AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wait.” Clarke’s brows drew together. “You sure it’s not here?”
Caraway pulled a crumpled message from his pocket. It was an open letter with Maebh’s broken seal on it, addressed to Jasper. “Apparently Aeron received the same challenge. A final battle to decide the fate of Elphyne.”
“Perhaps your vision is wrong,” Leaf suggested. “The taint is worsening, remember?”
“No.” Clarke looked at Nova intently. “When I touched her, the flow of my mana was clean and fast. Or at least… I don’t know how or why, but she’s some kind of conduit filtering out the ink. She improved my targeting and focus.” Her eyes darted about as she put her thoughts together. Leaf had inklings of his own, but he held his tongue to hear her ideas. “I’ve been training with Dawn to notice early warning signs for when a vision hits me. In case I need to get to safety or fall and knock my head. When I touched Nova and felt a sudden shift inside my body, it struck me as odd because usually at this point, my connection to the Well opens. I feel more of the taint. But this time, the flow of mana was clean. It all happened so fast. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn’t like a sieve filtering out the taint. Maybe it was turning one tiny drop of clean mana into thousands.”
Leaf tensed, thinking of his raw explosion at the Unseelie army camp. Perhaps Nova was connected to the Well back then, after all.
“There’s something you should all know,” he said, rubbing Nova’s trembling arm to comfort her. “Our escape from the Unseelie war camp wasn’t bloodless. My plan was to create portals as we fled. I figured at the very least, they’d cut holes in the enemy. But everyone within range was hit with a raw blast of power. Let’s just say there was nothing identifiable left. The portals I created afterward were created with more intent, and they targeted true, and…” He glanced down at his mate. “I touched her every single time.”
Ash folded his arms. “If she’s an amplifier, she’ll be the most valuable weapon in our arsenal.”
Everyone stared at Nova. Some were suspicious, some hopeful, but none were thinking with their heads.
“Wait just a Well-damned minute,” Leaf growled. “We need to test and train Nova before tossing her into a battlefield. We don’t know enough about her gift.”
“But if I can help,” Nova said, her confidence building, “shouldn’t I be where people need me most?”
“No.”
Nova’s indignation flared. “Why not?”
Leaf’s eye twitched. He knew she wanted to help, but it was too risky. The thought of having her in danger meant he’d be distracted. He forced a smile and took his mate gently by the shoulder. He tried to keep his tone calm and his emotions in check. “You couldn’t survive a camp with a few hundred Unseelie soldiers. Being on a battlefield is ten times worse. Most of these Well-blessed women have been here for over a decade. They have a little more training.”
“Don’t patronize me. All I’ll need to do is stand there,” Nova pointed out.
“Estrella, be reasonable.”
“And don’t you Estrella me. I want to help. Let me help.”
He snapped, “We don’t know what this does to you yet! You came down with the fever disease at FrostwingafterI’d successfully used mana with minimal taint to make the portal. What if I drained you to the point you were human again?”
“I was fine after the war camp.”
He took her shoulder and guided her back to the table, trying to lower his voice even though he knew it was redundant. “Freckles, for all we know, every other attempt to use your power will create an unreliable bomb like the one in the Unseelie camp.”
“Are you a psychic now too?”
“I forbid you to be on the battlefield. There’s simply not enough time. Until we know more, you’re a liability.”
The males widened their eyes as if Leaf had said something offensive, which was ridiculous. He was keeping his mate safe. Couldn’t they see that?
Nova’s expression deadpanned. She stared at Leaf for so long that heat crept up his neck. At least when she was angry, he knew where he stood. She always fought him when he was too forceful. But this… this was nothing. She walked away without another word. Before he could chase after her, the Six’s Hive voice slid into his mind:We are outside.
“Fuck!” Leaf threw a bowl of chili against the wall. It smashed, leaving a dark chunky spatter that dripped down like gore, reminding him far too much of the devastation he’d left in that forest.
J.C. — Entry 540 ANF
If true love is paradise, then time spent alone is hell.
I’m not ready. I haven’t found her. I can’t give up. I beg the Whispering Well for more time… to stave the inevitable madness for a little longer.
I seem to dream of her more often these days. It’s almost like my mind is trying to keep her alive, despite the fear in my soul she’s never coming back. I also dream of him—the friend who betrayed me, who threatened her life if I remained by her side.
I replay that conversation in my head, wishing I was as strong back then as I am now. I would have crushed him, would have reached into his heart and ripped it out for daring to speak her name. But time is not reversible. It moves forward, regardless of my intention.
The Well tells me it’s like being caught in a rip in the ocean. What do you do when the current tries to take you under?
