Out of the Mountain (28 page)

“He has more important things to do, apparently,” I said.

“I am here,” he barked from the doorway, and I flinched when I met his eyes and received a glare.

“Well then, gang’s all here,” Luca said, meeting my eyes with concern in his. I leaned into him and wrapped an arm around his waist. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and squeezed a little before loosening his grip.

“Follow me,” Farran said, leading us to the first door in the hall. The room was completely empty but for two chairs in the center.

“This is creepy,” I said, holding Luca’s hand as we entered and sat. Farran laughed.

“I emptied and cleansed the room. It helps keep the spell more pure,” he said as Rowan entered the room and closed the door behind him. Farran took out a dagger and handed it to Luca.

“Ready?” he asked, and we both nodded.

“The light within the span of day, rise to keep shadows at bay.

“Royal blood, gifted to heal, an exchange of power will soften the deal.

“A blade to borrow the power of light and send the darkness back into night.”

Power wafted around us as if it was testing and teasing our defenses. I let it wash over me and tried to push it to the back of my mind as the tendrils slipped around us in waves.

“Now Luca, you have to hold the dagger out so that she can cut herself on it,” Farran said simply.

“What! Why?” he yelped, eyes wide.

“Blood magic is messy. She has to be willing.” Farran shrugged.

“It’s OK, Luca, just hold out the dagger.” I reassured him with a soft smile.

“The blade is very sharp. Just a light touch will be enough. Don’t harm yourself, Vinnie.” Rowan’s voice was soft and I nodded.

“Got it,” I said before I started to cut my hand but quickly decided against it. Hands were a sensitive part of the body, and I was going to need them both to train. Also, I was going to have a hard time explaining a bunch of random cuts to the council. I needed a place that could stay hidden . . .

“Hold it lower,” I said as I conjured myself into a pair of cotton shorts.

“Good idea.” Rowan nodded.

Luca lowered the dagger, and I took a deep breath before easing my outer thigh into the blade. Rowan was right, the blade was sharp. As soon as it made contact blood welled to the surface, and the blade began glowing. I held my breath against the stinging pain and waited for the light to recede. I felt my power draining and tried not to slump, but Rowan was quickly at my back supporting my shoulders. When the light dulled, Luca pulled the dagger back, an apology in his eyes.

“Now Luca, place your hand over the cut so the exchange can be made.” Farran instructed. I was exhausted, completely drained. I could feel my eyes drooping even as the weight of Luca’s hand pushed against my thigh with a shock. Farran murmured words in a language I couldn’t understand, and I slowly felt myself becoming more awake and aware, energy returning. I pulled back from Luca when his face started to pale.

“That’s good,” I said truthfully. I felt fine.

“Did it work?” he asked, and I looked at the dagger in his hand. I could sense the magic inside of it. I smiled at him and nodded.

“Farran, help him return to his bed. He looks as if he needs some rest. I will escort the princess to training,” Rowan offered, and Farran helped Luca to his feet.

“I’ll see you guys later!” I called as they left the room, and I turned to examine the stinging cut at my leg. Rowan pulled me along behind him and into the bathroom across the hall. His eyes were glowing yellow, and I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t say a word as I let him take the lead.

He lifted me by the waist, easily depositing me on the counter by the sink. He didn’t even make eye contact with me as he conjured a small cloth and ran it under hot water. His giant hands were at the cut on my thigh, cleaning it so gently that I could barely feel the contact. When he was satisfied with it being clean, he conjured a bandage and some kind of salve. I stiffened when his fingers began rubbing the salve onto the cut at my thigh . . . I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stop,” I hissed even as my back began to arch into him. His eyes finally met mine, which I’m sure were glowing brighter than his at this point. His hand was motionless on my thigh, and I decided that was even worse, so I slapped it away. Confusion lit on his face, and as his eyes began to return to normal, I was practically on the brink of explosion from his insistent touch. He had no idea the power he held over me, and it scared me.

“I can do it myself,” I mumbled, tightly wound. I ripped the bandage open and dropped it in the sink, cursing as I fumbled after it. He picked it up for me, and I grabbed it from his hand.

