Lorelle pressed her lips so tightly together she was sure they would meld into one big lip. She wanted to point out the he needed her, but he would only point out that he apparently had minions that would keep her from escaping. Knowing her luck, he didn’t have a single minion and she was only held captive by her fear.
“Healer,” Volcan growled, his disembodied voice seemed even creepier without being able to see the face behind it. “Come here.”
Lorelle motioned to Jewel who had been standing against the wall across from the table that Kara laid on. She had been bound so she couldn’t run and with a flick of Lorelle’s wrist the binding dropped away.
“If you attempt to escape I will cut out her eyes,” Lorelle motioned towards Kara. She had found that threatening someone else instead of the one you are trying to make cooperate heeds better results.
Jewel nodded as her eyes darted from Kara back to Lorelle. She knew who the predator in the room was, and she knew that Lorelle wasn’t bluffing.
“You will need a fae blade,” Volcan’s voice interrupted the staring match between the two.
Lorelle held up her hand and out of nowhere a very sharp, very real knife appeared.
“What is your name, healer?”
Lorelle watched Jewel’s hair ruffle as Volcan’s presence swept around her. “He’s speaking to you,” she told her.
“Didn’t Lorelle already tell you my name?”
Lorelle nearly smiled. This little healer was wise. She knew the power of willingly giving your name to one such as Volcan.
“Perhaps,” he sneered. “But I do not trust her and want to hear it from your lips.”
Lorelle tapped Kara’s unblinking eyes with the tip of the knife as she watched the resistant healer struggle with what to do. As soon as the knife made contact she gave in.
“Jewel,” she blurted out. “My name is Jewel.”
“Full name,” Volcan prodded.
Letting out a resigned sigh she answered. “Jewel Stone.”
Volcan chuckled and the sound was like sand paper rubbing against his lungs as it rumbled up through his unused throat.
“The woman who birthed you must have been aware of magic in the world to give you such a name.”
Lorelle wondered what he meant. What was special about the girl’s name? Thankfully, Jewel asked so Lorelle didn’t have to look like an idiot.
“What is significant about my name?”
“It really is tiresome that you know so little of your heritage,” Volcan droned. “As one such as yourself, having a name that is of an element is powerful, and you have a name with three elements. Stone, which is of the earth, and Jewel which is created from the earth, air, and even some water. Your powers often use the elements to heal, which is of course what you were created to do.”
“And you think my mother knew this?” Jewel asked him, momentarily forgetting the situation.
“Most definitely. Your mother was more knowledgeable than you are letting on.”
“Now that we’ve had our lesson for the day, can we please continue,” Lorelle questioned, irritated by the fact that she had not known about what Volcan spoke of.
“Lorelle, run your blade down the inside of each forearm of the girl. Then carve these symbols on her forehead,” he filled Lorelle’s head with the images of which he spoke. Carve these on the furthest part on both sides of her face close to her ears, and the last one on her throat. Please be careful on the throat and don’t slice too deep. If she bleeds out before Jewel can heal her I will be most displeased.”
“I don’t know how to heal her,” Jewel spoke up before Lorelle moved to begin cutting.
“Your instincts will kick in,” Volcan assured her.
“I understand the blood sacrifice, but may I ask what the symbols are for?” Lorelle knew it was dark magic, which was why she had no idea why she was going to be carving the healer up like a turkey.
“If it will make you work any faster then I will explain it,” Volcan snarled.
Lorelle waited until he began before she touched the blade to Kara’s arm and ran it down the flesh, splitting it open effortlessly.
“The symbols were created by me, using magic that most would never dare. Wherever a symbol has been cut into the flesh, it gives me the ability to harness their power. No spell needed. Each location of the symbol is significant.”
By this point, Lorelle had just completed the symbol on Kara’s head. Blood ran, streams of red down her arms, and now on her face. To Lorelle’s surprise the healer was still awake. She hadn’t passed out and she hadn’t made any noise.
