Her features pinched with sudden distaste. “I’m not leaving his side,” she said flatly. “You go.”
“Joy,” I began, standing and circling to the other side of the bed. “We don’t know how long it’ll take him to wake up. We can’t just sit here. There are things we need to understand.”
Her shoulders rose and fell in a measured breath. “You can't seriously believe the nonsense they're trying to feed us."
I sighed. “After months here, I’ve learned not to dismiss what I don’t understand. Especially after Caedmon told me what you did.”
Her eyes dropped, and mine narrowed. “What did your boyfriend tell you?” she asked.
I kept my tone steady despite the sourness in her voice. “He said you don’t remember exactly what happened in the forest. That you were the one who fought the Strzyga.”
“I did fight it,” she said quickly, “but he killed it.”
“He said you did,” I replied softly.
She blinked, uncertainty flickering in her features. “He’s wrong. There was light, some blast of energy that came from him. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You saw him do it? You saw Caedmon aim the power at the creature?”
“I…” She hesitated. “I don’t know what I saw, Jan. It was chaos. I was freezing. He pulled Father away and—”
“Pulled him away?” I pressed. “To protect him?”
Her eyes darted away again, as if she was searching her memory. My heart clenched as I watched confusion cross her face.
“I suppose he could’ve been pulling him out of the blast,” she murmured. “I don’t know. He was a brute after, and then I saw the one who poisoned us, and I knew he was at fault.”
“Right. We need to go to this dinner. Hear what they have to say.”
I wasn’t sure if she even heard me. Her eyes had gone unfocused again, her expression distant.
“Dove?” I reached for her hand, fingers brushing hers where they rested on the gurney.
“Huh?” She blinked, not quite looking at me.
I forced a small smile. “It’ll be all right. Let’s go to dinner and talk this through.”
Her lips parted, before she exhaled and nodded once.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered. “I always do.”
Chapter 3
Jane
The moonlight was a welcome reprieve from the infirmary bulbs, its beams slicing white across a sky on the verge of swallowing the last traces of dusk. The air felt cooler than it had in recent days, easier to breathe. Or perhaps it was the absence of Father's unconscious body that made it seem that way.
The staff had already gathered for dinner, the low hum of their conversation drifting through the doorway. I gave Joy one last look, catching the tight purse of her lips and her quiet nod before we stepped inside.
Two empty chairs awaited us, one beside Reagan, where I used to sit, and another to my right, Finnegan’s habitual place.
A soft breath caught beside me. Whether it was the seating arrangement or the watchful stares that unsettled Joy, I couldn’t tell.
“Please, join us,” Cerridwen said, her white hair twisted neatly at the back of her head, no horns interrupting the top of it anymore.
Beside her, Barracus inclined his head in greeting.
We circled the table, Joy keeping her eyes on the porcelain plates, shoulders wound tight.
