Page 20 of The Healing Dragon (The Red Book #2)

CHAPTER TWELVE

JANELLE

W hile Matias walks, I observe him, attempting to piece together the events.

Leaving in the middle of the night sounded like a good idea.

We counted on the soldiers being sleepy and tired.

With no preparation, we also fell under that description.

The tiredness hits harder when the adrenaline drains from our bodies.

I can see it in Matias’ slow steps and Jesse’s heavy breaths.

My brain is having a hard time making sense of all I witness.

Matias brought people back from death. As if that isn’t crazy enough, he controlled them enough to have them fight for us.

He can essentially create an army of immortal soldiers.

My father’s biggest dream weapon was right under his nose, and he just watched it leave.

But how does any of it even work? The logical rules of magic don’t allow for something like that to exist. Matias possesses something odd to the magic world. His expression when he realized it left no doubt in my mind that he had no idea he could do that. It has to be because of the Red Book .

“So that is what you can do, huh?” Jesse asks. The casual tone rings comical at the intensity of the situation.

Jesse brushes away more vegetation as we walk. Matias doesn’t answer, but looks between us. We walk past Jesse. He waits for us to make it a distance in front of him before turning and mending the vegetation behind us. He does this every few minutes to conceal our path.

“I’ve never met someone who could do even close to what you did,” Jesse continues.

Matias keeps walking. Seems he’s not in a chatty mood. I turn to look at Jesse working. He is growing tired and I’m not sure how much of a difference hiding our route might do. There are only a handful of routes that can take you to Puerto Quinn from the hideout.

“They know where we are going.” I point out.

There is no other place for us to go, but I guess my father doesn’t know that. He is unaware of Matias’ connection to the crown. But he knows Jesse and if he puts two brain cells together, he will conclude we are running back to King Oscuro. Who else would have put us up to this?

“If we can beat them there, it will be enough. Your family might’ve been able to enter the castle freely once, but that is not the case today,” Jesse says with a sharp tone.

His tone reminds me he hasn’t forgotten who we are to each other. Despite that less than an hour ago he had chosen to die by my side fighting.

Jesse walks past us and begins chopping away on a path we can walk through.

There are only small patches of sunlight and blue sky peeking from the tall branches of the trees. Jesse makes it a few meters down before turning back to us. We walk the distance in a minute while he goes to the back and covers the path step by step .

“What did I miss while I was mentally checked out?” Matias asks.

“My father has the Red Book. The plan was to steal it back.”

“That didn’t go well.” Matias gives me an apologetic look.

“Nope,” I say.

“Regrets?”

I look over at Jesse. “None. And I am sure he doesn't regret it either.”

“Are you sure?” Matias looks over at Jesse with distrust.

“Yes. He is the King’s brother. A friend of Bianca’s. Loyalty cannot get stronger than the bonds Jesse creates with those he cares about.”

“Roman’s brother?” Matias' eyes brighten slightly.

“You met the oldest Oscuro?” I ask.

“Briefly.” He pauses. “You sound protective of him. Is he the reason you’re here and not with your father?” Matias gestures behind us. “The last time I saw you, you were cutting off a dress and running off into the human lands.”

For someone who had been inside his own head for the last few weeks he surely is observant.

“Things didn't go as planned.” I clear my throat. “I thought so. At first, at least. But I don’t think he is what is keeping me going now.”

The honesty feels freeing.

Matias’ eyes show something like contentment. He likes what he’s hearing. “Who does?”

I ponder that, and the longer I think about it, the more clearly the answer becomes.

“Me.” The word drops from my lips, and I feel like I can breathe easier. “It may sound crazy, but I need to do it. I need to stand up to them for the young girl I used to be.”

“I haven’t heard anything more sane.” His words make me smile .

We aren’t too different at the end of the day. Two souls tortured by the whims of the same man.

A genuine smile, the one you can only share with a friend. That’s what Matias feels like he could be. A real friend. I never had one of those, not outside of Jesse, and even then, our friendship has always been different.

“Care to clue me in on the joke?” Jesse asks us with a grunt. He is standing there with his arms on his hips.

Matias gets to his feet. “No,” he says easily and leaves.

I don’t have to look in Jesse’s direction to see the scowl on his face, mostly after he utters “asshole” under his breath.

