by Dawn Brower
Relief poured through her at the sound of his voice. She reached out again and found something… His arm? She wasn’t sure, but it felt like it. “What’s going on I…” Elodie swallowed the lump in her throat. “I can’t see anything.”
“It’s residual,” a female explained. Elodie struggled for a brief second to place the sound of her voice before she recalled who the girl was. Donia. A feeling she didn’t quite understand emerged at that revelation. Resentment? Maybe, but she couldn’t be sure. Her thoughts were still jumbled. Donia’s steps echoed through the area as she clarified her earlier statement. “From the darkness.”
Something she said brushed a memory over her mind. Why couldn’t she recall? Her mind wasn’t blank exactly, but she struggled to grasp what was happening to her. She squeezed Daire’s arm. “I don’t know…”
“Shh, it’s all right.” He pulled her into his arms. His hot breath caressed her ear. His words were light and barely audible, but their closeness made them crystal clear. “You’re awake and not speaking nonsense. Take things slowly. You’ve been through a lot.”
Had she? She wished she understood what he meant. There had been a struggle of some sort. An escape from… Where? “Don’t leave me.” She couldn’t see. The very idea of being alone made her want to curl in a ball and cry. Daire’s warmth made her feel safe even if it was an illusion. No one could ever be safe in a world created to curse its inhabitants.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her. “Donia can you go get Cale. Tell him this time she’s really awake.”
“Cale’s here?”
There was something about the knight that had worried her. She couldn’t quite recall… Why was this so damn hard? She lifted her hand to her head. Pain shot through her skull like a blade piercing on multiple sides. Her screams echoed around and back through her, making her agony a thousand times worse with each breath she took. Flashes burst behind her eyes as her memories burned once again inside her mind. Cale had betrayed her…
“Elodie,” Cale’s deep baritone filled her ears. “Thank God you’re awake.”
Daire let her go, and she scrambled to find him again. “Don’t leave. You promised.”
“I thought—it doesn’t matter.” He wrapped his arms around her once more and her senses eased with the comfort of his embrace. “Cale won’t hurt you.”
How did he know? Cale had been determined to kill them all. She’d fought him herself before… “It was so dark and empty.”
“You made it back,” Daire said. “We thought we’d lost you.”
His voice broke as he said those words. Had he been that worried. She hated Malediction, and all the pain it had brought her and her friends. She wanted to forgive Cale, but she wasn’t sure she could—at least not yet. Maybe in time she could let go of her resentment, though she didn’t see how.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, more for them than for herself.
“She’s not wrong,” Donia piped in. “Once the black sickness fades, she’ll be as right as rain—or at least making her own again.”
Donia’s words rubbed her all wrong, and if she could see her, she’d punch her in the face. It didn’t matter that she’d been trying to be good and not react so strongly to anyone ever again. Considering her current circumstances, she could be allowed a little bad behavior. Her whole body ached and didn’t show any sign of stopping.
“Can’t you bother someone else?” Elodie turned her head in the direction she thought Donia was standing. She couldn’t be certain, but she must have been close because Donia’s voice seemed in that general direction when she next spoke.
“I don’t know,” Donia drawled. “You make it so easy. Why would I bother with anyone else?”
Her vision became less fuzzy, and she could almost make Donia out. She was leaning against the side of the cave. Her face was a shadow with a golden outline. Her hair made her almost glowy… Someone else stood behind her and was more a shadow than anything else. Elodie tilted her head and tried to bring him into focus, but he blended too easily against the cave wall. Daire held her, so it had to be Cale who stood behind Donia.
“How long was I asleep?” She wasn’t entirely sure if that was what she’d been doing, but it was all she could think to call it.
“Several days,” Daire answered. “Too long for our liking.”
“My vision is starting to clear,” she told them. “But I don’t think I’ll be able to see well enough to be much use for a while.”
“The darkness has that effect on people,” Donia explained. “It’ll clear faster than you believe.”
