Dirt (The Dirt Trilogy) (23 page)

28

Acrimony is tense and a sense of confusion saturates the air.
Taylie is in bad shape. I run to her bedside.
“Why doesn’t Coll do something? What is he waiting for?” For
some reason she’s throwing up profusely and her color is a shade of
green I haven’t seen before.
“Coll tried multiple times to heal her, but to no avail. She
hasn’t responded to anything,” Alder tells us.
I watch her sleeping, but it isn’t a peaceful sleep. She groans
each time she tries to move. Her face is still so swollen. She doesn’t
look like Taylie.
“Can he heal humans?” I ask.
“Yes, of course. Coll can’t heal himself. He should be able to
heal her. None of this is making sense.” Alder is frustrated with the
lack of answers.
Taylie is so weak. What else could happen? She has lost her
family, lost her world, her home; everything. Now, she’s trying to
survive. Her face is battered and there are cuts up and down her
arms and legs.
I sit at her bedside wiping her face with cool rags and holding
her hand using my gift to calm her. She’s begins resting quietly for
the first time in hours. Rowen sits across the room waiting with me.
Ivy stays, as well, trying to do anything she can to keep Taylie
comfortable.
Rowen falls asleep in an arm chair. I think about what we’ve
been through in such a short time and that he’s known of me so

Kim F. Ridley

much longer than I
’ve known of him. Then I look at my best friend
so worn and beaten. I want for her what I have. My, how the tables
have turned.

Coll shows up.
“How is she?” he asks.
“She’s resting, finally. She’s had a rough night.” I pause
looking at him as if he’s the cause of her pain. “Why can’t you heal
her?”
“I don’t know. I’ve tried, using every inch of my strength. I
don’t understand why I can’t make her well.” He’s somber and his
eyes fill with fluid as if he’s about to cry. He must have something
in his eye. I don’t believe he can feel, especially for a human.
The morning sun warms the room as it peeks through the
window behind Taylie’s bed. Coll sleeps in the chair opposite me.
My back aches from the wood that’s made its mark in my skin
during the night. Taylie wakes up. “Where am I?” she mumbles.
“You’re safe in Acrimony,” I tell her.
She lifts her head, trying to orient herself. “I feel so sick to my
stomach,” she says.
“Lie down. You need to save your strength. You are going to
be all right. Rest.” I hope I’m telling her the truth. She reclines back
on the pillow and falls quickly back to sleep.
Rowen wakes up and stands behind me with his hand on my
shoulder. “Is she any better?”
“She slept all night, but she doesn’t look any better and she’s
still very weak.”
Arcos comes in to check on her. Rowen kicks Coll’s ankle,
startling him.
“What?” Then he sees Arcos standing at the foot of the bed and
he’s quickly on his feet.
My grandfather is concerned for her. He tells Ivy she is an
innocent human who sacrificed to help those of Durt only to meet
the evil part of this world. She was thrown in with no knowledge of
the faery world and no choice to be a part of it. Actually, it’s ironic.
Taylie and I were brought here with no choice of our own, with no
say.
Wolfsbane comes into the room a few moments later.
“I want Wolfsbane to see if he can tell us what is wrong with
her. There is more to her condition than we can see.”
We all step away from the bed. Wolfsbane towers over Taylie

Dirt

while she sleeps. With his eyes closed, he passes his hands over her
from head to foot, never touching her. His expression is blank until
he reaches her abdomen and his forehead wrinkles. His hands pass
over her again stopping around her pelvis. When he finishes, he
backs away from the bed and drops into the chair behind him. His
expression is broken with terror.

“What is it?” Arcos asks.

“
My lord, I cannot bear to say it.” Wolfsbane’s voice is weak
to respond.
“What is it? Is she going to survive?” Arco’s voice reverberates
through the room.
“Worse, my lord.”
Coll looks petrified. My heart sinks as Rowen steadies me.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
Wolfsbane hesitates to respond. “She’s pregnant.”
“She’s what?” I ask unsure of what he said.
“With twins. Bithling twins.”
The room grows cold and all eyes turn to Coll.

In the luxury of the sitting room, Arcos sits, head bowed, his
shoulders quivering. The royal image I have of my grandfather
unravels as he carries an enormous weight, and I wonder what it
means for all of us.

“
Come, Ashe, let’s leave him in solitude.” Rowen’s fingers are
in mine and he urges me out of the room.
“But...” I say in protest. “I can’t leave him like this.”
“What can you say? What can any of us do now?” Rowen tugs
at me again. “Taylie needs us. More than ever.”
I allow him to pull me away. He’s right. Taylie is in for a
struggle of unknown proportions. We head for her room, hand-inhand. One thing is for sure, life in Durt will never be the same.

The End...
Special thanks to:
Royce, I love you! Thanks for always being there for me.

Amy Goggans, Holly Buckingham and
Stephanie Ridley…the best daughters a mom could have. I love you
all very much.

My momma, Itsuko Sheffield, for encouraging me to read.

 

Janette Porter, you’ve always been there for me. I don’t know what
I would do without you.

 

Ellen C Maze, a wonderful friend, editor, illustrator and writing
mastermind. You have helped me so much....Isn’t this fun?!

Jade Maldonado, you
’re always there to make sure I don’t go too
crazy…too late. I can’t believe you’ve put up with me all these
years.

Lori Simpson, the best PR person in the entire universe.

 

Deborah Harper and Lynda Strickland, and Beth Lara love you
guys and everyone else who loves to read.

 

Donna DePriest for support and friendship.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
About the Author

As a child, K F Ridley was labeled as the kid with too
much energy. Desperately, she did her best to conform to
the ways of the world. Later, to realize she had to be true
to herself. As a result, her imagination went wild.

These days, she funnels her energy, exuberance, and highjinx into
The Dirt Trilogy,
as well as,
The C. Walker
Adventures
, beginning with,
The Curse of Yama
. There’s
no telling where her mind will take her—and you—next.

Sh
e lives in Mississippi with her family, her three dogs,
two miniature horses (Sunny and Boogie), a miniature
donkey (Dobey), and a pot belly pig (Baxter).

Contact the Author
:
[email protected]
www.kfridley.com
https://www.facebook.com/KFRidleyBooks
Twitter@Kim_Ridley

Join the conversation at #Dirt
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