A Glint of Shadoewynne: Book 1 of the Shadoewynne Series Read online

  I took a deep breath. “Kait, how bad is he?” I would deal with my mother’s craziness and the revelation that she had been the one to block my powers later, David needed to be the priority at the moment.

  He sighed. “My healing magic is rudimentary, at best. I can tell his ribs are broken, and I think one may have punctured his lung. His esophagus is bruised from that blow to the neck, his nose is broken, and obviously, his eyes are badly swollen. The worst injury by far is the ribs. We need to get that taken care of before his lungs fill with blood. He shouldn’t be moved, but we don’t have a choice. We can’t take him to a human hospital, there would be too many questions.” He looked over at me. “Princess, don’t blame yourself. Don’t say you aren’t either, I can hear you. From what I could get from his mind, he went after her after she threw that knife at Travis. It was his own choice. He thought she was human, so he underestimated her and she used her electric powers to essentially stun-gun him.”

  “How? How does she have powers? How did she get away? Why does she want me? Who was the ‘they’ she kept talking about? Were you able to get anything?”

  He took my hand. “No, Princess, I didn’t. Her mind was still all over the place, although at the end, I did feel quite a bit of fear from her. It isn’t going to be pleasant for her to go back without you.” He brought my hand to his lips, placing a light kiss on the back. “We will figure this out.”

  Kait whipped the car into a motel parking lot, and parked near the back, in a dark spot.

  “Why are we stopping here?”

  “I called Janelle before I came to help you and asked her to meet us here. It’s about halfway in-between, so David doesn’t have to wait as long for help. She has already rented a room. Travis and Sibhre are getting the safe house ready for us, by adding more wards, including notification ones, so we will know if anyone intrudes on the lands again. We will go back there in the morning.”

  “Oh. Okay.” We got out of the car. David was stirring, and was trying to sit up. Kait quickly opened the door to stop him.

  “David. You need to be careful, you have broken ribs.”

  “I know.” His poor voice was barely there, and was raspy as hell. It brought tears to my eyes, but I brushed them away. I didn’t have time for that.

  “What room are we in, Kait?”

  “155.”

  “Okay, I’ll go get the door open.” I darted away so Kait could get David out of the car without me being in the way.

  I arrived at the door and knocked. “Who is it?” Janelle sounded like she had been crying too.

  “It’s Evalia. David and Kait are right behind me.”

  She opened the door a crack, and peeked out. Then, she closed the door and undid the slide lock, then opened the door all the way. By the time she had done all that, Kait and David were waiting with me.

  She gave a little cry when she saw the state David was in. “Oh, my poor baby!”

  My heart twisted. I didn’t care what Kait said, it was my fault. David got the shit beat out of him because he tried to help me. I may not have forced him, but it would not have happened without me. I was still standing in the open door, while Kait, David and Janelle had moved on to the room. Kait laid David down on the bed closest to the door and came back over to me, gently moving me so he could close the door. He locked it behind me, and wrapped me up in his arms.

  I’m ashamed to say, I lost it. Once my face was pressed to his strong chest, I started bawling like a baby, all the heartbreak pouring out of me in hiccupping sobs. Kait just held me, stroking my back and hair, as Janelle worked to save her son’s life.

  Chapter 22

  I don’t know how long it took Janelle, but I was mostly calm by the time she sat back and wiped her forehead. I didn’t know what we were going to do to clean up the room, but we would have to do something. Right now, it looked like a crime scene. There was blood everywhere, including on the bed and carpet. I looked around and sighed.

  “Don’t worry about it, Princess. I’ll take care of it.” Kait didn’t even look up as he tried to reassure me. I didn’t see how he could clean it up, but whatever. I was more worried about David, who hadn’t woken up yet.

  “When will he wake up?” I hadn’t meant to ask that out loud, but as usual, my brain/mouth filter didn’t seem to be working.