She didn’t trust the dragon hunter queen. Donia was working her own agenda, and Elodie seriously doubted it lined up with anything the rest of them were doing. Cale was another unknown. He’d already shown his weakness to her, and it was best she didn’t forget that. She blinked again. “You may be right.” Donia’s features were clearer, and she now had more of a face than a blob. “My memory is returning as well.”
She leaned her head back against Daire’s chest. His warmth enveloped her, and she wanted to curl against him. He was the one left she could trust. Cale’s betrayal still stung more than she wanted to openly admit. The knight had been the one person she’d relied on for years, and now she couldn’t allow herself to believe he’d be loyal to her. How far had she fallen that she’d lost her allies one by one? Was that her true curse? Would he too betray her in the end, and then she’d be alone? She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. He hadn’t let her down yet, and she’d not pin wrongdoing on him in preparation for failure. That was no way to live, and he didn’t deserve it. “I’m awfully tired for someone who’s been sleeping her life away.”
“You had to fight to return to us,” Daire said as he brushed his fingers through her hair. “You’ve earned your right to that exhaustion. Don’t sleep too long, or I’ll worry.”
She didn’t want to give him any cause for concern. Their battle hadn’t really begun. There was much they had to do before they could find their way back to Zelnon. “I promise I won’t.”
“Good.”
Elodie glanced at Donia and Cale. His face was clearer too. His scowl seemed permanently etched on his face. He turned to leave, but she couldn’t allow that. “Cale,” she called to him. “Stay.”
She had a lot of questions for him, and she couldn’t allow him to abandon them. He was as much a key to their return as the rest of them. Without him, they might not make it back. He already had one of the items they needed to return. They just had to uncover where the other three were hidden and then find the door the items unlocked.
“You don’t need me,” Cale said gruffly.
“You couldn’t be more wrong.” Her voice was harsher than she intended it to be. “Now come over here and sit. There’s much we need to discuss.”
Cale reluctantly joined them, and he appeared less than happy about it. Well, that’s too bad. He would do as she requested, and she didn’t give a damn if he liked it. Some things were more important than his feelings. Elodie had been through—was still going through—an ordeal he couldn’t even begin to fathom. Her emotions had to be all over the place. He owed it to her to give her some space to figure out where she stood and what she wanted. They also had to find a way back to Zelnon, and that was a far higher priority than whether or not Elodie loved him. Once there, they could sort through the mess their relationship had devolved into.
5
Hidden Clues
The days they’d spent in Malediction had been filled with strife and uncertainty from the moment they’d arrived. None of them had come to the curse world willingly, but they sure as hell would escape it together. Cale had the first clue, but he probably didn’t even realize it. Elodie wasn’t sure how she should approach him. He seemed to be as leery of her as she was of him. They couldn’t continue to dance around each other. She wanted to erase what had happened and go back to how it used to be, but she couldn’t see a way how they could. She still cared about him, and w
ould always love him; however, some things were insurmountable, or appeared to be. One of them had to take a step forward, and it looked like it would have to be her.
Elodie disentangled herself from Daire’s warm embrace. She hated to leave the safety he offered, but it was time to stand on her own two feet theoretically… Somehow, she doubted she was strong enough for anything so strenuous. Instead, she crawled closer to Cale, thankful with each movement that she’d at least fully gained back her sight. Most of her memories had returned, but there were still a few fuzzy patches. The pain had knocked back to a dull thrum of a drumbeat—tolerable, but annoying.
Once she deemed herself close enough, she sat and crossed her legs. She needed the stability to keep her balance and not show Cale any sign of weakness. He was a knight fully trained, and it was ingrained in him to use any advantage he could. It was bad enough she had to crawl to him. She’d not give him anything else to knock her down with. “Are you ready to talk to me?”
“I think that should be my question.” He nodded in Daire’s direction. “You seem to prefer someone else’s company.”
