by Naomi Sparks
I just wish I could figure out what exactly is giving me that feeling. I've gone over everything she'd said since I meet her, and nothing sends up warning bells. She’s told us the things we've asked about without being too eager, so I don't think she’s trying to lure us into a trap. If she wants to do that, she'd have made it sound a lot easier to take down the stronghold. So, either everything she’s said is true or she’s the world’s best liar.
"How are you feeling?" asks Lex. That seems to break a bit of the tension in the air.
Faith nods, smiling slightly. "Better now. I'm sorry about earlier. It just brought up some bad memories."
"I can understand that. There are a lot of things I wish I could forget, some that make me sick to my stomach." Lex moves to sit on the bed next to her, keeping a space between them, but close enough he doesn't have to speak too loud for her to hear him. "Most of those involve Amasis, so I hope you can understand why I need to ask you more questions."
Faith takes a deep breath, then she nods. Despite her acceptance, I can see reluctance behind her eyes. I don't blame her either. I wouldn't have wanted to talk about the ones who'd kept me as a slave right after I'd been freed. Even now, I don't enjoy talking about that time of my life. So, seeing her reacting like that, it should put my heart at ease.
So why doesn't it?
Lex starts his questioning with slow and with basic inquiries. How many people are usually in the stronghold? How many members of the council are usually in residence, outside of a gathering? Who are the strongest people in residence, outside of the council members?
She answers each one dutifully. Lex doesn't seem to harbor the same suspicious I have and takes her at her word. Yet, I can't silence that nagging feeling I inside me that something isn't right. I don't think she’s feeding us false information, but I can't help to double check.
"How often do the guards go on breaks?" I ask her, knowing Lex has already asked about their shift schedule a few minutes ago. I want to see if her answer will change, even slightly. If she’s lying, there’s a good chance she'll slip up, having forgotten what she'd said earlier.
Faith looks up at me and blinks. She narrows her eyes for a fraction of a second, then speaks. "Every four hours they rotate. The guard stays at his post until the next one comes to relieve him."
I nod, as if this is new information to me, though it is nearly identical to what she'd told Lex before. No slip up there, at least.
Lex watches me now, a curious look on his face. I don't need to read his mind to know he’s wondering why I asked a question he’d already asked. I ignore him though, feigning ignorance. If Faith is lying to us, I don't want her to know I've caught on. If she isn't lying to us, I don't want to upset her by doubting what she said. I need to tread cautiously.
After a moment, Lex turns back to her and starts his questioning again. Faith focuses mostly on him, occasionally glancing toward me.
Then, I kick myself. She can read minds. She probably knows exactly what I’m thinking, and can pull the answers I expect to hear right out of my mind. Which means she probably already knows I’m suspicious about her. If she really is a spy sent by Amasis, will we ever be able to figure it out? She could be leading us right to our death and we won’t have any idea about it.
I frown, once again wondering why I’m being so suspicious of her. Just yesterday I was itching for an excuse to fight someone, anyone. Now, we have a chance to attack one of Amasis's strongholds, the center of his little breeding project. So why can't I just accept that?
If I'm experiencing the mating lust like I suspect, then why am I paranoid about her intentions? I don't remember Lex or Faris acting like they couldn't trust the woman they'd fallen for. No, with them, they'd trusted their mates implicitly.
So why can't I?
Is there something wrong with me? If Faith hasn't really given me any cause to be suspicious, so perhaps it’s something with me that was going on. Am I scared of the possibility of battle? Is this my body's way of portraying that fear?
I've been scared before. Any warrior who tells you he's never been scared is lying through his teeth. We all feel fear before battle. Because, no matter how strong or brave you are, death is always near when you walk onto the battlefield. The trick to being a warrior is overcoming that fear and going into battle, anyway.
No, this isn’t fear, it’s something else. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.
So, while I want to ask more questions, try to trip her up, I keep my mouth shut. Instead, I just stand there, leaning against the wood dresser, and watch as Lex quizzes her about the compound’s layout. She doesn’t know the complete layout, but she gives him enough details to sketch out a decent map of the place.
Assuming it’s accurate, it will give us an advantage if we know where we are going, where everything is. Even if Lex opts for a stealth assault, only on the breeding labs, we’ll be able to get in and out a lot easier.
It’ll be even easier if Faith goes along and helps, a part of my brain chimes in. With her powers, she’ll know if anyone is close by, and can help us hide and stay hidden.
But another part of me clamps down on that almost immediately. Faith is human. No matter how helpful her powers will be, she has no place in this fight. This is a dragon’s war, one that has been going on for a long time. One that I don’t want her in the middle of.
She’s already suffered at the hands of Amasis and the dragons who follow him. There is no reason to risk her further.
“I’m sorry I can’t be more detailed. I wasn’t allowed to roam around the stronghold by myself.” Her hands twitch, as if they want to go to the scars on her back. “I always had an escort to and from wherever I was going.”
My heart aches for her. It can’t have been easy, being locked away like that, waiting and hoping someone would come to help her. And no one ever did. None of the men in that stronghold felt the least bit of sympathy toward her. None of them dared to defy Amasis. She had to escape entirely on her own.
