See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(67)

“I need you to calm down before I tell you.” I patted the bed beside me, hoping he would sit back down again.

“What happened? What did that bastard do to you? I don’t care if he is an Old One, I will end him,” Kennan growled, coming to sit next to me.

“This has nothing to do with him. I need to show you something, but I need you to not panic when I do. We are going to solve this and I will be okay. Alright?” I was trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince him.

“Show me.” Kennan’s eyes filled with trepidation.

I lifted the arm of my shirt to show him the rune that still marked it. It still looked as disgusting as the day it had shown up. I moved to stand up and cringed. This last rune seemed to hurt worse than the others had. I couldn’t understand the difference.

“I got another one last night on the way back. I was in the dreaming and there was this cloaked figure. Well, I would rather only have to explain this once so if we could just do it with everyone?”

I felt so tired suddenly. My future spread out before me and it looked to be an endless uphill struggle.

“Show me,” Kennan whispered.

I lifted my shirt and peeled the bandage from my skin.

“NO!” Kennan yelled out. He jumped towards me and grasped my face in his hands, making me look at him. “I won’t let this happen to you, do you understand? We need the others and we need to talk to Elaine. I want to know what she knows.” Kennan was frantic, rushing to make plans. I could hardly track him with my eyes as he moved around the room.

“Kennan, stop. Please, just for a moment.” I reached my hand out to steady him. He looked back at me with glistening eyes. “I’m okay. Promise.” I reached up and brushed his lips with my own. He swallowed deeply and nodded.

“We need to talk to the others. I need to know what Elaine knows. Does Conall know about that?” he asked, his voice filled with contempt.

“Yes, and I made him swear not to tell you last night. I wanted to give you a break from worrying about me. Dumb, huh?” I looked down at my feet, realizing just how silly the notion had been.

“Not dumb. I understand that you want to protect me from this. I have been doing the same thing to you. Let’s just promise one another, no more secrets.”

“Deal. I guess I should probably put some clothes on.” I looked down at my plaid pajama pants and sighed. It was a green sweater sort of day. Thank God I’d packed it.

We both dressed quickly and headed out the door in search of the others. We stopped by Molly’s room first and Ian answered the door. His face was still marked with concern.

“We need to talk to both of you in the office. Get Elaine and bring her up as well. We will gather the others,” Kennan said, moving away before he even finished the sentence.

Next, we stopped by Conall’s room and found him ready when the door opened. “So, you have kept your word then?” he asked me.

“We will discuss this later, Brother,” Kennan said, motioning for him to follow. I pulled my green sweater around me more tightly. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to fade into the background, never to be seen again. Instead I followed along down to the office where Ian and Molly were waiting with Elaine.

I moved inside and shut the door behind me. I walked over to Molly and grasped her hand. I wasn’t sure who was supporting whom at that moment. She looked down at our hands and back into my eyes and smiled softly. I could tell she had been crying and I wanted to take that pain away for her.

“I’m fine, I promise. What has happened that they have dragged everyone in here now?” Molly asked in my head.

“Me. As per usual,” I answered back, adding a shrug.

“What did he have planned, Elaine? We need to know,” Kennan started in on her. “I want to know everything that transpired from the time you took him until we came to get you. If you don’t cooperate I will just let Izzy memory sift you and find the information.”

“I will tell you anything you want to know. I have no intention of hiding. Even if I tell you what is coming, you won’t be able to stop it,” she said with a snicker.

“Start talking,” Kennan said, barely an inch from her face.

“They are conjuring the darkness. It will be set forth on this land and bring pain and suffering to those that oppose it. She is the conduit. You remember how that works, don’t you Conall?” she asked with a sickening laugh.

Elaine’s calm demeanor set my teeth on edge.

Molly flew at her mother, wrapping her hand around her throat. She slammed her head against the back of the seat and got as close to her face as she could. “You listen to me, you worthless woman, we will stop this.”

“Hardly, daughter. You won’t be able to stop anything, not with your powers fluxing. You still haven’t learned to control them. By the time you do you will be too late to help,” Elaine said with a raised brow, earning her another slam of the head. Ian moved to pull Molly away.

“I think it would be best if you filled us in later,” Ian nodded, pulling Molly from the room as he went.

“Why me?” I finally found my voice enough to speak.

“She’s joking, right?” Elaine asked the room.

“Answer her, woman, before I change my mind about sparing your life,” Kennan growled.