“The symbol over the head will give me access to the power of her mind, the symbol on her cheeks near her ears, give me access to the power of her hearing, and the symbol on her throat allows me access to the power in her words. You may not realize this but when a healer uses their magic to heal someone, she uses all of her senses, at the same time. She is not limited to focusing on one thing only.”
“What about the sense of touch?” Lorelle asked as she carved the last symbol onto Kara’s neck. The healer was now a mess of blood and anguish.
“Do not use touch,” Volcan ordered. “You must not touch your sister in any way while in a dreamscape. She will feel my power in you. She will feel the healer’s power and she will know that you couldn’t possibly be telling her the truth, not if you were under my influence.”
“The human body only has seven pints of blood,” Jewel spoke up. “I just thought maybe you should know that since it looks like Kara has lost at least one so far.”
Lorelle could tell she was trying to remain calm, using her facts and reasoning as her anchor.
“Touch her, slow the flow of her blood.” Volcan’s voice was just a whisper.
Jewel’s mind was screaming at her to do something, to fight somehow, to save Kara. But she didn’t dare act against the fae or the evil voice that surrounded her. She knew the only way to help Kara at this point was to do as she was told. She reached out and grabbed Kara’s hand. It didn’t feel as warm as it should. She closed her eyes and thought about how her mother used to say that in order to access her power for the first time she would need to truly want it. Jewel couldn’t think of anything she wanted more in that moment than to have power to save this girl who was slowly becoming her friend.
As soon as that thought entered her mind she felt a rush of energy course through her body, straight down her arm and through her hand into Kara. She saw in her mind what she needed to do, how her magic could help. She constricted all of the veins that had been cut and also slowed Kara’s heart to slow the pressure. When she opened her eyes she could still feel her power working in Kara, like the running of an engine unseen boxed up in a car, the sound always in the background of everything else. She saw that it was working, the blood flow was slowing. So she hadn’t rescued them, but she had been able to save Kara. This time, she thought, but what about the next time?”
She continued to hold her friends hand as she watched Lorelle’s face take on a faraway look. She appeared dazed and uncoordinated. She leaned forward stiffly and dipped her fingers into the blood that had pooled on the table. Jewel tried not to gag when Lorelle lifted those very fingers to her mouth and sucked on them like they were the last dove ice cream bar on earth. She looked back down at Kara, determined not to watch the fae do any more disgusting acts all the while hoping for a miracle. She was pretty sure this was one of those situations that warranted one.
Lorelle hated the way it felt when Volcan took possession of her body. Unlike the first time she resisted the intrusion, causing her to be uncoordinated for a few seconds until he forced his will on her. Then to her utter horror, because though she may seriously be bloodthirsty for her sister’s death, she did not mean it literally, Volcan dipped her hand into the healer’s blood, defiling her even more as he licked it from her fingers.
“Why let such powers go to waste?” He whispered into her mind.
“Maybe because there is som
ething seriously wrong with someone who wants to suck on a blood popsicle?” She snapped.
“Oh, so wanting to maim and kill your sister makes you normal?”
Dammit, it’s not a good thing when the psycho has a point.
“Enough of this,” Volcan rumbled. “Focus, find your sister. Picture the house you spoke of, the room she occupies and the bed she sleeps in. Imagine a window opened to her mind and slip in that window.”
Lorelle pictured her sister, could see the room and bed perfectly in her mind. She could see Peri laying on her side with a large arm wrapped around her waist. That would be the mate. She pushed closer until she was right beside her ear and pictured the window. It was open and she imagined it beckoning to her. Without any resistance she pushed her consciousness into her sister’s usually well-guarded mind.
“I figured you would come,” Peri’s voice surprised Lorelle as she whipped around to find her sister lounging lazily on a settee. The room around them became stark white, nothing adorning the walls.
“How could you possibly know?” Lorelle asked.
“Do you think me a fool?” Peri’s brow rose as her unnerving gaze held Lorelle still.
