Runebinder (The Runebinder Chronicles #1)(82)

“He’s alive,” Tenn interjected, his voice barely a whisper. Even voicing the words sent a fresh wave of memory through him, a surge of Water that burned with regret. With hope. He didn’t care who or what the Violet Sage was. Jarrett was alive. Nothing else was important.

“Who’s alive?” Dreya asked, suddenly tense. “The necromancer?”

“No,” Tenn said. He forced aside the image of Matthias immolating himself. “No, Matthias is dead. But...he told me before he died. He said that Jarrett’s alive. Leanna has him.”

“Lying,” Dreya said without hesitation. Her blue eyes seemed to flash in the candlelight. “He was lying to you. He had to have been.”

Even as she said it, he knew it was probably true. Matthias just wanted him to fall into Leanna’s clutches. He would do anything to deliver Tenn to his mistress. But the nagging doubt was too much to overlook.

“I don’t think he was.”

“He was.”

“How do you know? What would you do? If they had Devon? Even if just a rumor?”

Her face darkened. She hesitated before answering.

“If there was a chance, any chance, I would try to save him.”

Tenn nodded. Stupid move. It made his head spin.

“Now is not the time,” she said. She stood and walked over to the nearby table. She opened to Fire, briefly, and steam began waving from the dishes.

“Eat,” she said. “You have much recovering to do. We will speak of this in the morning.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Tenn said. “I’m going to save him.”

“Eat,” she said again. “If...if what you say is true, there is much to discuss.”

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Tenn said, but she was already out the door.

He stared down at the food, forced aside the nausea and tried to convince himself he had an appetite. It wasn’t hard. When the first drop of broth touched his tongue, Earth and Water growled with hunger. They wanted to devour it all.

He ate. And while he did, he couldn’t help but feed the tiny flame of hope that fluttered inside of him. Jarrett might still be alive. Jarrett might be waiting for him.

And Tenn was going to do anything he could to get him back.





CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

DREYA CAME IN only once more, Devon at her side.

Tenn had drifted in and out of uneasy sleep. It wasn’t nightmares that plagued him, but memories of Jarrett—some real, some imagined. Dreams that stuck with him even when he woke, so that every time he opened his eyes he felt the man beside him. In his cold sweat, he felt the absence like an ache.

Dreya had Tenn recount everything he’d seen and everything Matthias had said. Devon said nothing when Tenn was finished, but he shared a look with his sister that spoke volumes.

It was clear that neither of them believed Matthias.

It was also clear that neither could risk the chance it was true.

“We’ve spoken with the Witches,” Dreya said. “With Rhiannon and Luke gone, there is no one else to teach about the runes.”

Tenn’s heart sank.

“So what do we do?” he asked.

Again, the twins shared a look, though brief.

“There is a way,” Dreya said. She took a deep breath. “Rhiannon said the spirits wanted to speak through you. If that is the case, we should bring you to a place where you can meet them.”

“How?”

“You can find out. Tonight.”

*

The bonfire was ready at dusk.

Dreya came and helped him from his bed. He’d spent the afternoon sleeping fitfully, and every time he’d opened his eyes there had been fresh warm food on the bedside table. Every time, he’d eaten the whole meal. Even then, however, he leaned heavily on Dreya. His heart hammered in his chest as she led him out the trailer and into the cold evening air.

He was scared.

He didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself, but his fear was a living thing, a rabbit chasing through his veins.

It was one thing to be at the mercy of Water, or to be told he was important. It was another thing entirely to be told you were going to speak to the powers that created you.

The world outside was quiet, save for the crackle of flames. Everyone in the clan had assembled around the bonfire, firelight making them all glow orange and red in the coming dusk. Their expressions were solemn, expectant. He wasn’t the only one worried about what he’d find.

Dreya silently led him to a space beside the bonfire, to where a few blankets had been laid out on the ground. Room enough for one. For him. Dreya went and stood by her brother.

Mara stood beside the blanket. She gestured for Tenn to lie down, and then picked up a bundle of herbs resting beside the blanket. She thrust them into the flames and, once they’d caught, blew out the fire. Heavy smoke wafted from the incense. It smelled of sage and cedar, and with it she began to walk around the fire, leaving Tenn to stand awkwardly on his own.

“We call to the spirits,” she said as she walked, “to the Ancestors and gods. We call to the earth, to the sky, to the flame and the streams. We call to the Mystery that binds us all, hear us!” When she reached Tenn again, she wafted the fragrant smoke over him, from his toes to the top of his head. The scent made his head spin. Inside, he felt the Spheres flicker in response, the smoke pulling some magic out of him he hadn’t known he possessed.