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“I don’t think so,” she said. “I think a man who stays by your side and barely sleeps for two days has to at least care a little.”
“Two days!” I said. “Do you know what can happen in two days’ time? Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”
I threw the covers back and swung my legs to the floor, but they were too weak to support me. Bile rose in my throat and I broke out in a clammy sweat. Black dots danced in front of my eyes as I fell to my knees.
“I tried to wake you up. We all tried to wake you up, but no one could get through to you. I used all the Faerie medicine I had with me, and it still took you this long for you to wake up. I’ve never seen anyone have injuries bad enough that they couldn’t be healed by magic and our own physical healing capabilities. Your body caught fire twice and tried to burn itself to ash, but Julian linked with you and shared some of your pain. It’s a good thing I had the sudden urge to take a dip in the pool.”
“I really need to see Julian,” I said again.
I put my head between my knees since I was already on the floor, and I got the nausea under control. Esmerelda helped me up, and I crawled back under the cool sheets and I closed my eyes. The door clicked open quietly and I felt the pull between us as Julian’s footsteps got closer. I pushed my pillows up against the headboard and sat up. Slowly.
“You have a way of keeping a dragon on his toes, Rena,” Julian said in a disapproving tone. The hollows of his cheeks were more pronounced than normal and dark circles ringed beneath his eyes. He wore black slacks and a black T-shirt, and I realized it was probably the most casual I’d ever seen him. He looked tired, and far underneath the gruffness of his voice was worry and relief.
“I know you’re not making this out to be my fault,” I said. “He’s been here with us the whole time, and it’s not like I could have kept him out of my room. He’s The Destroyer for the gods’ sake.”
He sat next to me on the bed and my magic flared. I could feel the acceleration of my body’s healing just by being close to him. He took my hand and rubbed his thumb across the pulse in my wrist in soothing circles.
“I failed to protect you,” he said.
I looked away at the intensity of his guilt and closed my eyes. Julian was a good man, and it was me that had failed him. It was my family who was responsible for so much pain, and I should have somehow recognized what had been going on in my own house.
I squeezed his hand before letting it go. Once I told him what I knew, he’d probably never want to touch me again.
“I have to tell you something.”
“That your brother is The Destroyerand has managed to hide the fact from all of us?”
My eyes filled with tears and I blinked rapidly to get rid of the evidence. Julian sighed and took my hand again. He stretched out beside me, careful not to jostle me too much, and pulled me against him so he held me in an embrace.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“You were unconscious, naked, and bleeding when I first carried you up here. You gained consciousness just long enough to tell me Erik was The Destroyer.”
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“I knew something wasn’t right from the moment you showed up in my lands. The things my spies sent me about Erik made my instincts go on alert. He was always a suspect. But when I met him face-to-face I was sure I was wrong because I couldn’t detect his powers.”
“You checked up on us?” I asked incredulously.
Julian gave another sigh. “Rena, you were an open book to me from the moment you stepped off the plane. You have never had any secrets from me. But I had to check out your clan.”
My head began to pound and my anger wanted to take control, but I didn’t have the strength.
“Maybe you should just start at the beginning and tell me what happened,” he said.
“Could I have something to drink?” I asked after I’d reined my temper in. None of this was Julian’s fault. I had to remember that.
I could sense Julian’s impatience at the delay, but he went to the small fridge in the corner of the room and got me a bottle of water. My mouth was as dry as dust and my stomach hurt from hunger.
“I was waiting for you out on the balcony,” I began, finding the label on my water extremely fascinating so I wouldn’t have to look in Julian’s eyes. “I was thinking of you and not paying attention to anything around me. I didn’t even know he was behind me until he started speaking.”
“He’s aViator,” Julian said. “You wouldn’t have heard him unless he wanted you to.”
“I don’t know, when he opened the portal it made the mountain shake. It sounded like the sky had been torn in two.”
“One doesn’t need a portal to travel through human time. But to travel between the Realms is the gift of a double-edged sword. To travel between the Realms means to give up part of your soul with each crossing. When you say it sounded as if the sky had been torn in two, that’s because it was.”
I looked up at him with worry. “What about you? You traveled between the Realms earlier when Erik left the trail for you to follow. What will happen to your soul?”