“I think you are so arrogant that you turn yourself into a fool.” Lorelle tried to tear her gaze away from her sister’s but she couldn’t, not until she felt Volcan pour a little more power into her. It was wrong, dark mixed with light, grey and dull as it filled her.
“There is only one place you could have gone to lick your wounds sister,” Peri drew the last word out, sounding a little snake like. “None have reported to me that you have been in their realms, not that any would let you in. So that leaves only one place—a place that recently has been reopened for dark business. Tell me, Lorelle, am I wrong? Are you not residing in the dark forest, perhaps even Volcan’s castle?”
“You know nothing!” Lorelle shouted letting her rage get the best of her.
“Calm yourself, remain dignified in the face of your enemy. When you lose control, you reveal weakness.” Volcan commanded.
“Why are you here, Lorelle,” Peri asked, obviously choosing to let her little outburst slide.
“I thought you might like the chance to save your little healers. I came to propose to you a challenge. You know how I dearly love riddles and races against time.”
Peri’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you be willing to give up the healers? You must have been desperate to capture them to risk showing yourself to me.”
“Come now, Peri, you know I have always enjoyed a good game. Not to mention I do love to see the devastation on my opponents faces when they fail,” she taunted.
“Playing with the lives of healers is not a game; it is suicide. If they die, you will as well.” Peri stood slowly and Lorelle only refrained from taking a step back because Volcan would not allow it.
“Maybe for you, dear sister, but for me it is proof of my superiority to you. Are you scared you will not be able to make it in time?”
Peri took another step forward and her frown deepened. Ignoring her sisters question she asked, “What have you gotten yourself wrapped up in this time? What magic is it that I sense in you? It is familiar to me, and yet I cannot place it.” Peri’s head shifted side to side as if a different angle might suddenly shout the answer at her.
“You needn’t worry about me. What you need to worry about are the two healers in my possession. I propose a little wager, Sweet Sister. Solve the riddle, make it to the destination in time, and you can have them. But if you fail…I will not only keep these healers but you will give me the others as well.”
Peri’s face tightened as she glared at Lorelle. “Why would I bargain with the lives of the ones I know are safe?”
“Because if you do not then the ones in my grasp will surely perish in a most horrific way. Can you live with that, Perizada?”
“You’re bluffing. You won’t kill them. You need the healers for something, I’m just not sure what.
Lorelle threw her head back and let out a throaty laugh. “I’ve already taken everything I need from them. They are useless to me now.” Lorelle lied, knowing that her sister wouldn’t be able to determine the truth in her dream. Lorelle watched as her sister struggled with her need to protect the healers in her care and the need to save the ones that would otherwise die at the hands of her sister.
“What is the time frame?” Peri finally asked through clenched teeth.
“You have exactly twenty four hours from the minute I finish telling you the riddle. Are you ready, perfect Peri? Are you prepared to fail and have to look into the eyes of the healers who have trusted you to protect them and tell them you bargained their lives and lost?”
“Give me the damn riddle and then be gone!” Peri growled.
“Pushy, pushy. Fine, listen closely, I will only say it once.
Pitter, patter, pitter patter rain drops fall,
The bitter wind bites down to the marrow.
Little bird, little bird don’t you fall,
You won’t come back a little sparrow.
It aches, It aches, hunger and thirst,
Glisten, glitter to the bistro they go,
Tick tock, tick tock, who’ll be first,
Dusk sets, dawn rises, can’t be slow.”
Volcan pulled Lorelle’s consciousness from Peri’s mind so quickly it nearly made her physical body sick. Her eye’s opened as he rushed from her body nearly dropping her on her knees. She had to grab the table that the healer still laid on to hold herself up.
“What sort of riddle was that?” Volcan barked.
Lorelle laughed as she told a frightened looking Jewel to heal her friend. Then she answered him. “One that my sister will understand, if she is able to figure it out,” she paused, “with so little time to spare in searching for the healer. People, even high fae, don’t think quite as reasonably when they are rushed, especially when lives they are charged with are on the line.”
