Page 20 of The Wolf and the Chimera (The Witch and the Cowboy #3)

Elle

Though the rich aroma made my mouth water, I pushed the plate of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and pancakes away. With a disgusted frown, I shook my head and rubbed my stomach.

“I’m sorry,” I whined. “I just don’t think I can eat.”

With his fork halfway to his mouth, Kieran paused and raised an eyebrow at me.

“But we trained,” Kieran argued. “How can you not be hungry?”

We sat in the private dining room, but luckily Kalli was already painting, and Lyall was with Ryder. As I tipped my head back and sighed, I lifted my gaze to the mural of wolves and traveled to Lyall’s ornate liquor cabinet, then all the way back to my hands, which I tucked in my lap.

“I don’t feel good,” I said and quickly added, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Are you sick?” Kieran asked. “ Can you get sick?”

His face was so stricken, guilt genuinely turned my stomach.

I hated lying, but I wouldn’t get any closer to finding my parents with Kieran stuck to me like glue.

Ryder had ordered him to protect me while he was away.

I was certain the order had as much to do with keeping me from following the sorceress’s instructions as it did keeping me out of harm’s way.

If my plan worked, Ryder would be beside himself with worry. He wouldn’t rest until he found me. The thought of him in so much fear clenched my heart, but it didn’t eclipse my need to find my parents. Kieran spoke, but I didn’t catch what he said. I pulled myself out of my doubts.

“What?” I said.

“Did we train too hard?” Kieran asked.

I waved him off. “I’m not that kind of sick. And are you kidding? You’re a saint compared to your brother.”

Kieran smirked. “Well, we already knew that.”

He shoveled some more food into his mouth but continued to study me with concern.

“I think you should eat,” he declared. “Maybe it’ll make you feel better.”

I sighed and nibbled at my bacon. Sweet and salty flavor danced on my tongue, and I barely stopped myself from sighing in enjoyment.

After a few bites, I forked some eggs into my mouth.

Though I needed Kieran to believe I was sick, I also needed my strength to communicate with the sorceress without letting her take total control.

The thought of it made me feel like a fool, but Dad’s smile flashed behind my eyes, and I remembered what was at stake.

I couldn’t sit here eating fine food and luxuriating in my safety when my parents were out there waiting for me.

Besides, Ryder had once told me he would help me navigate my powers.

Though he enjoyed teaching me how to punch and kick, he had yet to follow through on that promise.

It was time to take matters into my own hands.

I gasped and clutched my stomach. My knee clanked against the bottom of the table hard enough to shake the silverware. Kieran choked.

“I’m sorry,” I said and stood. “I need to go lie down.”

Kieran washed his food down with a chug of orange juice and mirrored me.

“What is it?” he demanded. “Elle, something is wrong, but you can tell me. Is it…” He hesitated and grimaced. “You know, her?”

I smiled weakly.

“No,” I assured him. “This is far more mundane. It involves, you know, womanly troubles.”

I expected him to recoil in discomfort and drop it like most seventeen-year-old boys. Kieran frowned and sniffed.

“You’re not bleeding,” he said.

You can smell that?

I balked. “I, um, I think it’s coming on.”

Kieran nodded and patted my back.

“I’ve got just the thing to help you,” he promised. “My mom always eats these berries that grow on the eastern part of the creek. She says they’re the ultimate pain-relief because they’re blessed by the gods or something. You go lie down, and I’ll gather them for you.”

My guilt reached a crescendo. I almost confessed my lie right there. When Ryder found out I tricked him, he wouldn’t empathize with his brother who was acting out of compassion, not foolishness. I would be responsible for driving a new rift between the brothers.

As if Mom were right in front of me, the scent of sea salt and Chanel No. 5 invaded my senses.

Ryder and Kieran will be okay. They have to be.

“That would be wonderful,” I said. “Thank you so much, Kieran. You’re a remarkable kid.”

He puffed his chest. “I’m almost eighteen, thank you very much.”

I rolled my eyes. Clutching my stomach, I shuffled out the door and remained hunched. After pausing to kiss my cheek, Kieran jogged down the hall and turned left, toward the nearest exterior exit. When I was certain he was out of sight, I straightened and picked up my pace.

Luckily, training had given me the excuse of wearing comfortable running shoes, tights, a long-sleeve dri-fit top, and a light jacket, but I swung by my room to grab a heavier, down coat. I wasn’t sure how long I would be gone, but I wanted to be as prepared as possible.

I walked through the estate’s halls with my head down and the coat tucked beneath my arm. By the grace of the gods, I didn’t run into Melanie or Bo. Other werewolves eyed me with suspicion, but only because that’s how they always looked at me.

I reached the western exit, which led to a gravel pathway that weaved between the woods.

I passed a pavilion and a few young werewolves and walked farther.

Though I was willing to take on the sorceress’s power myself, I wouldn’t risk the lives of everyone in the estate.

