She Rises, page 15
Ned lowers his head and begins talking to the floor, “You’re right, you’re going to be queen, and I need to let you take the lead more. I’ve come to think of you as a kind of daughter I never had, and I’ve become a little over-protective of you and I’m sorry. Allister, Raven, and I all talked, and I think we’re all on the same page now.” My eyes widen. I open my mouth to speak but Ned pushes on. “If you’ll still have me, I’d love to continue on this mission with you.”
I nod my head and place my hand over Ned’s. He lifts his head and we lock eyes. “Nothing would make me happier than to have you by my side.” I kneel down on the floor with him and hug him.
As we part, Raven walks over. “Can I have a hug too? I was really worried about you back there if you couldn’t tell.”
I chuckle. “Of course you can, Raven.” I wrap my arms around her neck, and she surrounds me with her head.
As we hug, I hear Allister from the door, “I’d like a hug too.”
My cheeks heat as I step away from Raven and turn to the door picking up my bow, quiver, and sheathing my sword as I go. “How about no,” I say as I pass him. I might sound mean but I'm more embarrassed than anything.
He stops me in the doorway and steps forward, gently pushing me up against the door jam. His hand reaches above my head as he leans in. “I was seriously worried about you.” Heat rises to my cheeks and I’m acutely aware we are not the only ones in the room. “You got so sick and there was nothing I could do to fix it.” The pain in his eyes surprises me.
Last time I was bit by a Solis, it was almost like an experiment to him as he watched what “Something made of Fae” did to me. "I really do care about you,” he says as he leans down like he means to kiss me. I just stand there frozen in place, not sure how I feel about this. I don’t know what it is about this male, but there is an undeniable pull between us like the air is charged around us. I drop my chin, and the movement seems to shake him out of some trance that's gripped him. He freezes and appears almost shocked as he stares at my lips.
I clear my throat and lift my hand up to his hard, sculpted chest. His expression goes from shocked to hopeful in a split second. I push on his chest, pushing him away from me. “I’m sorry you were worried about me. I’m fine now, though, and we have a mission to complete.”
Allister lets me push him away one step and then stands firm. “I wish you would let me in. I’m not the enemy here. I just want to help.”
“Prove it,” I snap as I turn and finally walk out of the house. The last thing I need is to let another man into my heart. I have enough on my plate, I don’t need whatever is going on between us on top of it.
“I came and saved you from that Solis, but I will prove it again and again until the end of time if need be!” Allister shouts after me, but I just shake my head. I don't need this. I’m still reeling from everything that happened between me and James, I still haven’t figured out my powers, I can’t fight off one measly Solis, let alone Henrik, and I can’t lead anyone, especially not an entire race of Fae.
Not another word is said between everyone. I don’t understand what changed. Yesterday Ned and Raven would have pushed me to get rid of Allister after our little tiff, but today everyone is quiet, solemn even.
Ned and I saddle up quietly, get mounted, and get on the road. Allister sticks to walking on the ground. I slept for an entire day which means when we get on the road were back to riding at night. This time we ride north, toward where the next town must be. My eye where James hit me has been itching like crazy lately, but since I woke up, the itching has stopped completely. I reach my hand up to my eye and don’t feel the tenderness I felt there yesterday.
“It’s all healed,” I hear Allister from where he walks by my feet. I glance at him questioningly. “Your eye, it’s all healed. It healed while you were sleeping after the Solis bit you.”
I glance down to where my arm is wrapped and pull at the covering. When I get it off, I'm shocked.
My arm is completely healed!
All that's left is a small scar, a few white dots, which matches the scar on my ankle.
“How…” I don’t even know how to ask. I don’t understand what’s going on.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this before, but then again, I didn’t know any half-Fae existed before you two,” he says as he looks between me and Ned, who rides in front of us. “It seems to me, though, every time you’ve been bitten by a Solis, you’ve gotten stronger.”
