Page 35 of Shadow Boxed (Shadow Warriors #2)
As soon as he said her name, Jillian shifted to face him.
Her dark, cloudy gaze touched his face, then slid back to the bacon.
He froze. It was unlike his le'ven'a to react to voices…
even those that spoke her name. Also...was there less murkiness in her gaze?
More awareness? He thought this might be true. But he could not be certain.
Wishful thinking could also be at work.
“No more than what I told you yesterday.” She picked up the metal spatula sitting on the counter and waved it at him.
“The screaming mother wants us here. This is all she has said.” She worked the spatula beneath the eggs and carefully flipped them, then picked up the saltshaker.
“If we had a Taounaha, one who does not shirk his duty, we could ask the elder gods why the screaming mother wants us here. Or even who the screaming mother is.” She split the bacon and eggs between three plates and pushed them to the back of the kitchen counter.
Wolf forced his gaze from Jillian’s quiet face back to his mother’s, which was far from quiet. Indeed, her annoyance crinkled the skin around her eyes and pinched her lips.
“Things are not —” He broke off, his jaw dropping as Jillian suddenly rose from her chair and headed for the food without being encouraged to do so.
She picked up the middle plate, along with a fork, and returned to the table, digging into the bacon and eggs like she was famished. Which she probably was. It had been years since she’d put anything in her mouth without being bullied into it. Years of barely eating enough to keep a bird alive.
Acting upon her own impulses was not normal Jillian behavior.
Something had changed.
“When did this start?” He pointed his chin toward the woman at the table, who was scraping the last of the eggs off her plate, while holding a strip of bacon.
His anistaa followed his glance toward the table and a troubled frown pleated her forehead. “Since the heschrmal claimed her. She shows initiative now. More each day.”
Yet his anistaa appeared unnerved, rather than happy, with Jillian’s newfound progress.
“Does she speak?” It had been years since he’d heard his le'ven'a’s voice. So long ago, he’d since forgotten what she sounded like.
“No. Not yet. Although I believe she will find her voice soon.” The frown had returned to pull at the corner of her eyes. She turned from the table and picked up the other two plates, handing one to Wolf. “Sit. Eat. Only then will we talk.”
Although he wasn’t hungry, he followed his anistaa to the table and took a seat opposite Jillian.
His mother took the chair between them. Before he had a chance to pick up his fork, Jillian rose from the table and silently drifted out of the room.
He watched her wander down the hall before disappearing into one of the bedrooms. Moments later, she re-emerged with a bundle of clothes.
His eyebrows rose as she walked across the hall to the bathroom and closed the door.
Seconds later, the sound of running water drifted down the hallway.
“Did you tell her previously to shower?” This was something his shadow le'ven'a had not undertaken without direct instruction for years.
“No.” his anistaa shook her head while watching the hall.
That strange look of hesitation touched her face again.
“She bathes now, and changes clothes on her own initiative. Just as she eats.” She paused before adding with a slightly stunned note to her voice, “When you sent your helicopter for us, I could not find her in the house, so I went looking. She was outside, sitting next to the creek. Her heschrmal beside her, lying with its chin on her thigh.”
“You said it visits her often?” He should ask O’Neill if Gracie’s Ho'cee visited her often as well. “These visits must signify something…but what?”
“I do not know,” his mother said quietly, her gaze still locked on the hall.
“But with every visit of her spirit guide, Jillian appears to grow stronger, more aware.” She sighed and shook her head.
“If only we had a Taounaha to explain what this behavior means.” The annoyance had left her voice, only for worry to replace it.
“The multiple visits are not the only anomaly,” Wolf reminded her.
“The fact it chose Jillian out of all the Kalikoia available is strange as well.” He hesitated, reluctant to return to Aiden’s Taounaha calling, but this information would ease her worry.
“We do have a possible recourse in our efforts to communicate with the elder gods.” He chose his words with care, aware his anistaa preferred to pretend his father’s other children did not exist. “Benioko has been walking through Aiden’s dreams. Passing on wisdom from the Shadow Warrior.
I have convinced Aiden to ask Benioko about Jillian’s heschrmal claiming next time he dreams.”
His anistaa’s face shuttered. “I am not one to question the elder gods’ wisdom. But mark my words. This will not end well. The Shadow Warrior would do well to choose another, one with ties to the Hee'woo'nee . One more suited to the Taounaha role .”
Wolf grimaced. He could not disagree with her.