“I said I could do it,” I growled, and this time my tigress was behind my voice. He heard. I slapped the bandage on my leg wincing when I put too much force behind it.

“I apologize, Vinnie. I wasn’t quite myself. That was much harder for me to watch than I anticipated.” His voice was soft and low, practically a whisper. I looked up into his honey-colored eyes and had to force myself to look away.

“I’m fine,” I lied, even my voice shook with it.

“I was just trying to help,” he said earnestly.

“I know,” I replied, because I did. It wasn’t his fault that I had all these feelings exploding in my chest for him.

“Did I harm you?” Yes.

“No.”

“Are you certain?” he asked not believing the lie.

“I just need a little space.” I sighed, and he immediately stepped away from me, I almost flinched at the movement. When I walked around him and out the door, he didn’t stop me.

***

Power exchange or not, the draining of my healing power had taken its toll. I felt hollow as if an important part of me was suddenly missing. I shuffled through the day as best as I could, unable to really focus as my body got used to the shift of power within it. Rowan kept a close eye on me, but he didn’t comment about it, and I was thankful. I was making my way back to the palace after training when Dahlia sought me out.

“I heard about the breakup, you poor thing.” Her lips quirked up into a smile, and it took me a moment to understand what she was talking about. Malachi.

“It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.” I tried to laugh, but it came out garbled.

“You’ll be happy to hear that all the invites to the coronation were sent out this morning.”

“Yippee!” I feigned enthusiasm.

“You’re going to have to do better than that when you see Mauve.”

“I’m trying to save it all up just for her.”

“We haven’t had a chance to talk, but I wanted to let you know that I have noticed a shift in her attention as of late. She is less worried with the Six, and I believe some of them are starting to realize that something isn’t quite right.”

“I’m starting to think that Mauve knows she is being controlled . . . like one of the marked.”

“I’ve wondered that myself,” she said, running a hand through her long, silver hair.

“Before I forget . . . she wanted me to deliver this to you,” she said, pulling a neatly wrapped box out from her bag. I looked it over but decided to wait until I was in my room to open it. I could feel a steady power surrounding it, and I just didn’t have the energy to deal with whatever might be inside the package at the moment.

“Do you think you could have someone drop it off in my room for later? I need to get to dinner,” I told her as my stomach growled at the mere thought of food. She smiled and said she would take care of it for me as she waved me toward the dining hall, shadowed by Rowan as always.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Luca sitting at the table with the novices. His black hair was disheveled as if he had been running his hands through it, his face was pallid, and his eyes were dull. I walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder before deciding that I didn’t care what anyone thought and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He smiled.

“You should be resting,” I scolded him.

“I feel fine,” he protested, but I could tell he was still feeling weak.

“I think he wanted to put on a brave face for the others.” Farran grinned as he joined us.

“It’s really not so bad,” he said.

“I’ll go tomorrow,” Briony piped in, and I smiled at her.

“I guess I should go join the Six,” I complained. The last thing I wanted to do right now was sit and make small talk with evil-possessed old people, but I marched to the table and took my seat nonetheless. It was my duty, after all. I made it fifteen minutes before Mauve mentioned Malachi. She had been going on about the food selections for the coronation ball. I was barely listening, and I think she could tell. Which was why she decided to ruffle me a little, I suspect.

“You poor thing, taken advantage of by that guard.”

“I thought we were meant to be, but he wasn’t thinking about the long term . . . if you catch my drift,” I mumbled over my drink.

“Typical man,” Farran quipped at my side, drawing a few laughs.

“Oh, I almost forgot! Did you like the gift I sent you?” Mauve quickly changed the subject. I balked, trying to think of a reason I hadn’t opened it yet.

“I couldn’t find her, so I left it in her room for her. Sorry, I forgot to mention it,” Dahlia said, saving me from the awkward exchange. Mauve narrowed her eyes briefly at Dahlia before turning back to me.

