Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(59)

“If...if...y...you w-w-wish to ssseeee th...the end. G...give m-me y...your heart.”

“Jos?” I whispered as her eyes closed, hoping she could hear me, hoping that she would not return to her prison, but nothing happened. She stayed limp in my arms as her mind returned to the hell she was trapped in.

“He will tear us apart. If you wish to see the end, give me your heart.” I had almost forgotten Dramin was standing behind me until he spoke.

I looked away from Joclyn at his voice, keeping my hands on her arms, not willing to be away from her, to lose contact.

“What do you think it means?”

I could only shake my head at him. It was obviously a sight as shown by the blackness of her eyes, and not the rambling nonsense that can happen while people dream. This meant the words were meant to guide. So the question remained; who was to receive the guidance, and what did it mean?

My hands pulled away from her slowly, my eyes widening at the large burn on my arm. My skin was raised in an angry red welt where the water had touched me. The water that could unlock her sight; the touch of the water against my flesh, one that would trigger it.

Dramin saw me looking at the welt on my arm, his inhalation confirming that my thoughts were headed in the right direction.

“It’s for you.” His voice was awed. The water had called her from a dark place, and my sacrifice had been the one to have done that.

“He will tear us apart. If you wish to see the end, give me your heart,” I repeated the words softly, the tender words sounding like a message rather than a warning on my tongue.

A message from her; from Joclyn.

She was still in there somewhere. I just needed to find her.





Chapter Eighteen





I was out of bed before I had registered what had happened. I had heard the soft knocking in my sleep and sat up, my body tense and ready as if expecting battle. I could still feel the warmth of where Joclyn’s body had been pressed against mine, the heat leaving as the chilled night air that came in through the open archways swirled against my skin.

The knock sounded again, the taps soft against wood, a familiar energy seeping through the door, and my body relaxed. I made it to the door in two steps, throwing it open to reveal a very disheveled looking Thom. His dark dreads were pulled back into a ponytail. The ear buds of his iPod were hanging out of his shirt, and I could hear the occasional twang of a guitar. Normally I would laugh at seeing them there - Thom always kept his love of country music hidden - but the concern on his face trumped the humor.

“Thom?” I questioned when he didn’t say anything.

Thom looked over my shoulder to where Joclyn lay in the bed, before looking back to me.

“You need to come with me.”

It was very strange how one sentence could put each nerve in my body on high alert. My muscles tensed as I stood taller; my back straightened in an inadvertent attempt to challenge him. Thom reacted, but not in a way I would have expected from him.

“Shield her, and follow me.”

“Thom? What has happened?”

Thom’s eyes darted around uncomfortably, the action only adding to my heightened awareness. My muscles tensed in expectation. I looked down the hall behind him, expecting Edmund to be standing right there.

“I found something outside.” His voice was so soft and unsure, I barely heard him.

“What?” I asked, Thom jumping at my voice. His uncomfortable jitters seemed to be growing rather than receding.

“I’m not sure. I want you to see.”

I looked at him sternly for one minute before backing off. I would receive a clearer understanding of what was happening by following rather than demanding answers. Although I didn’t like going somewhere blind, it was my best option.

“Následuj mě.” Before I could say more Thom had begun to walk away, his steps short and panicked, suggesting trouble. Everything prickled inside me in warning, but I wasn’t one to second-guess Thom. He had proven his worth to me, and that was enough.

I glanced back at Joclyn for only a moment before watching her body vanish from sight; the heavy shield I covered her with ignited inside of her, as well as around her.

Thom’s steps were short, the sound muffled by his quick soft movements. I followed him in silence as we moved from the renovated space on the northern side of the Abbey to the ruins that existed on the far south. What had once been a beautiful cathedral was now reduced to a few exquisite arches and some tile work, most of it destroyed by war, neglect, and tourists of the later 1800’s.

“You better shield yourself,” he whispered, his body stopping to face me.

My back straightened as he looked at me, my eyes boring into him in a silent threat. My desire not to begin dishing out orders was almost trumped by my distaste at being given them. I saw him wilt a bit, but not enough. He shook his head and disappeared before me, the heavy feel of his magic moving away from me.

I began to follow him, my steps mirroring his in timbre as we moved. We moved through a large open area. I could see the tree line of the forest that surrounded the Abbey clearly and the moon that hung above the trees, the face of the sleeping man I had grown up whispering my secrets to so clear on the textured surface.

As I followed Thom’s lead, my magic peaked at some distant power I could not place. I fought the need to stop and investigate the new, unwanted energy that was buzzing through the air, but continued on. I could usually determine anyone I had met before by the feeling of their magic, but this was either too far away, or someone I didn’t know. I brushed the feeling away, my nerves readying themselves for an attack.