Using Matias’ directions and my experience in the forest, we cross from the human lands to the edge of Fierno by nightfall.

We are hours away from the Black Castle, but continuing is impossible.

We have been walking for hours. If it wasn’t for my gift to heal, everyone in this traveling party would be limping. Unfortunately, I can’t heal myself.

Jesse starts a fire in the middle of a small clearing. Matias finds a spot under a tree and settles back. We settle in and share the small number of belongings we have among us. The flavor of dry food packets becomes incredibly satisfying after hours of hunger and non-stop walking.

It doesn’t take long before soft snores come from Matia’s side. The boy can sleep quickly and just about anywhere. The position his body is in doesn’t look comfortable, but I’m sure he has experienced worse. I find a spot to sleep too and just lay there for a bit.

As Matias sleeps the night away, I toss and turn.

“Hey,” Jesse whispers.

I roll to my side so I can face him.

“When Matias said the book wants revenge. He was lying. I’m not sure why, but I heard it in his voice. It did not ring true. ”

The Lord of Wisdom is what people call Jesse.

The gift of truth was given to him a long time ago by an angel of the land of the bless.

I have personally witnessed him hear lies from people and if he says Matias did, I’ve no doubt he is right.

Even if it doesn’t make sense. Matias looks genuine and trustworthy.

He has gone through enough already and being called a liar is not what he deserves after what he endured.

“Why would he lie?” My question is not meant to question Jesse’s accuracy but the intention behind.

“I can’t say.” His words are soft. Jesse rises to his elbows and moves closer to me. “Stay vigilant. Whatever his motive might be doesn’t change the fact that he is keeping secrets.”

“I will,” I agree without hesitation.

His breath is so close to me and it might be the chill of the night, but goosebumps spread all over my arms.

“Jesse,” I say but stop when a bush begins to rustle.

He is up in a blink of an eye, and I’m right behind him. A second after, Calaca steps out of the bushes with an unreadable expression. It looks over at Matias’ sleeping form before turning back to us.

“You will make it to the King. They have taken a different route to search.” It moves to Matias and plumps down next to him. Not close enough to touch him, but close enough to guard him.

Jesse and I share a look.

“Well,” I say to Calaca. “If that was your doing, we appreciate it.” I gesture in the direction of the Black Castle. “We have a six hour walk that way and we will be at our destination.”

It doesn’t move.

“You don’t have to accompany us.” Jesse crosses his arms with unease.

“I’m not leaving my sire,” Calaca grunts .

Matias stirs. He doesn't seem surprised to see Calaca next to him.

“What’s going on?” Matias asks.

“Your pet doesn’t want to leave,” Jesse says.

“I’m not leaving my sire,” Calaca says again.

Matias rubs his face, the tiredness evident on the bags under his eyes. “It’s not hurting or bothering anyone. Why does it have to leave?”

His question surprises Jesse and me.

The Calaca makes a noise in the back of its throat and I could swear it’s a version of a laugh. A sinister noise.

“You want to keep it?” I ask Matias.

“Why bother trying to get rid of it?” His question is obviously an excuse to avoid my question.

“Do you think it’s attached to him because of whatever your father did to him with the Red Book?” Jesse asks me.

A glint of something passes through Matia’s eyes, but he looks down to hide it.

I clear my throat. “His soul was taken, then returned to his body. Maybe that is why?”

I know my reasoning makes less sense. However, I can tell Matias appreciates the commentary because the tension on his shoulders lessens. Whatever happened to him under my father’s care isn’t something he is ready to speak of. Whatever the reason might be, he needs to come to terms with it first.

“Any ideas?” Jesse asks Matias, but he chooses not to answer.

Jesse sits back down and crosses his legs in front of him. It’s still dark out, but after the recent addition to the team, I know neither of us will sleep anymore. I sit next to Jesse, careful not to touch him, and wait for the day to come.

It's not long before Jesse says, “I can’t sleep with it staring at me. ”

I can’t help but agree. It could at least turn its vacant gaze to the trees instead of boldly staring at us.

“Matias,” I begin to say, but he stops me by raising to his feet.

“If we won't sleep, we can start walking.”

I want to object and tell him that the sun hasn’t risen yet, but a few rays are peeking from the tops of the mountains. There is something beautiful and peaceful about them. That moment of the day before the rest of the world wakes, where you feel ahead of the rest just for that second.