Sally tried very hard to keep the horror off of her face as she listened to Jewel explain all that had happened during the week she’d been with Volcan. With every word out of her mouth, the urge to stab the dark fae with the dullest knife on earth increased. He didn’t deserve a quick death.
“He forced his blood into you?” Peri asked, practically shaking with rage.
“I tried not to swallow it and it tasted disgusting.” Jewel’s face twisted in a look of utter disgust.
A low growl rumbled out of Dalton. Jewel reached out her hand toward him but then quickly pulled it back. Sally frowned. Why wasn’t she comforting him? There was only one thing that could keep an angry wolf from losing his cool and that was the touch of his mate. So why wasn’t Jewel offering that comfort to Dalton? She glanced up at Peri who gave her a subtle shake of her head. Okay, so she wasn’t supposed to bring that little topic up. There was obviously something that Jewel was leaving out. If Peri knew what it was, then that would have to be enough.
“Do you want me to see if I can do something about the foreign blood inside of her?” Sally asked, already reaching her hand out to touch Jewel.
Peri gave a curt nod. She still looked ready to kill someone and words didn’t seem to be possible. Sally pressed her hand over Jewel’s heart and closed her eyes. She reached for her magic and it swelled within her, answering her call. Sally sent her essence into the other healer and immediately felt the presence of evil. She fought the urge to recoil from the darkness. It was so very wrong. Jewel was good. She, like everyone, had her issues that she battled, but overall goodness won out. But Sally could feel that Jewel was drawn to the power that Volcan had put inside of her, the power to no longer feel weak. She was attracted to the power that kept her from feeling vulnerable to other people, people who had made her feel inadequate all of her life. Sally had always had such an awesome support group in her two best friends, Jen and Jacque; she’d never known what it was like to feel the things that Jewel had dealt with, and it broke her heart for the genius.
“You have to know that no amount of knowledge will keep you from feeling pain,” Sally told her as she followed the path of the evil into her mind.
“I wouldn’t care what people thought if I was more powerful than them. Who are they compared to me?” The voice that responded was not the voice that Sally associated with Jewel. It was filled with bitterness and malice.
“That is Volcan’s blood talking.”
“No. It is truth. I just didn’t see it until he showed me.”
“What if your quest for power and knowledge hurts those you love?” Sally asked.
This gave Jewel pause. There was the goodness that Sally still felt inside of her new friend.
“I can protect them from that part of me,” Jewel reasoned.
“This is too big for you to contain, Jewel. If you give in to this you will help destroy lives.”
“What about my life! How many times did I have to listen to whispered ridicule? How many times was I laughed at? What about the hurt I endured for so many years?” There was so much anguish in her words and with every word the darkness swelled.
“You have to fight those emotions. You have to forgive and move on,” Sally urged. She began pouring her light into Jewel, but as quickly as her light illuminated, the darkness snuffed it out. “Please fight, Jewel. I can’t do this on my own.”
“You are wasting your time, Sally. I know my destiny. I know what I am meant to do.” Jewel gave a sudden push and forced Sally out.
Sally fell back with the force of the magic. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at Jewel. For a brief moment the eyes that stared back at her were black as pitch. But then Jewel blinked and they were back to their normal light green.
“Are you okay?” Peri asked as she helped Sally up. The fae looked warily at Jewel.
Sally nodded. “I’m fine. I can’t get rid of it.”
“I’m sorry, Sally,” Jewel said and looked away from her. Her hands shook in her lap. She looked so lost and confused, so different from the voice Sally had encountered while inside of her. Sally didn’t respond to the apology. She stood and with one last look at the other healer, she turned and left the room.
Later that evening Sally sat on the edge of the bed in the room that Costin and she had claimed while staying at Peri’s home. Her heart felt heavy after her encounter with Jewel.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Costin asked gently as he sat beside her.
“I don’t know what there is to say. She refuses to fight, and yet when I looked at the outward appearance, I saw remorse. It’s like she’s split in half. But honestly, Costin, I don’t know which half is going to win.”
“Maybe on her own, the dark half would win, but with all of us fighting with her, the light in her will prevail.”
Her mate wanted so badly to believe what he said, but Sally could feel the doubt. “Sometimes intelligence is a curse.”
“There are many things inside of us that can be used either for good or evil. It is up to us to decide which will win.”
Sally gave him a small smile. “Well, haven’t you become quite the sage?”
Costin chuckled. “Having you as a mate has caused my dormant brain cells to start working.”
“Well, at least I can have a positive effect on someone,” she huffed.
Costin wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. “You can’t fix everyone, Sally mine. They have to want your help, or you just have to be much more powerful than them. With Volcan’s blood and magic flowing inside of her, few will be more powerful than Jewel.”
Sally hated that he was right. It wasn’t in her nature to give up, but she certainly wasn’t more powerful than the darkness that was fighting for control inside of Jewel Stone.
“You’re right. But my fear is that whoever is more powerful, whoever could fight the evil inside of her, will destroy Jewel in the process.”
“You are not an easy man to find,” the pixie told Volcan as he watched the small being stand bravely in front of him.