I gape at him. “I don’t mean to burst your bubble, I mean, it would be great if that was true but it's not. My magic hasn’t changed. I haven’t gotten stronger physically, nothing has changed.”
“I’m telling you from when we first met till now, your powers have grown exponentially. Maybe you don’t feel it or see it but I do.”
Ned pipes up from where he’s been quiet in front of us, “You did almost yank down Sanctuary with the earthquake you caused.”
“That earthquake was you?”
My face heats. “Yes…”
“What the hell caused you to do that?” Allister asks.
“I couldn’t help it, it’s not like I wanted to almost take down Sanctuary and potentially kill everyone inside...” I trail off.
“That’s when she got her black eye. James hit her, and she lost control,” Ned blabs, which turns my cheeks red hot, I huff out and bury my face in my hands as I bend over the saddle.
Raven’s voice is steady and powerful as she says, “You have nothing to be ashamed of, girl. He’s the piece of shit, not you.”
Allister turns his head forward, and the ice filling his eyes somehow physically gives me a chill. His walk turns into a stalk, and I can sense the power radiating off of him. Quick as a flash, I see in my mind’s eye a man’s intestines spill out as a sword impales the man’s soft pink flesh.
I sit up straight as a rod and turn to Allister. “What the hell was that?”
He jumps and looks at me, the ice has left his eyes, and now sadness fills them. “Sorry, you weren’t meant to see that.” Allister rubs the back of his neck and looks up to the dark star-filled night sky.
“What? How did I see it then?”
He ignores my question. “So he slapped you, and you caused that earthquake? You have that kind of power and don’t know how to use it?”
“Yes, so don’t you think I would have had some sort of huge explosion of power by now?”
“Not necessarily. Look at your lineage. While Henrik doesn’t show the most control, his power is unmatched. Tell me about the times you’ve lost control of your powers, I’m sure that’s not the only time.”
“She also burned James after he hit her!” Ned pipes up as if he’s a proud poppa.
Then Raven explains my panic attack that happened when I woke up from my Awakening and realized Oak and Raven were dead. Allister just walks next to us quietly as I explain all the other times my powers have leaked out.
“Okay, any other time?”
I lean down and pet Raven. “Just one more time.” I proceeded to explain when I magicked the wood shard into my mother’s chest when she was trying to kill all of us.
He puts his hand in front of him and puts a finger up like he’s counting. “All right, so during your Awakening, you basically flung a wooden spear at your mother while she was trying to kill everyone you love.” He puts up another finger. “You wrapped yourself in wind, made the ground shake, and pulled water from the ground when you had a panic attack after realizing your father and your horse died.” He lifts a third finger. “When this guy James attacked you, your powers almost ripped down the rock around you and you burned him.” One more finger raises. “You were stuck underground for a month with people who hate our kind. If your powers had manifested around them, you’d probably be dead. And even though your powers are new, they didn’t manifest until you were attacked.” He stops and turns toward me, Raven and Ned also stop. “If you really think about it, your powers are protecting you.”
“Fuck, you’re right!” Ned gasps out.
24
Attina
The rest of the night is spent moving. Not much else is said. I think everyone is marinating on what Allister told us about my powers. If he’s right, it could mean so many things. I could have enormous amounts of untapped magic. Maybe my power could even rival Henrik's. But besides that, what even is my power? The magic I've expressed so far has just been a jumble of different things with no cohesion.
The sky turns auburn, and a roadrunner runs across our path, looking for an early morning snack. Ned lifts his hand for us to stop.
“Let’s make camp for the night.”
“Out in the middle of nowhere? You guys will burn up,” Allister says.
Ned says nothing, he simply pulls out a folded shovel from a sheath attached to his saddle and starts digging while I begin unsaddling the horses.
Allister crosses his arms and drops his satchel. “Okay, so what's he doing? Does he think he's going to dig a trench for all of us to sleep under? The horses included?”
