“So there are different kinds of… Sight?” I verified, still in shock that she could evidently sense the touch of another Seer on me. One who had neglected to mention that we would be under attack less than an hour later.
Although…
Your enemies are closing in, and your path diverges suddenly in the most painful of ways.
Yeah. Maybe I should have taken that more literally.
“Of course. There are as many kinds of Sight as there are gods who gift it to us,” the witch revealed.
“Who… What is your name?” I asked her haltingly.
“This is Nuala,” Rian answered as he raised a hand to rest possessively on her back.
To my surprise, the witch turned her face up toward him with narrowed eyes before she drifted by both of us to approach where Orion knelt.
“There is magic…festeringon you,” she noted with intrigue as her head tilted curiously. She began to squat, and all theriders, including Rian, shifted closer. The vines tightened all over Orion until he could barely breathe.
“Please don’t hurt him!” I blurted. I knew, logically, that they were all just ensuring he could not harm Nuala, but it still scared me.
Nuala glanced at me with raised brows before looking back at Orion with realization.
“Mates,” she said with a sadness that seemed to make Rian recoil from her. But it didn’t stop him from standing threateningly over Orion as she knelt down in front of my bound mate. I tensed as her hands rose, hovering inches above his head before they moved slowly down until they paused above his arms. She hummed as she reached for his forearm guards, which made him try to jolt away.
Before I had blinked, Rian had a blade to his throat. “No! Please… Don’t hurt him,” I choked out.
“I do not care what bargains we make, know that I will not hesitate to spill every drop of your blood right now if you harm Nuala,” Rian warned Orion.
I could not breathe as I waited for Orion to nod slowly. And this time he held still as Nuala unlaced his guards to uncover his mutilated arms and slave brands.
“What arethose?” hissed the blond who leaned over Orion to see what had gotten Nuala’s attention.
“The mark of an unwanted master,” Nuala answered, brows pinched as she examined the brands on my mate.
“She was never my master!” Orion hissed resentfully. And I could tell that it was taking every ounce of his willpower not to yank his arms away from them.
Nuala seemed oblivious to his rage and the proximity of all the riders standing protectively over her. Her pretty face began to harden the longer she stared at the brands. Like she couldseewhat they meant. I wondered if she could also see what had been done to him as a child.
“The person who did this to you… they do it to many children,” she said. It was not a question but a statement, and then she looked up at Rian beseechingly, which made the Autumn Prince smirk at her.
“You destroyed all your monsters, and now you wish to destroy those of others as well?” he guessed.
“There is no room for such monsters,” she insisted as she returned her attention to the brands on Orion’s skin.
She slipped her hands up his arms so that her thumbs smoothed over the brands. It made him tense in absolute revulsion at first, but then he slackened in shock. I knew the reason a second later when I saw an oily vapour rising from his skin and being absorbed by the witch’s thumbs. Within seconds, those vile brands had disappeared from his skin, which left only the scars he had inflicted upon himself by blade and fire behind.
“Rian may still decide to kill you, but I could never let anyone die whilst their body is still tainted with the name of their abuser,” Nuala explained herself. She sat back on her heels while Orion sat gaping down at his arms.
“How did you—” he stuttered.
“The only way to dissolve the magic was to consume its essence. Only Rian or I could have done it for you,” she informed him with a glance back at me as if she knew that I’d be feeling guilty that I could not help him.
“Nuala,” Rian reprimanded her, but she merely shot a glare at him as I realized what she had just revealed.
“You are Dowrra!” I blurted, my eyes darting to Rian whose jaw ticced with a telling anger. “He’s yourmate!”
Chapter thirty-seven
HEART OF THE TITHRIALL