The more I think about it, the more I feel like an ass. What kind of person doubts a woman who escaped such captivity? I really needed to figure out what the hell was going on with me. Then, maybe, I could focus on the mission at hand.
“You’ve been a great help. Without you, we wouldn’t have even a basic idea of where to start.” Lex smiles at her, then puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder for a moment before standing. “I’m going to go sit down with Galen, see what he thinks of this impregnable stronghold. If there’s anyone who knows how to find a way in, it’s the Greeks.”
I wait until Lex leaves, then I face Faith and let out a sigh, trying to think of what to say to her. I need to say something, at least I feel like I should. Finally, words pour out of my mouth before I can stop them. “What do you get when you try to read me?”
My curiosity gets the best of me. I’ve never met someone who can read minds like she claims to. How does it work? Does she hear each thought as they appeared or does she get flashes or just feelings of what I’m thinking? Can she probe through my mind and see all the different things I’ve thought or seen?
Faith looks surprised at the question. She sits there, eyes wide for a moment, just staring at me. “With you? I get nothing at all.”
This time, it’s my turn to stare. She doesn’t get anything? What does that mean? Is she purposely not reading my thoughts or something?
But before I can ask anything, Faith continues. “It’s weird. Even when people are actively trying to hide their thoughts, I can usually get something out of them. Sometimes it’s little fragments, or flashes, or even just a general sense of what they’re feeling. But there’s always something. With you though, it’s like there’s a brick wall there, stopping me from getting anything.”
She really can’t read my thoughts at all? It’s more than a little surprising, and more than a little suspicious. But as I listen to her talk, I don’t get the sense she’s lying.
“It’s so nice, not having som
eone’s inner monologue constantly running through my head. You know how sometimes you meet a person and they just never seem to stop talking? That’s what it’s like for me all the time, with everyone I meet. Occasionally I’ll meet someone who’s better at controlling their thoughts, like Lex or Bren or Faris, but even with them, I can get little pieces. With you, it’s like blissful silence.”
“It must not be easy, constantly hearing everything everyone is thinking.” I shudder at the thought of being constantly tied to the others like that. Traveling together the way we do, there is very little privacy as it is. But if they are constantly in my head, all hours of the day? I’d probably go insane.
Having someone like Amasis and the people who work for him in my head? Then I’d definitely go insane. Or at least on a murderous rampage.
Faith nods, then she lets out a sigh and flops backward onto the bed. Her eyes stay open as she stares up at the ceiling. “Even before I was taken by Amasis, it made my life miserable. I couldn’t go out on a date with a guy without knowing exactly what he was thinking about me. Whether he thought I was boring or if he was thinking of bending me over in the bar’s bathroom. I’d become practically a shut-in until Amasis found me.”
Once again, I have the urge to rush over and pull her into my arms. I want to assure her that everything will be okay, that I’ll protect her, help her channel her power so it’s not always turned on.
But as I open my mouth to speak, I slam it shut again. I don’t want to get involved with her that way. I will do what I can to keep her out of Amasis’s clutches, but she isn’t my mate. Isn’t my lover. I had a lover once before. I don’t want to go through the pain of losing another woman. Never again.
When Faith looks up at me, I can see my attraction reflect right back at me though. “Maybe staying here won’t be so bad,” she says at last, eyeing me. It doesn’t take a mind reader to know what she means by that.
I walk over to the window and stare out it. The image of Rota is still clear in my mind, even after all these years. I can see her, sword in hand, never once running from a battle.
“After I was freed from being a slave, I met a woman,” I say, running my hand through my hair. “She was a Valkyrie and the fiercest woman I’d ever met. It’s because of her that I became a warrior. She showed me how to fight, how to make a way in the world for myself.”
I glance at Faith in the reflection of the window. I can see her sitting up now, watching me as I speak. She just sits there quietly. In the distorted reflection, I can’t make out her facial features, so I have no idea what she is thinking. I just keep talking.
“I was proud to go into a battle with her by my side. I thought we’d live forever together, conquer the world together. But she was only strong, not invincible. We’d walked into a trap the enemy had set specifically for her. They couldn’t stand knowing so many of their comrades had fallen to her sword, and they wanted revenge.”
My hands ball into fists. I want to lash out, want to strike the window with all of my strength, watch it shatter, the pieces falling to the ground below. It’s been centuries since then, and yet, I still can’t forgive even a single one of those men, even though I’d taken my revenge out on each of them.
“I tried to save her, but I couldn’t. She was a better warrior than I was, and yet, she was the one who died that day, not me.”
If I couldn’t protect her, a woman whose strength matched mine, how will I be able to protect Faith, a mortal woman?
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Faith says at last. I can hear the pity in her voice, the sadness.
But I don’t want her pity or her sorrow. I just want her to understand there will be nothing between us, no romance, nothing. I will help her, because I’d never be able to look Rota in the eyes in the halls of Valhalla if I turn my back on a woman in need.
