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29JAIDE
“This will speed the healing process.”Delphine finished applying salve to the wound on my neck and then spread leaves on top of it. Instantly, a cooling sensation spread from that point outward. “All things considered, you might have been injured much worse. You did well. I only wish I could have seen for myself.”
“I understand.” It was the most I could bring myself to say.
And even that was an effort. Once the excitement of the attack wore off, exhaustion had hit me hard. It brought along with it pain much deeper than anything physical: emptiness.
Whenever I closed my eyes, all I saw was Jett. I saw him hanging from the cliff, dangling from my hand. He was himself in those final moments. I was sure of it. It was like getting him back, only at the worst possible time.
When it was too late to do anything about it.
“I want to know where Aldric was in all of this. You would think he would have shown himself.” Parris dropped a bundle of kindling on the ground and then brushed dirt from his hands.
Somehow, it didn't seem quite right, him and Garret doing manual labor, but the Witches needed help after what had been done to them.
So many had been lost, and the ones who survived had Delphine to thank for it. She’d rescued their sacred fire before gathering the survivors and leading them to safety, all of them hiding in the woods. I understood why she had to do it. She had her people to protect, and they'd already lost so many to the fires and the Synians who would have drained the rest and thrown them aside.
The mention of Aldric stirred me to life, at least a little. “He did that to Jett. I'm sure he did.”
“Theon had something to do with it, too. He had Jett under his control all this time,” Parris said.
Garret snarled as he finished driving a stake into the ground, supporting the new yurt which now held the liquid fire. Even though I hadn't brought the armies to us, I still felt partly responsible. If it wasn't for me, the Witches wouldn't have been attacked.
“Still, that would be just like him,” Garret declared. The only word that came to mind when I caught sight of his face was disgust. “He never did enjoy doing the dirty work himself. Not if he could get someone to do it for him while he stood back and watched things unfold.”
“He's not going to give up.” My whispered words hung heavy in the air.
“And neither will we.” Elliot crouched in front of me, taking my chin in his hand and turning my face toward his.
I saw his concern for me, saw it in all their faces. But I couldn't bring myself to try to comfort them. Not when I felt hollowed out. It was warm in the sunshine, but I felt so cold.
“We are with you,” Parris reminded me. “No matter what comes.”
I nodded slowly and wished I could muster up a smile or something. Anything. Eventually, I would find the words. Then, I would have it in me to express my gratitude for them.
How strange it all was. They bought me to use as a sex slave—Parris’ words, if I remembered correctly—and now they were my bonded mates. Even Elliot, who couldn't brand me the way a Synian could, was connected to me in a deep, unbreakable way.
But they weren't Jett. Nobody would ever replace him.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked them back. I would cry later, when I was alone in my tent. Just like I had while I was washing the blood and dirt from my hair and skin earlier.
I would be crying for my lost twin for a long time.
“Where will you go now?” Delphine fixed me a plate of roast goat and stewed greens.
I wasn't much in the mood for eating, but I didn't want to be rude. I didn't want to be force fed, either, and I wouldn't have put it past my overprotective mates.
I chewed slowly, mulling it over. “I guess back to Sypani. I'm not exactly sure what the rest of my life is supposed to look like.”
“If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that you will find your path,” she said.
“Do you think maybe we could do one of those hair spells or whatever like you did before?” I was actually kind of hopeful when the idea hit me. “Can we tell my future through that sort of thing?”
“I am no seer,” she reminded me with a faint smile. “Peering into one's future is a complicated, almost dangerous endeavor. There is a reason the future is unknowable. Most living creatures are not equipped to possess that sort of knowledge.”
“Makes sense.” I mean, it wasn’t like I thought she could actually do it, but was it wrong to have a little hope? For once, could something go my way?
Then again, I was alive, wasn't I? At least that much had gone my way. And if Healynas hadn't popped in when he had, I might have been lying at the base of the cliff alongside my brother.
