Page 17 of The Healing Dragon (The Red Book #2)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JANELLE

W e wait for the guards to return from the meeting.

Only those on duty are left patrolling the grounds by the time we step out.

Thankfully none of the night patrols take place inside the house.

We silently make our way down the hall. From the sounds coming from behind the doors, the men have just turned in for the night.

I know whatever Jesse saw and heard in tonight’s meeting is the reason we’re acting on the spot.

I’ve never been one to ask too many questions but given the circumstances, I would like to know.

However, Matias doesn’t have time. He is going to be subjected to that torture again if we leave him here.

I need to take this opportunity to get him out.

“We need to make one stop before we go,” I say and gesture for Jesse to follow me.

I walk past the stairs and head towards the soldiers’ bedrooms. Jesse doesn’t argue with me, which means he knows whose room we are going to visit.

I place my hand on the door handle and slowly twist it, trying to make no noise. Once open, I move inside in quiet feet .

“Oli,” I say into the darkness.

There is a rustle of sheets, then the bedside table light turns on.

Oli’s sleepy form comes into view. His eyes are squinted and hair turning in all directions.

A glint of guilt stabs at my chest at the idea I will leave him behind once again.

But there is no way I can take him with us now.

We will risk our lives getting out of here.

I’ll return for Oli when it’s safer to do so.

“You are leaving?” He asks, already looking more awake than he was just a second before.

“I am.”

Oli looks over my shoulder. Jesse has removed the cloak from his head. He’s currently a floating head, but with a look of determination in his eyes.

“Be safe,” he says to both of us.

I lean closer and kiss his cheek. Oli pulls me into a hug and I soak in as much of the goodness as possible. It’s hard, but I pull away from his embrace.

“This is not goodbye, but see you later,” I say.

“You can only keep your promise to me if you keep yourself safe enough to fulfill it,” he says, referring to my promise of one day being able to take him home.

“That’s right.” I nod, trying to look away before the tears threatening to spill win.

Jesse’s hand on my shoulder is a reminder that we need to get moving.

With one last look at Oli, we step out of the room and into the dark hallway.

Everyone seems to be in their rooms, but we are still careful to not make noise as we pass the soldiers’ rooms. As we reach the stairs to go down, I see a silhouette standing in front of my bedroom door.

I don’t realize who it is until they walk closer to the stairs.

“What are you doing, Janelle?” she asks.

One of her hands is on her chest and the other is brushing her bottom lip. Her wide eyes move from Jesse’s to me. He never placed the cloak back over his head.

“You’re not supposed to be friends with him. I already told you. How many times did I tell you?”

“Mother.” I take a step closer to her and gesture with my hands to lower her voice. “Please stop.” I look behind us to the hall where all of my father’s men are sleeping.

“His friendship was never a good idea. Why wouldn’t you listen and stay away?” She shakes her head with disapproval.

Her voice sounds lucid and very much the woman she once was, but the back-and-forth questions remind me that my mother will never be fully back. Not to the normal person she was before my father took it all from her. Losing her magic took part of her sanity.

“He is going to be very upset.” She looks off to the stairs railing. “Whatever you are planning, stop and go to bed.”

She crosses her arms as if her request isn’t ridiculous and I will simply obey. She knows exactly what I’m going to do. At least part of it.

“You know I can’t do that. You know why. He can’t get away with this. The book belongs to the King.” I try to reason with her, to no avail.

“He might not be a good man, Janelle, but he is your father and you need to obey him.”

“At what cost?” I ask.

I always wanted to know. Where would she stop? What truly would be the point my mother would no longer fall victim to him.

“He took your magic and your title. What else will you give him?”

“This is wrong.” She stumps her foot. “You will ruin everything!”

“I would?” I take a step back and bite down the bitter laugh in my throat. “You are the blood relation of the Duelo family. He took your last name. You were a lady brought up as a royal now living in a hideout scared of your King. How much further will you fall for that man?”

“You wouldn’t understand. He is my soul bond, Janelle. The Oscuros took away yours, so you never had a chance to find out.”

The bitter sound that escapes my lips is unavoidable. “The blade that took his life was wielded by my hand alone.”

“You killed your soul bond?” Her shock is so honest and innocent. Her eyes are wide and scared. My mother’s expression shifts as she is finally seeing me for the first time.

I know what she plans to do.

“If you call for my father, he will kill me.”

“He will not kill you.” Her expression is appalled at the mere idea I would suggest something like that. “After losing your brothers, do you think he would do anything to hurt you?”

“He has done it my entire life, mother. Are you willing to bet my life on it?”

“He only hurt you to toughen you up. You are so strong and he always saw potential in you. I told you to dial down your power and pretend certain things were beyond you, but your magic was too great to mask. He did what he needed to do to prepare you.”

Listening to her reasoning is mad. I always imagined my mother was ignorant of the truth about my father’s actions.

It crossed my mind many times to go to her for help, but even as a child, I saw her as too weak to do anything.

After all, if she couldn’t help herself, how could she help me?

I would love to think that there is a piece left in her willing to protect her children.

Surely my mother would never give me up.

“Mom, let me go,” I say, but it’s too late .

The resolve is written all over the harsh lines in her face. She takes a step back and yells, “Help! Someone come and help. They are escaping!”

No anger flows through my body as I stare at her. I feel only sorrow. I don’t tell her to stop, try to reason or beg her. With one last look at the woman who brought me into this world I say goodbye. This might very well be the last time I see her.

Her voice echoes once in the space before her gaping mouth makes words, but only silence comes out of her lips. Perhaps once she would’ve been a challenge for Jesse, but my mother is close to as powerless as I am. One spell takes her voice, and another puts her to sleep.

“She will be okay when she wakes.” Jesse catches her before she hits the ground and gently places her on the side of the stair railing. “Let’s go.”

In the dark hall, no one will see her.

Jesse leads the way down the main stairs and into the back of the house. I follow him outside and into the night sky. The backyard is cold and other than the noises of the farm animals, the night seems to be dead silent.

Jesse stops in front of what looks to be an old shed. Keeping the doors locked is a new shiny golden lock. His hand hovers over the lock as his eyes close. The lock shakes a bit, but it does not open. Jesse’s head turns to the side before he repeats his attempt.

“Is the Red Book in there?” I ask.

“It’s not working.” Jesse takes a step back to take a better look at the structure of the shaggy building.

Its appearance was intentionally designed to be inconspicuous.

My father has always loved to hide things in the most unassuming of places.

He has always wished for me to do the opposite.

Perhaps he believed if people were too busy looking at me, they wouldn’t see what he was scheming all along.

Or he couldn’t help himself from creating a puppet all would see and admire.

I know my father better than anyone else in the world.

I know him better than my brothers ever did, and perhaps more than my mother.

She definitely has suffered the most by tying herself to him, but a long time ago she checked out and stopped wanting to know what he was up to.

I wasn’t offered that opportunity. The only time I was allowed to be excused from his attention was when my soul bond was announced.

He found a compliant ally with access to my magic.

My presence became solely for show. He needed nothing else from me and was relieved to find access to my power without my consent.

He must have seen the rebelliousness building in my eyes. Over the years, his eyes grew weary of me.

“Let me see.” I take the lock in my hand and do a closer inspection.

“You don’t have magic, or did you forget?”

I give Jesse a glare over my shoulder, then turn back to the lock.

The metal vibrates with magic, but not the spell kind.

Spells are light and fleeting. They can fade and be modified so easily.

Like the frosting on a birthday cake. The magic on this item is deeper and heavier than that.

The weight it possesses is inside, like the middle filling of the cake.

I don’t need magic to know what it needs to open.