But I will not love her.
“We’ll make sure you get away from Amasis, away from Seattle. I’ll talk to the guys, see if they know somewhere safe we can send you. Maybe Hannah or Kyra know someone who would help you. The sooner we can get you away from here, the better.”
My words are harsher than I want them, but I can’t take them back. And after thinking about it for a moment, I realize I don’t want to. I want to push her away, to drive it into her that there will be nothing between the two of us. Not now. Not ever.
Even if we do attack the stronghold, then it will be for our benefit, not hers. The only thing we owe her is help in escaping the city.
When I turn to face Faith, I see the pain in her eyes. Then, it’s gone in an instant, replaced by anger. “You don’t want me here? I could help you, you know. Even if I don’t have complete control over my powers, I’m not useless. Nor am I helpless.”
“We’ve gotten this far without you.”
Faith flinches at my words, and I have to fight to keep my face neutral. “Fine. If that’s what you want, then as soon as we know somewhere I can go, I’ll leave.”
I nod, fighting back the urges that keep trying to well up inside me. I’m a Viking warrior, damn it. I’m not going to let my feelings get the better of me. Not going to let them influence my decisions. I need to get as far away from Faith as I can. Then, I can go back to thinking rationally.
“Your Valkyrie must have been a saint,” Faith says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She glares at me now, her fiery gaze reminding me so much of Rota.
At first, I want to be angry at her slight against Rota. But then I realize she isn’t attacking her, she’s attacking me. Rota must have been a saint to put up with me. That realization is like a bucket of ice water being dumped over my head, my anger quelling instantly.
For a long moment, Faith and I stare at each other, neither willing to give an inch. She’s trying to bait me, just as I’d done to her, but I won't rise to it. I refuse to let myself.
Finally, she lets out a sigh. Her expression softens slightly as she looks up at me. “Can you do me a favor?”
I blink a few times, wondering what she could ask of me.
“My…. My grandmother lives here,” she says after a few moments. She looks up at me, pleading with her eyes. I can tell she wants to beg me, but her pride keeps her from getting down on her knees. “I’d… I’d like to see her, before I leave. I haven’t seen her since before Amasis took me. She probably thinks I’m dead, but I’d at least like to let her know I’m okay.”
My heart aches as I look at her. All of my family is gone, most of the friends I had outside of our group are dead. But if I still had family around, still had someone who loved me, it would kill me not to see them, talk to them, at least let them know I’m safe.
But for Faith to go to her grandmother’s would be suicidal. The moment word gets back to Amasis that Faith has escaped, he’ll be watching anyone and everyone she knew. No way is he silly enough to overlook something as simple as that if he really wants her back.
“He’ll be watching her. If you go back there, he’ll find you and drag you back.” I keep my face neutral, not wanting to sound cruel, but it is the truth. If she wants to stay out of Amasis’s grasp, then she won’t be able to go anywhere near her grandmother.
Faith sighs. It looks like she’s fighting back tears, and once again, I want to rush over to her. Then, she looks up at me, hope in her eyes again even as they glisten with unfallen tears. “Can you get a message to her then? Something just to let her know I’m alive?”
I think about it for a moment. I don’t owe this woman anything. And if Amasis is watching her grandmother, visiting the woman will put a target on my head.
Then, I find myself nodding. After everything Faith has been through, she deserves a little kindness. I don’t owe her anything, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve something. It won’t make up for everything Amasis did to her, but it’s a start.
“Write her a letter. I promise I’ll get it to her.”
I may not be able to protect her, but I can do this.
6
Faith
Once Jerrick leaves, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, then collapse backward onto the bed. It's so hard to read him, to understand him. Perhaps it's because I'm not used to having to read people whose thoughts I can’t hear, but I think it's more than that.
It’s like he runs hot and cold. One moment he’s my friend, someone I want to be with. The next though, it’s like he can’t stand to be in the same city as me, much less the same room. And then abruptly, he’ll be kind and sweet again.
But he agreed to send a message to my grandmother for me, and that’s all I can really hope for at this point. I don’t want to remain with these guys, though I am opening up to them. Hannah and Kyra have been nothing but kind to me, doing everything they can to make me feel at ease.
Lex was insistent on his questioning, but I can’t blame him for that. He did his best to be gentle about it. And if he is serious about wanting to take down Amasis and the council, then I want to give him everything I can to help. I just wish I had more to give him.
Even the other guys hadn’t been bad. Intense, sure, but they all have their reasons. And at least they’re consistent in their intensity.
But if Jerrick really doesn’t want me to stick around, then I won’t. Getting away from here is probably my best bet, anyway. The further from Seattle I get, the harder it will be for Amasis to find me. If I stay here, the longer I’m here, the more likely it is Amasis will figure out where I am hiding.
The guys might stand a chance, attacking the stronghold by surprise. I think they’re strong, especially from what little I’ve heard about Lex, and they are putting a lot of thought into it. But if Amasis finds out I’m here before they can strike? I have no doubt he’ll bring the full force of the Council down upon them.
