Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(18)

“Jakmile pochopíte v?echno, a m??e p?ijmout to, co vám ?eknu, pak, a nejen jim ?eknu vám v?echno, má lásko. Ale ani o vte?inu d?íve.” I glared at him. He knew my Czech consisted of ‘pass the leaves’ and ‘where is the bathroom’.

“Understand? Accept what? Love what? What did you say, Ilyan? You know I don’t understand most of what you said. My Czech is not very good.” He smiled at me and placed the small box in my hands.

“Exactly.”

I jerked the box away from him angrily, I hated cryptic answers. Ilyan was full of them.

“I made those for you, for Prague, but wear them tonight. They will look nice in the city. I am going to go get you something besides pajama pants to wear. Stay inside.” He smiled at me once before leaving, the door locking behind him.

I looked down to the folded brown paper bag, a small pink ribbon tied around the top. It never ended well when a man made anything for a woman to wear, and the thought of what could be inside this package worried me.

I slipped the bow from the paper and tipped the bag, letting the contents fall out into my hands.

The most intricate red leather shoes rolled onto my palms. I could tell right away they would fit. The toes of the shoes were folded into a fan shape that gave the impression of a blossoming rose. A tiny pearl was nestled in the middle of each one. Surrounding the sole of the shoe was a five part leather braid that circled seamlessly around. I couldn’t find the beginning or the end. The stitching around the sole and around the top was small and intricate, each one done with precision. I stared at the shoes in awe. That these could be made by a person, let alone Ilyan, was impossible. I lay the sturdy shoes on the floor and slipped my bare feet into them. They were beautiful.

Of course, I recognized them as what he had been working on while I lay dying months before. While he had been nursing me, healing me, he had also been working on these shoes. Even then, he didn’t think I was going to die.

I hadn’t thought about it in three months, but now I couldn’t help but wonder what Ilyan’s backup plan could have been. I now knew he had something else in mind if joining Ryland in the T?uha hadn’t cured me. Something deep inside told me these shoes were meant for that, not for a night on the town.





Six


It took a minute after Ilyan had left for reality to click in. Ilyan was getting me clothes, and I was going to get to leave. Of course, this would mean being around people again – something I really wasn’t fond of – but I would be outside my current prison and that was all that mattered.

I bounced on my toes and took the few steps to retrieve Ilyan’s cell phone from the kitchen counter. I flipped the phone open and speed dialed three to call Wyn. As the phone rang, I paced the floor in anticipation. It was surprising how soft the shoes were. The leather clung to my feet with the few steps I took. I could tell I was going to love them.

“Hello?” She sounded groggy. Odd, it was only nine at night in Prague right now.

“Wyn!” I almost screamed, my excitement exploding out of me. “I get to leave!”

It didn’t even take her a moment for what I had said to sink in. She squealed and repeated it, presumably to Talon who was always nearby.

“When are you leaving? Are you coming home? Please tell me you are coming right home,” she rattled on, Talon chuckling in the background.

“I’m not sure yet. Ilyan is taking me out for dinner tonight. Then we get to leave soon.”

“But you don’t know where to yet?” Her voice had dropped, and my heart sunk a bit with it. I was so excited to be leaving the apartment, I hadn’t thought about where we would end up. But the thought of not getting to see Wyn again soon was depressing. As much as I was getting used to Ilyan’s company, and as much as I enjoyed being around him, I needed Wyn.

“Don’t rain on my parade, Wyn.” I grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that I miss you. It’s been months and with everything that’s happening, I worry.”

“What do you mean with everything that’s happening?” I asked.

I plopped down on the bed, curling my toes in the beautiful shoes, and waited. There was a much longer pause than I was used to as Talon whispered something in the background. It wasn’t like Wyn to hesitate. She usually said what was on her mind, whether it would offend someone or not.

“Wyn,” I prompted. “What’s going on?” My stomach tightened a bit in anticipation.

“Just with everyone looking for you, people being able to track your magic, and all that.”

I knew Ryland could track my magic, and would presumably be looking for me but Wyn made it sound like something more active.

“Everyone’s looking for me?” I said quietly. “Everyone like Ryland everyone, or everyone-everyone? I don’t suppose you and Talon were planning a rescue mission to get me out of my studio-sized prison?”

“Ryland everyone, Jos.” She paused, and my shoulders knit together in frustration.

Twice in one day I wasn’t being told exactly what was going on. Worst of all, people were keeping things from me. ‘People’ being Wyn and Ilyan to be specific. And Wyn was probably just following orders. While Ilyan had a right not to tell me everything, I trusted him – with my life, my secrets. He had become more than a friend. Hearing that he was keeping something from me, for the second time in under an hour, made my head hurt.