on the other side of the gate and immediately escorted the Angolans away. I told Kele and Hannity to rest until I contacted them, then forced my feet on, crossing the courtyard to the palace. Men and women scurried about, preparing for the upcoming attack and the possible evac of noncombatants. I had no doubt there would be the same hive of activity happening across Esan’s many levels.

I made it up the palace’s outside and inside steps without collapsing, but I was barely moving by the time I reached my suite. It was only the desperate need to see my husband that kept me going.

I stumbled through the door, then closed it behind me and just stood there, my gaze sweeping the suite, searching for the man whose scent lingered. He wasn’t here but the supposed “test” circle was, and it was clearly pulsing and active.

It also looked nothing like the circle he’d encased Kaia and me in.

I forced my feet on, stumbling across the room until I hit the spell’s protective barrier. Energy rippled across its surface and stung my skin. I stepped back, shivering, wondering what in Vahree’s name this thing did.

I didn’t know, but I’d wager the Prioress did. If I’d had the energy, I would have stormed over to her guest room and demanded answers, even knowing the futility of doing so.

But I didn’t, so I stumbled over to the seating area, where Mom’s promised meal and shamoke awaited. After consuming enough of both to feed a drakkling, I stripped off, then stepped onto the bed platform and fell into bed, where I slept like the dead, undisturbed by dreams of doom.

And yet the awareness of its fast approach continued to pulse through me when I finally awoke.

For several minutes, I didn’t move. I didn’t even open my eyes. I just listened to the external noises of a palace going about its business. Nothing in those sounds suggested a problem, let alone an attack—and we were prepared for the latter—so why did the certainty of death keep growing?

Had the spells done something strange to my other strega skills? In taking away my ability to speak to all other animals, had it somehow strengthened by hereto unheralded seer skills? I wasn’t—and never would be—as powerful as Mom, even when her skills were playing hard to get, but it would at least explain the deep knot of wrongness growing in my gut.

What I didn’t hear, of course, was the background chatter of birds, coursers, and all the other animals that inhabited the palace and the skies. I hadn’t always acknowledged that chatter—hadn’t even been aware of it most of the time—but now that it was gone, it had left a huge well of silence that could not be ignored.

I pushed back the brief welling of... not regret, but certainly grief... for all that I’d lost and reached again for my flames. Once again, I hit that wall of pain. This time, though, I did at least feel some warmth behind it.

Whether the wall dividing me from it would ever fall was a question yet to be answered.

I also feel heat , came Kaia’s response. It deep in gut. Can’t reach.