I get Mylo unsaddled and walk over to Raven, taking off the folded shovel I have attached to her, a smile crawling across my face. “No, you're helping. Should be a piece of cake considering you’re full Fae and all full Fae are so much better than the likes of us half-Fae.” It's hard, but I manage to stifle a laugh as I toss him the shovel.
Allister catches it and his face drops as he turns and walks toward where Ned is already digging. “I never said that,” he mumbles out.
“Close enough,” I call as I continue unsaddling Raven.
By the time the guys finish our mini trench, I have the bed rolls out, a small fire made, food, water, and Restore out for me and Ned. Raven has walked off with Mylo to munch on some desert grass. It can’t be very filling, but it’s better than nothing. I walk over and hand Ned his food.
“Thank you for digging.”
“Thank you for getting everything else handled. We make a great team.” He smiles and winks at me, the pink burned skin of his face pulling tight.
Allister plops down next to me. “I helped too, ya know,” he whines.
I swing my head. “Thank you for digging, Allister.”
He lifts his head and a triumphant grin spreads across his face.
“So, Fae, when will you hold up your end of the bargain and teach our princess to use her powers?” That grin leaves Allister's face as he peers over to Ned.
“Well, actually, I was going to start working with her tonight if it’s fine with you, mother hen,” he snaps.
“Fine by me!” Ned answers louder than necessary.
“What’s fine by you?” Raven pops back into our conversation.
“Nothing,” Ned says curtly.
I roll my eyes and think this is a freaking madhouse.
Ned and Allister’s heads both snap toward me. I lift my hands. “Well, am I wrong?”
“Are you wrong about what?” Raven yells.
“Nothing,” the boys spit out simultaneously.
I laugh out. “I said this is a madhouse.”
“Oh.” Raven looks back and forth between the guys and seems to come to a conclusion. “Agreed.” She shakes her head and huffs as she lays down next to Ned, sliding as much of her body under the trench as possible. It doesn’t take long for Mylo to copy her. I finish my food and get a big gulp of Restore before walking over, grabbing the horse blankets, and throwing them over both horses. They'll be carrying us tomorrow, it’s important they don’t get burned during the day. I go back to my spot between Ned and Allister.
“What did you have in mind?” I ask Allister.
“Well, I wanted to work with you on your fighting skills with Fae first, but after seeing you fight Ned the other night, I think we can wait until we get to the next town.” I incline my head in agreement as I quickly stuff my dinner in my mouth. “Tonight we should work on you figuring out and controlling those powers of yours.”
I take a big glug of water and move down my bedroll, patting the space my legs would usually be so Allister can join me. It doesn’t seem fair he’s helping me, and I get to sit on a soft bedroll while he sits on the hard ground.
Allister wiggles his eyebrows, and I know exactly what he’s about to say before he says it, so I cut him off. “No, I’m not inviting you into my bed.”
“Now who’s the mind reader?” A smirk crawls across his luscious lips.
I shake my head. “I just figured you’re teaching me, so it’s only fair we’re both comfortable, now knock it off, get over here, and let’s get started.”
Allister puffs his chest out and slightly lifts his chin. "I still count this as getting into your bed." I shoot him a withering glare, and he quickly moves to the spot I left for him so we are both sitting cross-legged facing each other.
“Okay, I want you to hold out your hands.” I do, but he immediately grabs them, which forces me to pull back.
I don’t know about this.
Allister’s voice becomes soft like he’s trying to calm a scared dog. “It’s okay, I’ll never hurt you. I promise.”
I sit there and stare at his outstretched hands just waiting for me. I have allowed him to travel with us, and he hasn't given me a reason not to trust him. Just because James turned out to be a monster doesn’t mean Allister will. “Fine, I’ll trust you but don’t make me regret it.” I timidly reach my hands out and place them in his.
We sit holding hands, staring at each other for a few seconds before I break the silence. “All right, now what?" Allister seems to shake himself out of a trance I didn’t realize he was in.