She felt Volcan’s pleasure at her explanation and she nearly vomited.
“Maybe I judged you too quickly, Lorelle. Maybe, just maybe, there is hope for you yet.”
Lorelle closed her eyes as she tried to push out the last of the lingering darkness Volcan left behind, all the while thinking, I’m not sure I want that sort of hope. That, however, wasn’t her final thought. Her final thought as she flashed the nearly dead healer back into the dark forest was that it was too late. It was too late the minute she sliced Kara Jones open and tasted her blood.
Chapter 16
“You would think, as I did, that century old fae would be unaffected by the pop culture of this time. You would think, as I did, that century old fae had a high standard for which they set in regards to every area of their very long life. You would think that, and you would be wrong.” ~Sally
“What is it?” Lucian asked sitting up in bed nearly as quickly as Peri had.
Peri held out her hand and a pen and paper materialized. She began writing furiously, the scratching of the pen the only sound in the room. Lucian waited, ever patient for her. He could feel her distress, sense that something had happened while she was sleeping but what he did not know. Finally, several seconds later she looked over at him. Her eye blazed with an anger that only came from one thing―betrayal.
“Tell me,” he said softly but firm enough that it was clearly still a command.
“There is no time for me to say it twice. I need you to gather everyone except the new healers and bring them here.”
He wanted to argue, wanted her to trust him enough to share with him and only him, but he recognized that for the insecurity that it was. He would not let something that had no merit come between them.
“I do trust you,” Peri told him as she laid her hand over his larger one that was resting, possessively, on her thigh. “And I need you to trust me.”
He was up and out of their door with no more than the sound of a gentle wind as he moved with the swift and quiet way of his wolf. Peri stared at the paper in
her lap. The hastily scrawled words glared back at her, daring her to try, taunting her to play her sister’s game and run the risk of looking like the fool she said she was. How had it come to this? Once again a riddle stood between her and the life of another, although she wasn’t even sure this healer really even existed. But could she take that risk? “What if, what if, what if,” she chanted to herself and then added, “What if’s never added a single breath to the one baring the question.”
Her attention was drawn away from the riddle in her lap and she looked up to see the room filling with what she had come to think of, to herself of course, as the Special Seven. She figured that covered a wide range of meanings that applied in some way to each one. Jen, the queen of giving ridiculous titles, would be proud.
Lucian took his seat next to her while the others either took to the floor or perched on anything capable of holding them up. Their groggy eyed faces, lined with sheet indentions and impressive bed heads were suddenly alert as her words penetrated the fog of sleep.
“I have spoken with Lorelle,”
“How?”
“What?”
“When?”
The barrage of questions flew at her, each in a different pitch and emotion. Peri started to quiet them down but she didn’t have to. Lucian let out a low growl, deep and rich, one so similar to another Alpha that could command a room with the simple act. Everyone went still and quiet.
“Please allow her to finish completely before you ask your questions. It will slow things down if you do not,” Lucian said in the same deceivingly polite tone that his brother did. Deceiving because usually, for his brother Vasile, the calmer the tone, the deadlier his anger had become.
Peri continued as though she hadn’t been interrupted. “She came to me in a dreamscape, don’t ask what it is, there is no time to explain it. While in the dreamscape she proposed a challenge. She gave me a riddle and a time frame. If I figure out the riddle and make it to the destination in time, then she will release the two healers in her possession. If I fail to make it in the time frame give, not only will she keep the healers, she is demanding I give up the ones in my care. I sensed very dark magic in her and around her, leading me to believe that whoever is the bearer of such magic is her puppet master. If it is who I think it is, then there is a real possibility that she will not follow through with her end of the bargain. That said, I have twenty four hours to decipher a riddle she recited to me which is supposed to disclose the location of the girls.” She paused and looked at their utterly shocked faces and let out a deep breath. “Go.” She said giving them permission to commence rapid fire question time. In hindsight Peri realized that might not have been the best way to handle it.