When I called for her, I needed to be far from the chateau’s walls.

Growing more anxious by the second, I stepped up to a jog. The exertion eased my frayed nerves, and soon, the gravel path dissipated. I stood alone with trees towering over me and shadows dancing across the ground. Rubbing my foot against moss-covered rock, I caught my breath.

Here goes nothing.

“Sorceress,” I whispered.

Instinctively, I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself, as if that would help.

Nothing happened.

“You said to call,” I mumbled. “I’m calling for you. Take me to my parents.”

Magic rumbled in my chest and made my blood pound, but the sorceress continued to evade me. Irritated, I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Sorceress,” I whispered again.

Magic flared under my skin, and its heat made me gasp. A flash of impatience and frustration overwhelmed me. It left as quickly as it came.

Call me, the sorceress had said.

I turned the instruction over in my mind and, with a sinking sense of dread, I realized what I needed to do.

I cleared my throat.

“Medea.”

Power spread from my chest to my limbs like liquid heat. The crackle of magic lifted the hair on my neck and buzzed in my ears. Part of me—a part I would never admit to—relished in it.

How could I enjoy power that stemmed from evil?

Evil? the sorceress asked. Isn’t that a bit dramatic?

You cursed an entire species out of existence, I reminded her.

When I got rid of the warlocks, I did the world a favor, she argued. Bitterness colored her tone. And the world condemned me for it.

Walker is good, I countered, and he’s a warlock.

Don’t remind me of him, she spat. You called on me for a favor, remember?

Right, I said.

I realized picking a fight with the sorceress had been my way of stalling the possibility of disappointment.

If you lied about them being alive, I warned, I will give myself to the High Witch so she can make sure you never rise again.

The sorceress’s anger matched my own.

Good thing I’m not a liar, she snarled. Keep going. There’s a portal that will take you to your guardians.

As I followed her instructions, I wondered if she couldn’t fully control me or if she chose not to. It had only been a couple days since the Sovereign drained us completely of magic. Though power now buzzed in my body with every step, I wondered if the sorceress’s will remained weakened.

The terrain grew steeper and steeper. I gripped tree trunks to steady myself down the rocky slope, but the sorceress didn’t correct my path, so I assumed I traveled the correct direction. As the sun rose higher in the sky, sweat trekked down my spine and coated my forehead.

When the roar of rushing water interrupted the quiet of the forest, I quickened my pace. Hurrying over brambles and rocks, I half-jogged, half-slid down to a creek. I walked opposite the direction of the flow of water and gasped.

A waterfall crested the cliffside and pooled in a beautiful, turquoise oasis. Hidden among the roar of water, magic hummed. Its power beckoned me closer, and the sorceress sighed in content.

This is not a normal portal, I argued. This is a ripple.

Very astute observation, pet.

I shook my head and stepped back from the waterfall. When I tried to get farther from it, the sorceress seized control over my limbs. Panic set my heart racing.

Calm yourself, the sorceress instructed. Did you really think you could get to your parents with a normal portal?

I was too ashamed to admit I hadn’t given it much thought.

The place where they told me to go is only accessible by magic, I agreed. I just didn't realize it required a ripple’s worth of magic.

The waterfall filled me with fear. Ripples led to all kinds of pockets between dimensions, including to the High Witch’s court. Despite my earlier threats, I wouldn’t go back there.

I couldn’t.

As soon as I had arrived in the court, the Handmaidens—High Witch Cordelia’s cronies—had smothered me in darkness. They had used their magic to spell me to sleep, but only my body had gone still. My mind had stayed awake, perfectly conscious of my own helplessness as I laid on an altar for days.

The silence had nearly driven me mad.

I would never take us there, the sorceress argued. Well, not until we’re powerful enough to end that bitch once and for all.

How do you know it won’t lead back to her? I asked. When Ryder and the others rescued me, their ripple was spelled to lead right to Cordelia’s dungeons—

Those goons didn’t rescue you, remember? the sorceress interrupted. I did.

She wasn’t entirely wrong. It was her power that had broken us free from Cordelia’s spell and allowed us to escape. She had nearly killed my allies in the process, but the sorceress wasn’t one to worry about details.

You won’t let us go back there? I clarified .

Not yet, she promised. Not until we’re ready, and we are far from ready.

Though I believed her, a question lingered in my mind. I hesitated.

Why are you helping me? I asked.

Because I’m filled with benevolence? she offered.

I snorted, and the sorceress sighed.

I have my reasons, she answered. None of which negatively impact you in the near future. Can we go now?

Though I worried what this would mean for my long-term future, the sorceress’s reasoning didn’t matter, regardless of how selfish that made me.

If Mom and Dad were alive, I needed to find them.

I took a deep breath and calmed my erratic heart. Wondering if I was making a huge mistake, I walked toward the ripple.