AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She pats my cheek gently and then takes me by the arm and leads me to the door.
I wonder how much of what I feel is visible on my face. She can’t possibly know everything I’m going through. Then again, she could be an empath witch. Either way, when I thank her for her help and I step out into the hall, I feel lighter than I did when I first entered. In fact I barely feel the pain from her boots when I shuffle down the hall and over to men’s wing.
There are Crane and Brom together, waiting for me outside Crane’s room.
My men.
My people.
They’re what’s waiting at the end of the right path.
God, I hope this is the right path.
Crane is leaning against the wall, fiddling with his watch, but straightens up when I approach, his storm-cloud eyes pinned to my every move. Brom is beside him, brooding in an ever-present state of tension but his shoulders relax when he sees me. And for the first time today, I really see Brom. Because the Horseman won’t be inside him until dark. I see my old friend, the one I used to trust more than anything. It gives me a dash of hope.
“You look nice,” Crane says, clearing his throat as he looks me up and down, taking his clothes from my arms.
“Ms. Choi was kind enough to lend me her things,” I tell him. “She also gave me some information that I think you’ll want to hear.”
“Do tell,” Crane says, unlocking his door and tossing the clothes inside so they land on a heap on the floor, not even bothering to hang them up.
This man is such an enigma sometimes.
Then he locks the door and puts his hand at my lower back. I can feel the heat of his palm through the fabric and my eyes close for a moment at his touch.
“I’ll tell you when you feel like telling us about your ex-wife,” I say, using the information as leverage.
He lets out a huff of amusement, the corner of his sculpted lips rising
“Well played, little witch,” he says. Then he sighs. “But all must wait because first you have to see your mother.”
I balk. “She’s here already?”
Brom nods toward the windows at the end of the hall that face onto the courtyard. “I just saw your mother’s horse and cart go down the path toward the woman’s dorm.”
I make a face as my heart sinks. I don’t know why I’m so scared but I am.
“We’ll go with you,” Crane says as he gently prods me down the hall. I notice he said we as in him and Brom and not just him, for once.
I sigh heavily, squaring my shoulders, the tight bodice pulling at my back as I do so. “I want you both there but…I need to do this alone. And I don’t think she’ll let either of you in the girl’s dorm.”
“Not even your future fiancé?” Brom asks flatly which makes Crane’s fingers press into my back, his breath a sharp inhale.
“No,” I say, trying to weigh my words so that I don’t hurt Brom, knowing what he said to me last night. “They can think what they want to think about us getting married, but the both of know that’s not going to happen, not when they want it to happen for reasons we don’t understand.”
Crane’s grip relaxes slightly but I can’t ignore the pinch of rejection on Brom’s brow and I instantly feel bad. Why does everything have to be so damn complicated all the time?
They lead me down to the first floor but before I walk out the door, Crane pulls me aside and lets his thumb hover above the wound on my forehead. “I should have done this earlier. This might hurt a little.”
I go still as he gently presses his thumb into my skin. It stings and I grit my teeth. “How you seem to love causing pain,” I manage to comment.
“I happen to be very good at it,” he says before closing his eyes and chanting a few words that I barely hear and can’t decipher. Slowly the pain melds into something warm and soft, like honey and then he’s removing his hand. “There. That should take care of that.”
That warm softness spreads from my head and down the rest of my body and I feel the urge to fall into his arms and give in to it, just succumb to his strength, let it wrap me up in golden chains.
But Crane seems a little drained from what he just did and I realize he did more than heal me, I think he gave me some of his own energy so that I can survive the next ordeal.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He gives me a quick kiss on the forehead and spins me around to the door. “You’re welcome.”
