Page 7 of The Healing Dragon (The Red Book #2)

“Gone for a while. Be back eventually,” Jesse reads behind me. “Not very detailed. Is this for the man making his way to the porch? ”

“Can you mind your business and start heading out from the back door?”

“Why not the front?” He takes a step to the front door. “I think we should head through the front door.”

I take Jesse’s hand in mine and nearly drag him out the back door. I hear a knock at my front door a second after the back door shuts close.

“That is just rude,” Jesse says, far louder than necessary.

I ignore him and head out to the backwoods.

One thing I have learned these past few months is these woods.

I know them like the back of my hand. I also know exactly where in them my father is hiding with his men.

It will take us a day to make it, but the day is young, and if we are lucky, we will be there tomorrow morning.

“Wait,” Jesse calls after me. He pulls out an envelope from his back pocket and hands it to me. “Your contract,” he says.

I look back at my cabin. We have walked far enough into the woods that we aren’t easy to spot between the trees.

I take the envelope and open it. Jesse stands there staring at me as I take out the paper and read it.

The glint of gold letters alerts me to the type of contract this is.

His eyes are trained on my expression like my decision would change because of the bond I’m expected to make.

I expected nothing less from the King of Puerto Quinn.

I once knew Brandon as a childhood friend, but even then, that would’ve been a stretch of the word.

Now, even the only real friend I had back then looks at me with distrust. I swiftly dig out a knife from my bag and make a small cut on the tip of my index finger.

“What are you doing?” Jesse steps forward but stops when my finger lands on the dotted line at the bottom of the contract. “A signature could’ve been enough.”

I shake my head at his naiveness. “Then you’ve no idea how magic contracts work. They are not only frowned upon because of the intrusiveness, but the gross act of signing with blood.” I fold the paper, then shove it to his chest. “Not my first and I presume not my last contract signed in blood.”

“Janelle,” he says in a near whisper.

Before he can add anything else, I say, “We have a day and a half of walking to the first destination. Taking the roads will take longer and they are monitored by the human guards. Going through the mountains will be our best option so you won't trigger an overstay alarm.”

The majority of the hike can be done on the Fierno side. I have no clue what kind of magic allows the human guards to know when a magic wielder is in their territory for longer than a day but I’ve seen it in action. I know it works. I might be going under the radar but Jesse wont.

My father’s man said I knew where to find him and this would be the first place I would look.

“I can’t be sure he will be there, but it’s my first guess.” I slid the backpack on and tightened the straps. “No time to waste.”

“Can I carry that for you?” He asks, gesturing to my backpack.

“No,” I say.

He nods like he expected the answer, then moves next to me as we start the path. “Since we have all this time to talk, maybe you can tell me who that was?”

I don’t let the smile that fights its way to my lips win. Jesse is curious, but I can’t allow myself to take it as anything more than that.

“The more breath we waste in talking, the less we have for walking.” I don’t care if that makes little sense.

I don’t expect Jesse to be quiet for long, but I’m surprised at how long he actually makes it. We cover far more ground than I expected us to. The hike made in silence becomes a comfortable tread after a while. Using a compass and my knowledge of the river banks, I play guide.

We have been hiking for over seven hours now. This spot is just as good as any other for setting camp while we still have daylight.

“Do you know where you are going, Lady Janelle?” Jesse asks me.

The title sounds like a taunt. It has always sounded like that coming from his lips. It felt playful back when we were friends, but now it feels like a reminder of my place and debt.

“Yes, Prince Jesse Oscuro. Far more than you know.”

His eyes narrow. “I have been searching these woods for your father for months. He is nowhere near here.”

I sigh, in part because I’m tired and in part because he is about to feel so stupid for not seeing it. My father is a cunning person. Jesse shouldn’t feel bad. No one would’ve been able to find him. Not if they didn’t know where to look.

“You probably never found him because you looked on this side. Not that one.” I gesture deeper into the woods on the other side of the river. “His hideout is in the human lands.”

“Impossible. Magic cannot function in Paz.” His eyes widened in realization.

“His secret hideout is in a small town called Divina.” I let the words drop heavily between us.

I say nothing after so he can make his own conclusions about the implications. My father’s idea of setting his hideout in that town was both bold and crazy smart. Divina is the only town in Paz that allows magic to function at its full potential.

I personally refuse to believe the entire realm is magic-free. There are rumors that the King of Paz himself descends from powerful magic. There is no way his bloodline has completely cleared of that. However, not being as powerful in the magic spectrum, living in magic-free territory is safer .