“I don’t particularly want to be found. For curiosity’s sake, how did you find me?” the fae asked him.
“I came across two warlocks at the edge of the dark forest. Apparently. they’ve been working for someone very powerful. These two had diarrhea of the mouth. I just had to sit and listen.”
Volcan rolled his eyes. Stupid warlocks, he thought. Warlocks weren’t an evil race, but just like in any species, the two that he’d come across had chosen darkness over light. He’d placed them as lookouts near the dark forest to keep an eye on anyone entering it.
“Why is it you have sought me out, little one, and why are you wearing that fabric over your face?” Volcan asked.
“I have information that you might find interesting. But it won’t be free, of course.”
“What do you mean?” He eyed the pixie suspiciously.
“I need you to fix my face, which is the reason I wear the fabric covering. I need you to reverse it.”
“Why do you think I can fix it?”
“Because everyone knows how powerful you are,” the male said confidently.
“And why would you think this information you possess would interest me?”
A wicked grin spread across the pixie’s face. “Because it has to do with the gypsy healers you seek.”
Volcan sat up a little straighter at the male’s words. “What about them?”
The pixie shook his head and then pointed to his face.
The fae let out an exasperated sigh. “I could just torture the information out of you, pixie.”
“True,” he responded. “But believe me, this would be much easier.”
“Fine. Remove the fabric.”
The male hesitated for a moment before finally pulling the fabric down. Volcan’s eyes widened and then a roar of laughter boomed out of him. He was pretty sure he’d never seen something so ridiculous in his long life. After several minutes he composed himself, mostly. “I have to a
sk, how did this unfortunate thing happen to you?”
“Let’s just say pissing off the wrong female pixie isn’t good for the looks.”
Volcan chuckled as his fingers formed a steeple in front of his mouth. He considered the pixie briefly before muttering under his breath. He leaned down and reached his hand out towards the small being’s face and a flash of light flew from his fingers.
The pixie jumped and grabbed what was once again his nose. His eyes brightened and he let out a whoop. “You did it! Hopping pixie dust, you really did it.”
Volcan waved his praise off. “Now, the information.”
He continued to touch his nose as he spoke, “Right. Okay, well I heard that the woman who cursed me happens to be harboring a healer in her home.”
“The pixie woman?”
“Yes.”
“Are the other healers in your realm?” Volcan asked.
The pixie hesitated.
“Come now, you’ve already let the cat out of the bag this far. You might as well go ahead and finish it.”
He let out a breath. “Yes, they are.”
Volcan considered this and knew that Perizada was behind it. She was using the pixies to protect the gypsy healers. Clever really. But if she had placed them there, she would be using a myriad of spells to keep them safe ― not just pixie magic but her own as well.
“We’ve both kept up our ends of the bargain,” the male said, making it clear that he was ready to go.
Foolish little man, Volcan thought. “I have a new bargain for you. Figure out a way to lure one or more of the healers from your realm. Once you’ve gotten them to leave, shut down the veil to your realm so that none can enter or exit. If you succeed, I will leave your nose as it is. If you do not, I will return it to the state it was in when you arrived.”
The pixie’s eyes widened. “How am I supposed to get one of them to leave? And how do you know that I even have the ability to do that?”
“Perhaps, letting them know that I have released Jewel, their sister healer, could be useful information to use on them. Honestly, I don’t care how you do it, just make it happen. And I know you can make it happen because you wear the royal crest of your lineage. You aren’t King Ainsel. I know him, but I also know he has a brother. A brother who is known for getting himself into trouble. It wasn’t hard to deduce your identity. The veil will listen to you.”
“My brother will be able to undo my magic. And how will you know if I’ve succeeded?”
“Jewel will make it known to me.” He paused then and leaned down once again, but this time he placed a finger on the shoulder of the pixie. He pushed some of his own magic into the little one. “Now, the magic you use to close the veil will be infused with my own. No one but myself will be able to open it back again. Off with you now,” Volcan said, making a shooing motion with his hand.
The male didn’t have to be told twice.
Volcan leaned back in his chair, folding his hands contentedly in his lap. Things were falling into place much easier than he thought they would. Once his little Jewel started using his magic, the urge to continue to use it would grow and she wouldn’t be able to control herself. He wouldn’t even have to force her to come back to him; she would do it of her own accord. It was almost too easy. He considered trying to find a way to aggravate Perizada, just to add insult to injury, but decided he’d rather focus his attention on making sure Jewel indeed began to use the power he’d given her.
He hoped she didn’t take too long. She was strong and she’d fight it at first, but she would eventually give in. Her soul had been damaged over the years by those who didn’t understand her intelligence, and a damaged soul was one that was very susceptible to influence. Yes, she would give in and then all hell would break loose.
Ciesel stood just outside of the veil to his realm. His brother would banish him once he found out what he’d done. But he hadn’t had a choice, had he? Surely Ainsel didn’t expect him to spend the rest of his life looking like a freak. He’d done the only thing he could. He didn’t know how he would keep it from his brother, but if he couldn’t, he would have to leave. There would be no other option. He entered the veil and made his way towards Adira’s home. Though his anger still burned at her, his conscience was yelling at him to stop, to not go any further. But his feet continued to move forward as if no longer under his control. He knew in that moment that he no longer had a choice. He would end up at Adira’s doorstep whether he wanted to or not.