She refused to explain herself to him. Deep down, she realized he hadn’t freely betrayed her, but she couldn’t shake it from her mind either. If they had gotten inside his head once, they very well could do it again. She’d have trusted the old Cale completely. This new version—risky didn’t even begin to describe him. “How are you feeling?”
“Again, shouldn’t that be my question?” He lifted a brow. “I didn’t just wake from several days of forced slumber.”
“No,” she agreed. “But you had your own ordeal to work through.” She chose her next words carefully. “I trust Daire was able to heal you fully.”
Cale glanced away as if he didn’t want to meet her gaze. Elodie didn’t like his reaction, and it didn’t endear her toward trusting him either. Why did he have to be so stubborn? She mentally laughed at that—he’d say her obstinacy got her into far more trouble than his did. After several heartbeats, he turned his head but kept his gaze down. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “You must know I’d never willingly hurt you.”
She did. That didn’t make it hurt any less. “That wasn’t what I asked you.”
“But it needed saying all the same.” He lifted his head to meet her gaze. “You’ve always meant a lot to me. More than I can say…”
Also something she’d already known. He had been one of the few people she could not only trust, but rely on in Zelnon. She couldn’t forget that even if she tried, but at the same time, Elodie had to be smart. Malediction had already done a lot of damage to them. Some of it was insurmountable, and they would forever be altered. A part of her wanted to believe they could repair the damage, but it might be too badly broken. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. Instead of addressing what he’d said, she chose to ask him her question again. Talking about feelings—his or hers—wasn’t something she wanted to do. Not when she didn’t fully understand the swirl of emotions going on inside of her. “Was Daire able to fully heal you?”
Daire and Donia remained quiet as she talked to Cale. Elodie wasn’t sure why. Cale seemed to be taking an awful long time answering her question. She looked up as Donia exited the cave. Where the hell was she going? She didn’t need any surprises. She glanced back at Daire, and he nodded in understanding. He hopped to his feet and went after Donia. Satisfied, Elodie returned her attention to Cale and waited for him to respond.
“He—Daire…” Cale stared down at his hands and rubbed them together. “He was inside my head. That evil side of me didn’t want to let him in, but he managed to do it anyway.”
“What happened to the evil side?” Why was it so hard for him to tell her about it? “Is it still there?” She wanted him to say no. Even if it was a lie… Cale didn’t believe in lies or half-truths though. If he couldn’t speak honestly, he didn’t say anything at all. Which was why his silence told her more than words ever could—evil still had its roots inside of him. How long until it managed to control him again?
“Elle…” He reached for her hand. “If I lose and attack you again, I need you to promise me something.”
And there was her answer. Whatever Daire had done hadn’t been enough. Cale still fought an inner demon. With the way he was talking, it seemed as if, in a matter of time, he’d lose. “I’m not making any promises.” She refused to do what he wanted. She had a feeling and didn’t like it. He may have betrayed her trust, but she didn’t want to hurt him. He was and would always be a significant part of her life.
“You need to,” he said. “You’re more important than I am. Zelnon needs its queen. I’m a mere knight…”
“You’re not expendable to me, so shut up right now.” Why couldn’t she be stronger? She hated that she couldn’t stand and stomp away from him. “I’m done with this discussion. There is something else I need to know.”
“Anything,” he answered quickly—almost too quickly.
“How did you get your ring dagger back?” Elodie asked. Cale jolted as if she’d slapped him. That was interesting… “Do you even know?”
He reached down and lifted the ring dagger up. The jewel encrusted hilt normally sparkled, but it had gotten rather dirty and was barely recognizable. The ruby nestled at the top of the hilt nearly gleamed though. The ruby was the key. The stone shined like fire and burned through her memory. All of their missing items had a ruby in them. She could clearly picture her locket, and Daire’s broach in her mind’s eye. They’d have to find the rest of the missing items and maybe then she could test her theory.