“Let me know what you think,” she said, and I nodded my agreement. The subject of the coronation picked back up, but I caught the glances she kept shooting toward Dahlia. She was suspicious, but why? Did she realize that Dahlia had lied? When I finally finished my dinner, I excused myself, and Farran escorted me quickly to my room. The package was sitting on my desk, and I went straight to it.

“What do you think it is?” I asked him, trying to build the courage to open it.

“Only one way to find out.”

“Stand back in case it explodes . . . I’ll need you to explain what happened,” I quipped, but he didn’t laugh. I tore the paper away and opened the box inside. It was covered in blue velvet, flat, and a little wider than my head. When I opened it, I gasped at the beauty within.

A strand of beautiful, graduated cushion-cut aquamarines, nestled between two rows of smaller sparkling round-cut diamonds. Hesitantly, I reached my hand out to touch the white gold strand.

“I’m having a special surprise delivered to her soon. I think it will be very satisfying to see it hanging around her neck. She does look so much like Alma. Don’t you think so, dear?”

“I think you are focusing on the entirely wrong things,” Kieran barked and Narissa’s form stiffened.

“Killian commissioned the necklace for Alma as a wedding gift! She was hardly ever seen without it! She was even wearing it when I sunk my blade into her gut,” she said.

“How did you obtain the necklace in the first place?” Kieran derided.

“If you must know, I returned during the chaos when I realized my amulet was gone. I searched the queen’s body while the others mourned just outside the door. When I couldn’t find my amulet, I took it from her neck for replacement. I had admired it so. It should have been mine anyway.” Narissa chuckled.

“The girl will have no idea the significance of it.”

“Ah, but Farran will, and when he touches it . . . he will discover a little surprise of his own.”

“You are becoming too involved with the nuances of this, Narissa. These small things do not matter. Your plots and games will raise suspicion.” Kieran admonished her.

“It would do you well to remember who you are speaking to, dear Kieran,” she hissed in a low voice, a warning and a threat wrapped into one. “Besides, I have eyes everywhere in the kingdom. No one suspects a thing. The girl is too busy running around like a cat in heat. The others are trying to protect her from herself. There is no way they will see what is coming.”

“Someone knows, Narissa. Someone powerful knows. Your influence has been broken more than once already.”

“If it’s anyone, it’s Farran, and he only cares about himself. You know him; he likes to hold all the cards. If he figures it out, I suspect he will save his own hide and leave the others to rot.”

I gasped, blinking back into myself and seeing Farran reaching toward the necklace. I slammed the box shut with a loud yell in warning. Farran’s eyes flew wide, and he jumped back from me, startled. I tried to catch my breath.

“Don’t touch it! She wants you to. It has some kind of curse or something on it.”

“That was my mother’s.” Farran’s face was blank of emotion.

“I know, I saw.” His eyes met mine, understanding the meaning.

“What’s going on? I heard a yell,” Rowan said through the door. At least he hadn’t barged in. I opened my mouth to speak just as he swung through the door. I rolled my eyes.

“At least you paused at the door,” I grumbled as his skillful eyes searched the room.

“What have you done to Farran?” He puzzled at the blank expression on his face.

“I didn’t do anything! I received a gift, and it was a shock to him or something.” I started to worry that he had in fact touched it.

“What gift and from whom?” Rowan growled at me. I pried open the box and showed him the necklace.

“Mauve sent it to me. It was Queen Alma’s; I saw it in a vision. Narissa said she . . .” I stopped talking, worried about Farran. He didn’t need to know exactly what she had said. “She was having it delivered to me and that Farran would recognize it and when he touched it, something would happen to him.” I finished quickly and Rowan’s eyes narrowed at me in question of my pause, but I shook my head slightly. He left it alone.

“Let me have a better look at it. I won’t touch it.” Farran finally spoke. I turned the necklace toward him.

“It’s a seeing spell of sorts. She has embedded a memory into it or something of the kind,” Farran said after studying the power radiating from it for a moment.

“There is nothing she could show you that you would want to see.” I slammed the box shut at the curiosity behind his eyes.

“Yes, I suppose you are right.” He sighed, looking weary. I handed the box to Rowan and pulled Farran into a hug.