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She moved away from Davido and Oregis and headed to the fireplace. Rez might like some privacy while he came back to himself and she wanted to think.
As she stared into the empty grate, suddenly, her mind was taken back to last week’s dinner at her parents’ home. Her father had asked her the strangest question.
“Are you bored, Holly?”
She’d responded, “No, of course not. Why do you ask?”
She recalled now that she’d been staring out the front window of their tree-lined street near Tannisford University. Her parents lived in a large elegant townhouse. The maples in the parkway had started greening up. Spring in their realm was a beautiful season.
“I mean, why don’t you apply to teach more classes? Surely, your budget must be tight.”
She’d been offered a dozen times to expand her contract, but she’d always refused. She knew she had something of her father’s gift for teaching. Her classes were mostly full. It was a great compliment.
She recalled glancing at her mother who had a pottery business. She had a workshop in their small backyard. She loved her kiln and her wheel. She loved throwing clay, the creative process, and the physical nature of the work. Holly knew she had some of these gifts as well, though she preferred her easel and paints to making pottery and figurines.
She remembered feeling so restless as she’d turned back to her father. “I haven’t found my niche, like you and mother. I don’t know why, but I just don’t know what I want to do.”
“You’re an excellent teacher. I thought you were headed down that path.”
“You know something, I thought so, too, at one time. But I don’t have your passion. I know that now.”
Her mother had announced dinner and the subject was set aside for a beautiful roast chicken, scalloped potatoes and glazed carrots. She’d drunk more wine than usual, maybe to keep from thinking about all that restlessness.
She turned now to look at Rez. He finally rose to his feet, though he staggered a bit and threw his hands wide until he got his balance. But it didn’t take long. He was on his way to recovery.
Then she realized he was staring at her.
Something had changed.
He appeared almost as somber as Davido, except there was an additional tension about him.
Determination.
Resolve, maybe.
She was surprised by it. “What?” Had she missed something? Had the men been talking while she’d thought about her father’s question?
Rez crossed to her and planted his hands on her shoulders. “I have to do this, Holly. But I can’t do it without you. From the time my family was killed, I made a vow to serve where Stone and his Guardsmen couldn’t. I battled on the fringes where the people of our realm were most vulnerable.
“That vow hasn’t changed and it seems to me Underworld is the same thing. It’s on the fringes where the Guard can’t go, at least not yet.
“You’ve been given a tremendous ability to time-path, to work the continuum and gather information. If we can locate Underworld, Stone can take the Guard in and clean out this viper’s pit before Cruce can launch an assault. We can avert a
realm-scale calamity.”
Holly stared into his blue eyes. On one level, she knew she had to make up her mind for her own reasons. But the blood rose in her felt almost compelled to do anything he asked.
Then she felt it, a very fae sensation, a heavy vibration this time and not just about the future. “Rez, I know there’s something else, isn’t there, something you’re not saying. I need to know what it is.”
A shiver went through her. His palms were hot on her arms. She lifted her hands and touched him in the same way, holding him just above his elbows. They’d made a complete circuit.
“It’s about my daughter, Isobel.”
Without warning, the vision came to her, of a young woman, a teenager, held captive. She had shackles around her ankles and wrists from which a powerful vibration flowed. She lay on a sheet-less mattress on the floor. She was bruised, painfully thin and wore a dirty shift. She’d been a prisoner for two years. The walls were stone and damp and looked familiar.
Within the vision, the girl whispered, “Goddess, hear me. Help me. Please.” Holly felt the girl’s life expectancy. She’d come to the end. She barely had a night left to live. Two at the most.
When the vision faded, she blinked several times. Vibrations sprinted over her arms and traveled to Rez and back. His eyes glowed. He’d never looked more revved up.