“Divina is where angels land in order to access the human lands,” Jesse says, more to himself than to me.

He is working out the details in his head. I can see it in his eyes.

The small town isn’t visited very often by angels, but at least a few cross through the downtown daily. It’s the only access point to cross into and out of the Human Lands. Their angelic magic ceases to work the further they go into Paz.

“Exactly,” I say.

My father knew the location would be perfect.

Due to its access to magic, few ordinary humans actually choose to live there.

The town is so small that bribing the few locals to turn an eye wasn’t hard.

However it remains complicated to make sure no angel would pick up on what was going on.

My father acquired a mansion that appears more like a farm from the outside.

“It makes so much sense,” he says at last.

We set camp on the Fierno side of the river and eat pre-packaged dry food Jesse brought.

There’s not a lot of talking before it’s time to rest. Sleeping under the stars is not as romantic as people make it out to be in books.

It’s my least favorite way to sleep. When I left Puerto Quinn, I had to do it a lot before I found my cabin.

I thought it was the fact that I was alone, and I felt so exposed to the elements.

Tonight, even with Jesse a few feet away, a feeling of unease passes over me.

“How did you come to get the cabin?”

I don’t turn to look at him, and I know he isn’t looking at me. The sky has both our gazes captured amongst the view full of stars.

“I gambled my way to ownership,” I say.

“You won that cabin gambling?” His disbelief is evident.

I shake my head. “Not in one game. You know I’m quite good at cards. ”

“I know,” he says. The hint of a smile on his words.

“I won enough to buy the bare bones. I have slowly worked on fixing it.”

“It looked complete,” he sighs.

I don’t say that the walls need paint or that the little items around were things I got secondhand from village vendors.

That would be oversharing and opening up a lot more than I need to.

Jesse doesn’t care to know more than what would explain my whereabouts.

That’s the only reason he asked all these questions, after all.

“And the man that arrived just as we were about to leave?”

I sit up and finally meet his gaze. “A neighbor.”

“That’s all?” he asks.

“That is all. We aren’t friends, if that is what you are asking. Not the way we are.”

I reach for the words as they leave my lips, wishing I could take them back and never let them out, but it’s too late. They are out there.

“We are not friends.” Jesse turns away from me. “Can I truly do anything other than hate you?”

I shake my head. I want to say that he is right, but the words get stuck in my throat. I say nothing and allow the noise of the forest to fill the silence.

I lie there, unable to sleep for a couple of hours. It's uncertain whether I’ll be walking into my ending. I’m going to seek the very people just a couple of months ago I couldn’t get away from quick enough. Their reactions to my presence could be anything.

A scenario that finds me with little to no choice is the one that I am hoping will never happen. My father might attack at the sight of me. I need to be ready to react. The thought takes away my sleep because, despite it all, I love my father.

I’ve lost count of how many times his eyes have shown love and appreciation for me. It was never free to take but priced at my worth. I wish I could turn off the switch that seeks that love, but it’s not that easy.

I turn to my side and watch Jesse’s profile as he sleeps. I am glad at least one of us won’t be sleep-deprived. His chest rises and falls so peacefully. He is adorable like this. I want to take a mental picture to remember this. Nowadays, I only get glares from him. Well deserved ones.

I don’t have a high moral code or delude myself into seeing me as a good person.

It’s not that the lives lost at the Black Castle didn’t matter to me.

I didn’t want to hurt anyone. But I also didn’t do enough to stop it.

I knew how my father felt about the King and the Oscuros but never thought he would take it this far.

I spoke up in meetings and disagreed with ideas.

I thought that would be enough at first.

Pushing some common sense and practicality into those men’s heads only caused me to be kicked out and left out of crucial information. If I had stayed quiet and listened more, I could’ve prevented the attack. I would’ve learned about his plans in time.

But would I? I’d like to think so. To believe myself that brave, but I never told Jesse, the one person in this world I love, about my father’s disloyalty. And all because of fear.

I knew I loved Jesse as a child. I knew it as easily as I knew I possessed magic. A knowing deep in my bones. I wish I would’ve said something and spoken up, but wishes will only get me long, hopeless nights. I need to act, and my time to do so has come.

As much as I would like to say that I’m doing this for the realm, for my bloodline, and for the people I let down, the selfish part inside knows I’m not doing this just for me and my magic.

I’m doing it for him. Because even though the possibility of not making it out alive looms over me, I am not turning back.

For the past two months, I have been on my own. I love the freedom I gained. In that short time, I thought of me and only me. The only time I have ever been able to do that. My time is up.