  Janelle scrubbed her face. “I’m not sure, but I healed everything I could, and stabilized the ribs so they can finish healing on their own. It took quite a bit of energy from him, so he is going to sleep soundly tonight.”

  I wasn’t sure how we were going to handle the sleeping arrangements. There were two king size beds, but there were four of us. David should have the bed to himself, since he was so injured. Janelle laid down next to David, and put her hand on his stomach. “I will sleep here, so I can keep an eye on him. I don’t want him moving around too much.” She laid her head down, and almost immediately began snoring.

  I moved to the unoccupied bed and laid down on top of the covers. Kait did the same on the other side, then rolled over on his side and faced me. I rolled over so I faced him too. “I’m so confused, Kait.” I was whispering so we didn’t wake Janelle and David.

  “I know. Most of this is not adding up. Once I drop you off at the safe house tomorrow, I am going to go back to Shadoewynne to check on a few things. If all goes well, I will be back before dinner.”

  I reached for his hand. “But you will come back, right?” I hated how lost I sounded, and how much it hurt to hear him say he was leaving.

  He kissed the back of my hand. “Of course, I’ll come back. I will always be there for you.”

  “What are you going to check on?” I was trying to keep my mind off everything that had happened with Mom.

  “Your mother said a few things that I hope to look into. Hopefully, my source has found something while I’ve ben gone, and we will have answers.”

  “Oh, okay.” My eyes were sliding shut, now that the adrenaline high had worn off.

  “Get some sleep, Princess. We will talk in the morning.”

  I think I answered, but I’m not sure. I was asleep before I knew it.

  When I woke up in the morning, my pillow was a lot firmer than I remembered it, and I was unable to move. There was a heavy weight holding me down. I started to panic for a minute, but when I took a deep breath, a familiar christmasy smell soothed my panic. The heavy weight was Kait. Once I calmed down, I could tell that my head was on his bicep and my fingers were intertwined with his, while his other arm was draped over my waist, with his hand on my stomach. I rubbed his arm, and he jerked away like I burned him.

  “Shit. Sorry, Princess.” He rubbed his face.

  “It’s okay, Kait.” I didn’t understand it, I had never been comfortable with people touching me, but Travis, David and Kait’s touch all soothed something in my soul. I was sure that I wouldn’t have had a good night’s sleep without Kait there.

  I got up, and stretched. It sucked to have slept in our clothes, and my contacts again, but beggars can’t be choosers. I went over to check on David. His color was better, and the swelling had almost faded from around his eyes. He was breathing deeply and evenly, still sound asleep. He looked so vulnerable lying there. Janelle had her hand on his stomach, just like she did when she fell asleep. I don’t think either of them moved all night.

  I went into the bathroom, and got ready for the day. With no contact solution, I had wait until we got back to the safe house to deal with my contacts. I swished some water around in my mouth then went back out to the room. Kait had woken David and Janelle up, and they were having a quiet conversation that stopped when I came back in.

  “Don’t stop on my account, Guys.” It made me feel self-conscious that they had stopped talking. That part of me that hated myself was whispering that they were talking about me. I tried to lock it behind its door in my mind again, but it just screamed at me through it. I rubbed my eyes. I hated being so unsure of myself, but every time I thought I had left that
part of me behind, it popped out from behind a rock again.

  Kait got up and put his arm around me. “Here, Princess, let me fill you in on what we were talking about.”

  Great. He had heard every self-hating thing my brain had just thrown at me. He must think I’m a total idiot. “Okay.” I let him guide me to the bed, where he made me sit down next to David, who grabbed my hand and kissed it. Wonderful. He had probably heard it all too. I sighed.

  “David was telling us what he heard while he was with Stefa.” I appreciated that Kait used her name, instead of calling her my mom. I had decided that she no longer deserved to be called my mother.

  “Sugar, we know now that your mo… I mean Stefa, is deranged, but it goes deeper than that. I overheard a phone conversation that was disturbing to say the least. In a nutshell, she is working with the Svikari.” I gasped, and tears started to form in my eyes. David started rubbing my hand, and Kait put his arms around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Sugar, but it gets worse. She has been working with them for several years.”