What’s done was done. All he could do now was somehow figure out a way to keep himself from being thrown in his brother’s dungeon.
Jewel heard the crackling of leaves behind her. Her shoulder’s tensed as she prepared herself to face Dalton. But it wasn’t Dalton’s voice that she heard.
“Your mate is looking for you,” Peri said as she stepped up next to where Jewel sat on a large tree stump. She stared at the creek as the water rippled peacefully. It had been two days since she’d been brought back to Peri’s home, and she’d spent both of those days figuring out ways to keep from having to spend time with Dalton. Yes, she’d agreed to the whole courting thing, but they’d never made it official as to when that would start.
“Why are you avoiding him? Has he done something to anger you or hurt you?” Peri asked with a slight growl to her voice.
Jewel’s heart ached. “No,” she whispered. She fought the tears that had constantly threatened to fall. It wasn’t fair what she was doing to him. But she didn’t know what else to do. Jewel couldn’t stand what was happening inside of her, and she didn’t want to expose Dalton to it, nor did she want them tempted to touch one another. She was at a loss at how to handle the situation so she was simply avoiding him all together.
“Then what is going on, Jewel? And don’t lie to me. Liars make me want to curse and I’m trying very hard to clean up my language.”
Jewel glanced at her from the corner of her eye.
Peri huffed, “Okay, fine, I don’t give a crap about my language but I don’t like liars. So let’s go with the truth. Spill it.”
She wanted to tell Peri the truth. She wanted someone else to bear the burden with her, someone who wasn’t in danger of being affected by the magic inside of her. But something was stopping her. Something powerful was fighting with her to keep her mouth shut tightly now that Dalton knew of the curse. It was as though Volcan didn’t want anyone else to know, but she didn’t know why. “I can’t, Peri.”
“Yes you can.”
“NO! I can’t. You don’t get it. I physically can’t tell you. He won’t let me.” A few tears escaped her control but she quickly wiped them away. “Did you know that mind over matter is a load of crap?”
“I kind of figured it was,” she said dryly and then added, “Volcan,” Peri bit out. “He is really beginning to tick me off.”
Jewel had a feeling that was as big an understatement as they came.
“You are both hurting. Doesn’t just being with him help? It’s obvious you don’t want to touch him, though I don’t understand why that is.”
Jewel’s head snapped around.
“I’m not obtuse, Jewel Stone. I’ve noticed the few times you’ve been around him how you carefully keep space between you and him, though Dalton tries very hard to stay as close to you as possible. It’s almost painful to watch. He wants nothing more than to wrap you up in his arms and keep you safe from everything and everyone and you are practically running from him.”
The fae’s words smashed through the wall Jewel had erected and Jewel crumbled with them. Her shoulders folded over and shook as the tears she’d struggled so hard to hold back flowed. For two days she’d held herself together, barely, but she’d done it. Even at night she didn’t allow herself to break down because she knew Dalton slept in his wolf form right outside her door. She didn’t want him breaking down the door to get to her and she knew that he would. But she couldn’t hold it together any longer. The picture Peri had painted broke something inside of her.
Jewel wanted to scream and rage but knew it wouldn’t do any good. So instead she allowed herself a few minutes to grieve her broken heart and dreams.
“I’m sorry this has happened to you, Jewel,” Peri said solemnly. “I’m going to fix it. You have my word.”
Jewel didn’t respond. There wasn’t anything to say. This wasn’t Peri’s fault. It was no one’s but her own.
“It’s getting late. Why don’t I take you back to your room so you can take a hot shower and put yourself back together. You know he’s going to find you eventually.”
She was right. Dalton would find her and if she was a mess he would touch her, he wouldn’t be able to help himself. The only reason she knew that was because if she saw him fall apart she wouldn’t be able to keep from holding him.
She nodded to Peri and took the offered hand. Peri flashed them to the room she was now staying in. Jewel was pretty sure Peri’s house had some sort of spell on it because the number of rooms inside did not seem to match up to the outward appearance of the home. Had things been different, she would have been very interested in it, but as it were, nothing interested her anymore other than fighting the urge to seek out humans to turn.
Once she was standing in her room, Peri bid her good night and flashed away. Jewel looked around her, feeling lost. She decided Peri’s idea of a hot shower sounded like as good a plan as any and gathered her clothes and headed for the bathroom. She once again noticed the markings on her back as she undressed and let out a sigh. She still hadn’t mentioned them to Dalton. He had a right to know about them. But because of her doubts about things actually working out between them, she was worried that if he knew about the markings it would give him false hope. Jewel didn’t like hoping for something just for the sake of hoping. She wanted there to be some sort of proof that the hope wasn’t in vain.
Just as she was slipping her clean clothes on, she heard the door to her room open and close gently but she didn’t bother to ask who it was. She figured Sally was coming in to check on her, no doubt sent by Peri. As Jewel began to brush her hair, her mind kept drifting back to a certain, tall, strong, brooding werewolf; no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t keep from thinking of him.