He clears his throat. “Umm... Okay… Sorry…” He’s flustered, and I could almost swear he’s blushing.
“Allister, we’re not holding hands to hold hands. You’re supposed to be helping me.”
“Yes. Sorry. I know. Erm, let’s get started.” He settles back into his seat and closes his eyes. “I want you to close your eyes.” I lift my eyebrow and gaze around. No one is paying attention, in fact, everyone else looks like they’re asleep. “I made everyone go to sleep.”
My head swings back to him, but he doesn’t open his eyes. "You what?” I shout and look again, but nobody stirs.
Allister opens his eyes and stares hard at me. “I put them into a deep sleep so we could have some privacy. They are perfectly fine; I would never hurt your friends.”
“You threatened to kill Ned the first time you met him!”
“If you remember, he attacked me first. Besides, I wasn’t actually going to kill him. I simply wanted to scare him a little for being such a pigheaded ass.” Allister slowly rubs my hand, a blazing heat rises to my cheeks. Hopefully, he can't tell with how dark it is. I pointedly peer down and slam my hands down into his smacking them away.
“Okay, I get it, it's fine, let’s get started.” Lifting my hands back up, I wait for him to put his hands back in mine.
He gapes at me and smiles, chuckling as he says, “All right, let's start. Now close your eyes.” This time I do. “Okay, what we’re gonna do is I’ll show you how my magic manifests, and then you’ll try to search for your magic inside of you. It’s different for everyone, but at least you’ll have an idea of what to feel for.”
I nod, then realize we both have our eyes closed, so I answer, “Okay.”
“I’ll need you to trust me and not fight me. This will feel weird, maybe even scary.” He clenches my hand tighter in his, comforting me. “But I won’t ever let anything happen to you, remember that.”
I manage to get out, “Okay,” but it takes everything in me to make my voice sound normal, not meek.
I don’t experience anything as seconds tick by, and I’m about to open my eyes and ask Allister what’s going on when I notice something brush past my arm. I jump, but Allister holds on to me tight, keeping my butt planted to the ground. “Don’t open your eyes. You’re fine.” I listen to him and try to settle back down, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. “Good.”
It takes a couple of seconds, but I feel it again. Something soft brushes up against my forearm, wrapping itself around the backside of my arm before leaving again. It's almost like when Oak’s tail would fold around my arm when he was trying to swat flies away. But whereas Oak’s tail was fine but coarse, this is soft and silken.
“What’s that?” I whisper.
“My magic,” he whispers back.
“How…?”
“Hush,” he grunts.
I feel it again, but this time it doesn’t feel like a tail. This time it feels like a massive animal's head. As its presses into me, I’m slowly physically pushed to the side enough so that I have to put my hand out to keep myself from being laid down on the ground by the force.
I hear Allister snickering in front of me, and right before something pounces on me, my eyes shoot open as I hit the ground. The force gives me the impression of a giant dog. The body shape is the same, the energy radiating off of it feels similar, but it’s much softer and the body is much more elegant. I move to push the presence off of me, but it holds me down, and before I can panic though it rubs itself on my face and moves off of me.
I sit up and glare at Allister, who is still quietly snickering. “What the hell was that?” I growl.
My question just serves to make him howl out in laughter as he grabs his stomach. “That… was my... magic.”
“Why did it pounce on me like that?”
He takes in an exaggeratedly deep breath and lets it out. “I guess it likes you.”
“Explain. Now,” I growl, scowling at him.
He lifts his hands in a defensive posture. “Okay. Okay. I’ll explain. So every Fae has an animal which is representative not necessarily of their magic but more of who they are as a person. Mine is a cougar.”
I think back to all the books Father made me read growing up. “That’s like a big cat, right?”
Allister chuckles. “Yes, a big deadly cat.”
“All right then, if that’s not technically your magic, then how does it help me with my magic?”