“This dagger has been a part of my armor for a long time. When it was gone, it seemed wrong, and when it suddenly appeared…” He lifted it up higher and stared at it. “I didn’t even question it. That should have been the first clue something was wrong with me.” He handed it to her. “No, I haven’t any idea how it returned to me or why. What does that mean?”
Elodie wished she knew…She twirled the dagger in her hands and studied it. What was its significance of the ruby? Perhaps if she figured that part out, she’d be able to discern the truth. “When we first arrived, something was taken from each of us. This was missing, and now it’s back. It’s the first clue—the why or how, that’s still hidden. We need to find the other items, and maybe then it will make sense.”
She handed the dagger back to him. It was a step toward earning trust back. It would take a lot for them to find middle ground. “Keep this safe. We’re going to need it later.”
Cale nodded and sheathed the dagger at his hip. “You should rest.”
“I think I’ve rested enough.” Elodie frowned. Where were Daire and Donia? She needed to talk to both of them. “We have to leave this cave and begin the hunt.”
“Tomorrow is soon enough to start. It’s dark, princess. I know you haven’t been outside in a while, but you do recall how unsafe it is at night.”
She did… Elodie sighed. “Fine. Can you go find Daire and Donia? There are things they need to know, and after I speak with them, I’ll rest.” He was right. She’d need to preserve her energy to make it through the upcoming journey. That didn’t mean she had to like it.
Daire hadn’t wanted to leave Elodie alone. He didn’t understand why she’d clung to him when she’d woken up, but he’d selfishly enjoyed it. Cale, on the other hand, shot daggers with a glance, indicating how much he’d hated it. Daire caught every one of his irritated glares. The knight hadn’t bothered to hide it. Elodie usually ran into his arms, not Daire’s. It felt incredibly good to have her choose him instead of the knight for once. He didn’t delude himself into thinking she’d always come to him instead, but it was a rather nice thought to hold on to. For a few, brief, glorious moments, he’d known what it was like to have Elodie and imagine how it would be if she were truly his.
“Donia,” he called out to her. “Slow down.”
She kept moving down the mountainside. What had her moving in such a hurry? What waited for her at th
e end of the path? He didn’t like it. They should return to the cave where it was safe. Not that any place in Malediction stayed safe for long, but they’d learned quickly to find shelter with nightfall.
“Donia,” he yelled again. She stopped to look back at him and folded her arms over her chest.
“I’m not waiting long,” she shouted.
The girl was irritating, and he wished he didn’t have to deal with her. The unspoken request had come from Elodie to go after her and he couldn’t deny the princess anything. He quickened his pace to catch up to Donia. When he reached her side, she started down the path again.
“Where are you going?”
“Elodie needs food.”
That was rather odd. Not that he didn’t disagree, but she could have said as much. Why hadn’t she gone after it before Elodie had woken from her deep sleep? “Don’t we have provisions in the cave?”
“Not the kind she’ll need.”
“If she needs something specific why didn’t you say so sooner?”
“It has to be picked fresh or it won’t do any good. There was no way to tell how long it would take for her to wake.” Donia kept a brutal pace down the mountain.
“Why not send Cale for it?” Daire asked. “He’d be much quicker.”
“The dragon curse can’t touch it,” she explained. “The fruit is poison to them.”
“As in, it will kill them?” Why did everything in Malediction have to kill or harm one of them in some way?
“Dragons don’t die that easily,” she said sardonically. “Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many hunters in this world.”
Trust Donia to make him feel stupid. It seemed like a logical question to him. She could have given him an answer that made sense though. “Then why does it matter if it is poisonous to them?”
“There are different kinds of poisons. Some kill and others are more dangerous.”
Donia had grown up in Malediction, and it showed. She tended to give non-answers and leave him with even more questions. Sometimes he really, really disliked her, and other times he marveled at her. “What makes it dangerous?” She was going to make him keep asking questions.