  Several years? That means, my father… “So, my dad…” I trailed off.

  David’s grey eyes swirled with sadness. “Yes, she arranged it. But, not that it helps, she thinks they were supposed to kidnap him, and something went wrong. With Kait’s findings, I think the Svikari are lying to her, but who knows.”

  “Ok. So, just getting this out in the open. As far as I am concerned, she is no longer my mother. She is dead to me.” I couldn’t help the hitch in my voice. I was completely family-less now. The tears started to form in my eyes, but I blinked them away. There were more important things to deal with now. I took all the hurt and betrayal I felt, and locked them away in that box in my mind to be dealt with later. Squaring my shoulders, I asked, “What’s the plan? Obviously, we need to get to the safe house, but how do we deal with Stefa and the Svikari?”

  “One thing at a time, Princess. We will start with Stefa, and see where to go from there. Like you said, first step is to get home to Travis and Sibhre. Are we ready to move?” Kait, thankfully, ignored my thoughts and focused on keeping us safe.

  Everyone nodded. Janelle helped David to her car, while Kait used his magic to remove all the blood stains from the room. Once the room was cleaned, we headed out to our car as well. Janelle had already left with David, so we didn’t waste any more time getting on the road.

  I needed a break from my thoughts, so I brought up something that had been bothering me. “When I thought you were leaving, you said there was much I didn’t know about Shadoewynne, and we would talk about it later. What did you mean?”

  He glanced at my face and sighed. “It’s still not the right time, Princess. You are not ready to talk about what I meant.”

  “Um. Bullshit.” I was done with being kept in the dark.

  “Okay, just remember, you asked for it. Don’t freak out on me.” His voice was serious. I was reconsidering pushing when he continued. “I have been watching you your whole life, not just that time you wandered off. I would pop in, about once a month or so, to make sure you were doing okay. I knew your life wasn’t perfect, but I had no idea it was as bad as you described. I am so sorry for not stepping in and taking you away from it.” I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he just kept talking. “Before you get mad, let me finish. It was a function of my magic that I had to keep you safe. As part of Shadoewynne physiology, a magical bonding between mates occurs. It is outside of the control of those involved. It just happens. Frequently, it is at the two, or more, being’s first meeting. When I first saw you, my magic bonded me to you. It was completely beyond my control.”

  My breath was coming too fast, and my vision was narrowing. I was freaking out. He, a two-hundred-year-old magical being, was bonded to me as a mate? What in the hell?

  He reached over and rubbed my knee, which calmed my breathing. The blackness receded from my vision. “See, this calming effect I have on you is part of the bonding magic.”

  “But… but… I feel that with Travis and David too.” I couldn’t think. The word ‘bonded’ just kept playing over and over in my mind.

  “Yep.” Kait didn’t sound upset, and he didn’t stop rubbing my knee.

  Wait… he had said two or more. “Am… Am I… bonded to them too?” My voice was a whisper.

  “Yep.” Okay. Now I was going to pass out. I had never had one boyfriend, much less three. Kait snickered.

  “What?” He thought this whole thing was funny, and it was annoying me.

  “I just thought your thought process was a little funny, Princess.” The amusement was evident in his voice.

  “Well, excuse me for thinking funny. You just dropped a huge bomb on me, and I don’t know what to do, much less what to think. This is not normal, Kait! I can’t date three guys. You’re insane.”

  “You can if we agree to it.” Now, he was trying to be logical, but that just pissed me off even more.

  “Like, you are going to just roll over and accept what some magical imperative says? The person you are devoted too, has two other guys that are devoted to her, and that’s okay with you? What if I’m not okay with that? Love should be between two people!”

  He snorted. “That’s a human fallacy, Princess. Love is not that simple.”

  “Just drive, Kait. I’m done talking about it.” As usual, I was just going to lock this away and never think about it again.

