Page 154 of Destiny of a King

Dravic watched as the edges of the spirit began to blur and it looked as though she would disappear. He went to step toward her, but Tharne caught his arm.

“Wait,” Tharne urged.

Dravic jerked free but stopped and watched as the healer continued to fade, not away… but into Adira.

The dark mist seemed to sink slowly into her body, curling around her shoulders, her arms, her face before vanishing beneath her skin. The luminous strands of hair were the last thing Dravic saw, dissolving like pale light before they too disappeared.

The healer was gone and the forest turned silent.

Dravic rushed to Adira, Tharne close behind him.

Adira remained motionless as Dravic dropped down beside her.

“Adira,” Dravic said with a deep breath as if he breathed for her.

Still, she didn’t move.

Panic surged through him. What had the healer done? Why hadn’t she saved her?

Tharne stared at his daughter. “Why doesn’t she wake?”

“I don’t know,” Dravic said and touched her face gently.

Her lashes moved.

Dravic froze. “Adira?”

Her breath came suddenly, deep and sharp.

Dravic caught her as her body jerked and she sat up.

Her eyes opened wide and for a moment they were unfocused. Then they found him.

Relief crashed through him so violently that he pulled her against him and held her tight.

Adira sagged into his embrace, relieved to be in his arms, and to hear him swear softly that he would never let her out of his arms again.

He closed his eyes and pressed his face into her hair.

“Bloody hell, woman.” His voice was rough. “You will never frighten me like that again.”

Adira barely heard him. Something strange filled her. It wasn’t pain she felt, nor did she feel weak. Maybe a bit tired and yet she felt strong, a strength she had never felt before now.

It rushed through her body, through every part of her, as though something that had always been hidden deep inside had suddenly awakened and stretched after a lifetime of sleep.

Images flashed through her mind—memories, she realized after a few of them, and yet she did not recall living them.

She saw a Hunter with an injured arm, a woman lying motionless in a forest clearing, a man bent over her. Then there was a healer to whom she had handed part of a necklace to. She recognized the young lass in the village who had nearly died, and Cadby who had died but the healer…

Adira gasped and pulled away from Dravic, but he would not have it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, keeping firm hold of her.

She shook her head and gripped his arm around her.

“You don’t know?”

She shook her head again.