Collide and Seek: Act 4-5 (Bitter Ashes Book 2) (12 page)

I shook my head, wondering how I could read a dead woman's emotions so clearly, while at the same time hoping that this increased feeling of empathy wasn't permanent. It was bad enough feeling someone's wounds as they happened, did I really have to share in their darkest fears?

Gritting my teeth, I released her spirit, and was relieved of her emotions simultaneously. Part of me felt a little smug that even in doing what was right for her, I got to go against Diana's wishes, but most of me just felt confused and afraid. Maybe I had only felt Diana's emotions so strongly because they so closely mirrored my own.

I stared down at the now lifeless corpse, feeling  melancholic about the whole ordeal.

Alaric gently touched my arm to get my attention, and I turned to him, feeling as if I'd just woken from a dream. “We should prepare to leave,” he said softly. “Estus' people are still out there looking for us, and the human police may be as well.”

I nodded and stood, as all of our future concerns came rushing back.

I ended up waiting in the Norn's comfortable sitting room while Alaric and Sophie searched for clothing and supplies. The entire scene from the attack in the hotel room all the way up to the Norn's death played over and over in my head as I waited. For some reason, the scene that stuck out most to me was Alaric finding out that I maybe loved him, and him begging me to not let it be true.

The rational side of me assured that his fear and astonishment came from the fact that the revelation meant Diana would force me to kill him, but some small, scared part of me said that he was afraid for other reasons, though I did not allow myself to dwell on what those reasons might be. I also did not allow myself to dwell on the idea that I might be in love with him in the first place. I didn't have time for love, especially when it could easily be ripped away at the flick of Estus' hand.

The supply search didn't take long, fortunately, as the underground complex was small. Alaric and Sophie returned to save me from my thoughts, and they saved me from the cold as well with a pair of roughly made pants and winter boots that were slightly too large. The clothes seemed like they came from a different century, and smelled like they had been stored for just that long. It was a marvel that they even held together, but I wasn't going to turn my nose up at anything that would protect me from the harsh weather above.

There was no food to be found, even though the Norn had likely stayed in that little sitting room alone for ages. Perhaps Norns didn't have to eat, but I did. My stomach growled painfully as I put on the offered clothing and followed Sophie and Alaric back to the trap door, then climbed the ladder out into the daylight.

James was still lying unconscious in a patch snow above. The three of us stared down at him, unsure of what to do.

“Leave him,” Alaric suggested. “I'm sure he'll find his way back to civilization.”

“That's what I'm afraid of,” Sophie countered. “He'll likely realize that we have the charm, and he'll run to tell Aislin, or perhaps even Estus. The search for us will quadruple in strength.”

“Do you suggest we kill him?” Alaric asked with a smirk.

Sophie looked down at James with an odd mixture of emotions on her face.

“Or was there a reason you left him alive up here to begin with?” Alaric added as he watched his sister with a calculating expression.

I sure hoped Alaric had some idea of what was going though Sophie's mind, because I sure didn't.

“Not that you guys ever listen to my opinion anyway,” I said sarcastically, “but I really don't want to be around when he wakes up and discovers that I killed his grandmother.”

Sophie blinked rapidly and shook her head as if coming out of a dream. “He's our only
in
with Aislin. Perhaps we might need him.”

I squinted my eyes at her logic. “Diana was also Aislin's sister. I think that option is lost to us. Besides, weren't you the one who suggested we remain clan-less?”

Sophie glared at me. “And what of the charm? I imagine you have it?”

“We destroy it,” I replied, not taking a second to think about it.

Sophie crossed her arms. “What if we could somehow use it to protect ourselves? If it could grant one of the Vaettir the power to rule, could it not grant us a little diplomatic immunity?”

“We destroy it,” I said again, unable to put into words what the Norn had shown me. “Now back to James.”

I could tell that she didn't fully accept my answer, but she did turn back to the man in question. “We take him with us,” she stated.

Alaric and I both looked at each other in surprise as Sophie continued to stare down at James.

“Do you really think that's wise?” Alaric asked, turning back to his sister.

Sophie didn't look up. “We can't have him telling anyone that we have the charm,” she explained.

“And you can't kill him,” I said with a soft smile.

She snapped her eyes up to me and practically snarled. “I
could
,” she argued.

“But you
won't
,” I finished. “And here you all were thinking
I
was the cream puff of the group.”

Alaric held a hand up to his mouth to hide his grin.

What sounded like a low growl trickled out of Sophie's throat.

I froze as if afraid, then said, “I'm sorry, you're not a cream puff. You're a sweet, cuddly little kitten.”

Alaric burst out laughing.

“If you're done being comedic,” Sophie growled, “you could make yourselves useful and help me carry him.”

Alaric did as his sister bade him, still laughing as he went. I watched as they lifted James to standing.

The three of them looked an odd picture. Alaric had found a shirt that was the same old-fashioned style as my pants and similar boots to mine. They clashed with his modern jeans and the modern clothing Sophie and James wore. The scene was made even more odd and slightly humorous by James' head lolling around as they moved him.

I was dreading the moment when I'd have to explain to them everything the Norn had shown me, though they would likely be more practical about it than I wanted to be. Alaric and Sophie were descended from a goddess of war, after all. What were a few more corpses for the greater good?

Rock, Paper, Shivers (Act 6 & 7) is now available on Amazon:

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