  He muttered something that sounded like “I warned you” under his breath, but didn’t say anything more the whole way home.

  I decided I was just going to act like this conversation never happened. I couldn’t even look at him, so I stared out the window the rest of the drive.

  We arrived back at the safe house in about a half hour. I was going to miss another day of classes, but at this point, who cares? My life was going to hell in a hand basket, what’s flunking out of the first year of classes. No biggie, right? I didn’t have a job now either. No home, no job, bonded to… nope, never mind that thought. Fuck. That about sums it up. Just Fuck.

  Kait didn’t even come in, nor did he say goodbye. He just got out of the car and headed to the forest. I shrugged. I was going to pretend that didn’t hurt. Because if it hurt, that meant there was some validity to what he was saying. So, instead of watching him leave like I wanted to, I turned and went inside. Because I was careful not to glance back, I didn’t see Kait stop at the edge of the forest and watch me go through the door.

  After I closed the door, I leaned against it, and, for good measure, banged my head against it a few times. From deeper in the house, I heard Travis call “Babe, is that you?” My heart jumped at him calling me Babe, and it made me happier than it should have. When I realized it, I took that emotion and jumped on it a few times in my head. I wasn’t going to be the slave of some antiquated magic matchmaker that thought it could dictate who I spent the rest of my life with.

  I sighed as I headed into the kitchen to find everyone. Travis came over and put his arm around me. Before I could stop myself, I laid my head on his shoulder. It felt too good to fight. No, no, no. I had to fight this. I pushed him away, trying to ignore the hurt on his face. Fuck.

  “So, how are you feeling, Travis?” I tried to sound normal, but I think I just ended up sounded constipated.

  Travis gave me a funny look before answering. “Much better today. Sibhre made me eat lots of red meat to help build my energy back after losing so much blood. How are you?” He was still eyeing me.

  “Fine.” I couldn’t look at him or David. “I’m going to the room to lay down.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” This from David, as he came around and put his arms around me. I pushed him away too.

  “I’m fine. Please stop touching me.” My voice was sharper than I intended. I sighed. “I had a disturbing conversation with Kait on the way here, and I don’t want to talk about it. I need some time to myself.”

  David and Travis shared a look, before Travis said, “Okay, Babe. Take all the time you nee
d. Please don’t leave the house, though. The extra wards are only around the building itself.”

  “I won’t. Thank you.”

  I went to the room I had slept in the first night we were here. All my stuff was here, including my books. I got one out, and started reading. I could ignore my problems, and escape into a fantasy, where I was the heroine, and everything worked out perfectly.

  Hours later, there was a knock at the door. “Sugar, do you want lunch?” David asked through the door.

  I hadn’t eaten breakfast, but I wasn’t hungry. “No, I’m good.” I called back and went back to my book.

  It seemed like it was just a few minutes later when there was another knock on the door. “What?” I answered crossly.

  “We need to talk. Come out here.” It was Kait, and his voice was firm. He wasn’t giving me a choice.

  I sighed. Oh well, I had just finished the book, anyway. The heroine was being stupid and ignoring true love because she didn’t believe in fate. It sounded familiar, but I wasn’t going to give in that easily. No matter how stupid I thought the fictional character was for doing the same thing I was doing. It’s not the same, it’s a book, and not real life.

  I opened the door, to find Kait smirking at me. “You know…”

  “No, I don’t. Shut up. Where are we meeting everyone else?” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

  He just chuckled. “They are in the living room.” He put his hand on my waist.

  “Don’t touch me right now, Kait. I’m serious.” He put his hands up in the air, but was still chuckling as we headed to the living room. I’m glad he thought my anger was funny.

  Once we arrived in the living room, I chose the chair away from everyone else, so no one could sit near me. I had the brief thought that I was being irrational, but I shoved it aside. Travis, David and Janelle sat on the couch, while Sibhre chose the other chair. Kait stood where he could see us all.