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“Something like that.” His smile was so charming and soft. I found myself leaning toward him and had to straighten back up. Could I curse myself? I was beginning to think that living under my own magical delusion was better than trying to fight this attraction. “In truth, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. But I’ve seen what you can do, and I have to admit, I am impressed. I’ll be interested in seeing your accomplishments in the future.”
No.
No, no,no.
He wasn’t supposed to be able to remember me or to think about things such as the future with me. I was supposed to be a non-entity for him. A vague recollection of an even murkier memory.
But then my horror faded just enough for me to wonder if he was flirting.
He couldn’t be!
Could he?
I found myself looking into his eyes, trying to decipher his intent, but that was a big mistake. I was drawn into those dark pools, wanting to let myself fall into the depths of them without holding myself back.
“I will do my best not to disappoint you,” I said brusquely instead. “Now, if you don’t mind…”
“Hey, I know you’re eager to get to your patients, but first, I need to ask you something serious.”
My heartbeat got even louder, but thankfully, he didn’t keep me waiting in agony.
“Have you ever heard of the Shrouded Shriek?”
It was like the world suddenly fell out from under my feet. The name echoed through my head, speaking to the deepest, darkest parts of me.
The Shrouded Shriek had been a whispered Boogeyman among my coven. He wasn’t to be spoken about, lest he be summoned, and anything that could terrify the crones of my coven that much was someone I didn’t want to mess with.
“Nope, never heard of him,” I said quickly.
Maybe I shouldn’t have lied, but I felt like I needed to. Betraying anything about my past, about the winding road that'd brought me to Fort Canid, could potentially put Kai in danger, and I’d already done plenty of that by dropping his curse for even a moment. So, no, I was good on that front.
But Kai extended his arm, blocking my doorway so I couldn’t politely dart past him. “Are you certain? He’s a quite powerful warlock, and I'd really appreciate your help brainstorming ways we could stop someone like that.”
“The base just survived a heavy attack. I think that many of our auxiliary staff would be better to ask than me. I patch people up, not places.”
“That may be, but I have reason to believe the enemy might be making a move again soon, and this time they won’t befocusing on just us. I’m worried about the fight spreading out to the surrounding areas, including human territories.”
My eyebrows went up. “Why would you think that?”
It was certainly quite the conclusion. Even though the war had been going on for a couple of decades, it'd never really spilled over into civilian areas. That was the one solace I’d clung to in our generational war, that innocent people weren’t being drawn into it.
“I have my reasons.”
He was being dodgy, which meant he had information I wasn’t privy to. What could that be? Had something been discovered while I’d banished myself to the infirmary?
It was something to think about, because if the fighting did largely spill over to the general population, which would spell so much bloodshed and so much pain.
There also weren’t a ton of witches around who could help heal and break curses. Kai’s forces would do all they could to keep the enemy at bay, but they didn’t really have the skills to help those who were hurt or otherwise bewitched.
Doubt began to build that I was making the wrong call, but it was too late for me to take back my word. What would I tell Kai? That I'd suddenly remembered that I indeed did know about the Shrouded Shriek? I was already concerned with Kai talking to me at all. I didn’t need to reinforce that by making myself look suspicious in his eyes.
I was really mucking this up, wasn’t I?
My thoughts were soon flying a mile a minute. I thought back to the coven of witches that'd taken me in years ago—the same ones I'd run away from. Tearing through my memories, I tried to recall if they ever mentioned any weaknesses or other pertinent information about the warlock that'd completely ruined my life.
They did use a couple of powerful magic relics. They always told me it was to keep their area safe. My various adoptivemothers had been eccentric and mostlyreallyinto plants, but they were quite serious when it came to security. None of them ever narrated their complete history to me, yet I’d gotten the solid impression that the largest reason they lived isolated in the forest was because people didn’t often give them peace.
“You look like you’re thinking of something,” Kai said, sounding hopeful.
