See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(29)

“What are you talking about? It looks just like yours,” I said, flipping my arm back and forth trying to see what she was seeing.

“Hold on, don’t move,” Ren said before darting off in the fog. She came back an eternity later with Isabelle in tow. “Do you see it?” She asked her.

“Holy cow, what happened to your arm?” Isabelle exclaimed.

“Awesome, so only sightless people can see my magic, glowy arm. Why can’t anything be remotely normal?” I asked no one in particular. I was ready to take answers from anyone willing to give them.

“There is some bad stuff in whatever did that, Izzy. You need to talk to Isadora about the protection mark and soon,” Ren said before looking over her shoulder. She looked back at me with a panic stricken expression before darting off inhumanly fast pulling Isabelle in her wake.

“Where are you…?” I started to yell as I saw Xavier’s form approaching me.

“I see you got my present,” Xavier crooned. His voice sounded more solid than it had in months.

“Are you real?” I asked. It was time I finally found out if he was still alive.

“Oh, quite. You didn’t manage to kill me entirely my dear. It was irresponsible of you not to make sure.”

“It isn’t a mistake I will make twice,” I spat. I hated that he was still able to illicit such a vehement reaction from me.

“It is unlikely you will get a second chance. You tried to take my life and now I will return the favor. Oh, but don’t worry, it won’t happen quickly. I plan to make this last as long as possible. I can’t wait to see the look on my dear brother’s face as he watches the last of the light fade from your eyes.”

“So, you are using cowardice to come after me, then? Killing innocent girls as some sort of revenge doesn’t really seem like your style.” If I could keep him talking maybe I could get him to solve some of our unanswered questions.

“Oh, you silly girl, I have nothing to do with that. Well, I suppose I do, but it is not of my making. I really must go. Visit often, Izzy,” he said as he strolled back into the fog. I wanted to run after him and rip his throat out with my bare hands. I wanted to demolish him until there was nothing left of him but a pile of viscera.

I forced myself to breathe slowly and come back to my senses. I needed to get out of the dreaming and find those runes. I reached out for the present and allowed it to sweep me away.

**********

I sat up in the bed and looked over at the clock. It blinked a bright four, zero, zero at me. I turned over and kissed Kennan on the head before getting up and dressing in some workout clothes. Conall had promised me a story this morning. I just hoped he had cleared things with Kennan the night before. I got up and moved to the bathroom to finish getting ready. I stared at my reflection. Familiar purple marks formed under each of my eyes. I wanted so badly to cut myself off from the dreaming and sleep soundly for a night, but until this problem was solved I couldn’t do it. I might miss something.

I headed out the door after leaving Kennan a detailed note. I knew he would want to know where I was, and I wasn’t about to pull an Ian and write ‘went for a walk.’ I opened the door soundlessly and slipped outside.

**********





CHAPTER ELEVEN


“Good morning.” Conall startled me, making me about jump out of my skin.

“Cheese on a cracker, Conall, you scared me,” I said, trying to calm my galloping heart.

“Sorry. I thought you expected me. We are supposed to train this morning, are we not?”

“Yeah, but I need to go to the library first. I know the rest of the runes on the bodies.”

We made our way to the library, talking about what sort of training Conall had planned for me. Apparently the whole training bit wasn’t just a cover for us having a talk. I wasn’t sure what I should be prepared for.

“Have you done much sword fighting?” Conall asked.

“Oh yeah. Totally. I just killed a few dragons last week. Oh, and then there was the fight over Kennan’s honor. I couldn’t let that trollop get away with calling him such foul names.”

“I take that as a no,” he grumbled as we entered the library. We made our way over to the table we had been at the night before. Lying with her face mashed into the pages of a book, was a sleeping Eleanor.

“Eleanor, wake up. I have some more information that might help,” I said, gently shaking her back.

“What, I am so sorry. I must have dozed off for a moment,” she said groggily. “What do you have for me?” she asked, reaching up to pat my face gently.

“I know what the runes look like. Also, Ren said something about Xavier meeting with the foggy woman. They talked about him getting better. So maybe whoever she is, she is using these sacrifices to restore his health. He seemed stronger last night in the dreaming.”

“Well goodness, let’s get a look at this then. Can you point out the runes you saw?”

I nodded as she flipped back to the Norse symbols in the book.

“Fehu, Uruz, Kenaz, Gebo, Hagalaz, and Laguz were all carved on the arms. On the chest was this symbol here, Perthro. Oh, and do you know anything about runes that only glow to people without eyes in the dreaming?” I asked hopefully. I was weirded out beyond belief by that one.

“I do,” Conall chimed in. I suddenly found myself being pulled out of the library in his wake.