See How She Falls (The Chronicles of Izzy #3)(33)
I nodded, afraid to speak much more.
“Hmm, fat lot of good his skills are doing for you. Well, eat up. If what they say is true, this could be one of your last meals.” She paused for a moment, surprised by her own words. “Oh, I am so sorry, that was so rude. Sometimes I just don’t have a filter. Everything that passes through my head comes out of my mouth. Just forget what I said. We are going to try and do everything we can to keep you safe. Yeah, well. I’m gonna go now.” She rushed from the room causing me to snicker.
“She’s interesting," Kennan muttered.
I nodded in agreement, doing my best to inch my way towards the food, only to be pushed down by Kennan.
“I’ll get it. You just save your energy. Who knows what random acts of insanity you will need to perform today.” He smiled brightly as he brought my food over. “After breakfast, you need to get Aberto here. We need to figure out what we’re going to do. I can’t just sit around any longer, Izzy. We need to do something.”
“I know," I rasped. My throat was starting to feel better already, which brought a whole new concern to the foreground. If that was another change, then would I end up like Aberto? He could heal quickly, and if I were starting to heal like him did that mean that I would also end up stuck in between planes for the rest of forever? Terrified by the prospect of spending an eternity neither here nor there, I decided to turn my attention to something else. No sense in worrying about something that hadn’t even happened yet.
“Well, eat now, and we’ll get everyone together to figure this out.” Kennan rubbed his hand down his face heading out of the room. Presumably, to gather everyone to formulate some sort of plan.
I looked around the empty room and wondered how we were ever going to cram everyone in here. I wished that there was some way for me to heal the runes, the way my throat was healing. I brushed off the self-pity and delved into my food. Thank God it was something soft and familiar, grits. I shoveled them down thinking of Aberto, and his reaction to Emmanuel. Things had just taken a giant turn for the worse and I knew it. Whatever came next was going to be a whole heaping ton of suck.
Chapter Seventeen
“I should not have abandoned you. Forgive me?” Aberto appeared in my room before anyone else was able to return, startling me from my food reverie.
“Bells!” I rasped, startled.
“What?” Aberto’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“You need to wear them.” I gave him a stern look before returning my attention to my deliciously buttery grits.
“Is your throat not healing?” Aberto never would dignify my bells idea with a response. One of these days I was going to buy him one of those jingle bell anklets and strap it on him when he was unaware.
“It feels better than it did when I woke up," I supplied between bites.
“Perhaps your being unable to speak will work to our advantage. I may just be able to get through my story without your interrupting with a thousand unimportant questions.” Aberto gave me one of his rare half-smiles as he lowered into the chair closest to the bed. My arm acted of its own accord to smack him.
“Ha. Ha," I wheezed. I figured sign language was probably going to be our best means of communication so I motioned for him to continue.
“Emmanuel is one of the Old Ones, the first of our kind. I knew years ago that he had taken it into his head to bring forth a darkness, but he only had the help of some inferior Guardians and Seers. Ultimately, Cait was able to undo his bindings by sacrificing herself for the sake of those she loved. Emmanuel disappeared after that. All that knew he’d been there had assumed that the gods had finally taken him under their judgment.” Aberto dropped his head into his hands. “I didn’t know, Izzy. I had no way of knowing that he had survived and still plotted to bring about this ridiculous scheme. Why did the gods not punish him for his acts? Why has he been left to do his bidding?” Aberto looked at me, pain lacing his eyes.
“Because all things have their time, dear one.” Mona entered the room so quietly, neither of us had noticed her entrance.
“Is this from you, or them?” Aberto asked, distain dripping from every word.
“From experience. Do you not remember uttering those words yourself to my dear niece? All things have a season, do not lose your faith. If you cannot believe enough to stand, then we shall all fall.” My aunt rested a hand on his shoulder before turning back to me. “As for you, let’s get you propped up and a bit more presentable, shall we?”
She moved toward me and pulled me up to rest more comfortably against the pillows. I was starting to feel like an invalid. After getting me resettled, she grabbed a makeup remover cloth from my bag and set out to clean my mascara stained face. I didn’t even remember putting it on in the first place.
“There now, much better.” She left her hand resting on my cheek, the same way my mother had. Tears sprung in my eyes. I was grateful to have something of my mother back. Even if she wasn’t my mother, she was my blood.
I nodded as the rest of the group filed in. Conall tried to move next to Sena, who abruptly shot across the room to stand next to my aunt. I’d thought Ian had trouble with Molly. It appeared Conall was in for way more trouble than even Ian had faced. It served him right to get someone as sassy as her though. Maybe she would make him less serious.