Heart of Thorns: a Between the Worlds novel

by Morgan Daimler

She surprised herself then by asking, her voice almost inaudible, “Can you tell the gender?”

  His expression softened, and he whispered back, barely a movement of lips, “Not this early, no.”

  She nodded, not sure why she’d asked, or even what answer she wanted to hear. But if it’s a boy she thought uncertainly If it’s a boy he’d just be ours. No politics or worry. Just ours, because Jess’s family wouldn’t care about a boy.

  Brynneth reached up again to touch the stitches and spoke at a normal volume, “These will need to come out before I heal the injury.”

  Allie nodded, but Bleidd was quick to interject, “That will be painful for her. Can you not heal it first and then remove the stitches as they do at the clinic?”

  “If I do so it will scar,” he replied slowly. “I would prefer to avoid that if it is possible.”

  She looked over at Bleidd, still standing in Jess’s loose embrace but his posture now stiff and clearly unhappy. “It’s alright Bleidd,” she said. “I can handle it. But if you want to come hold my hand while he gets them out, that would be good.”

  He searched her eyes for a moment, and she wasn’t sure that he would agree. Then he was moving towards her and she relaxed slightly. He took her hand and she focused on holding it without clinging to it. She had a pretty good idea that the stitches coming out was going to hurt a lot more than going in, and she had no intention of letting anyone realize how bad it was.

  Brynneth unsheathed a small knife he kept at his waist, the blade no longer nor thicker than his little finger. “Perhaps you should lay down so that your head will be steady. And do your best to stay completely still. Jess, if you could fetch a cloth, this will bleed slightly before I start the healing.”

  Jess moved quickly to do as Brynneth had asked and returned a moment later with a clean hand towel. Allie lay back against the arm of the couch, still holding Bleidd’s hand, and closed her eyes, trying to mentally prepare. As she expected it hurt a great deal more than getting them had, or than having them removed from a healed wound would have. She focused on not squeezing Bleidd’s hand too tightly and on counting each stitch as it came out and on the sensation of Jess dabbing the blood away, which helped. After what seemed like an eternity Brynneth had finally undone the efforts of the clinic and he placed his hands over the wound, inadvertently covering her eyes, to get to his own healing work. She felt the energy flowing into her, felt the pain in her temple easing and then fading to nothing, felt the muscles in her neck then shoulders relaxing. Her whole body felt comfortable and warm….

  ********************************

  “Is she sleeping?” Bleidd asked as Brynneth straightened up. Bleidd stood, Allie’s hand slipping limply from his as he stepped back slightly.

  The healer nodded, looking up at the other two elves. “It would be best to let her sleep as much as possible.”

  “How is she?” Jess asked, and Bleidd could see the worry plain on the other elf’s face.

  “Her injuries from the vehicle accident were minor and easily addressed. I am slightly more concerned that physically she shows signs of being very stressed,” he said. “She clearly isn’t eating nor sleeping as she should be.”

  Jess asked what Bleidd wanted to know, saving him having to force himself to speak on the subject. “Could that be due to the pregnancy?”

  Brynneth hesitated, then shook his head. “She is perhaps nine or ten days past conception and so too early yet for that to be influencing her this strongly.”

  After a moment Jess said quietly, “So around midsummer then?”

  Brynneth nodded, “If all goes well. It’s an auspicious time for a birth, if one favors such superstition.”

  Bleidd, who had been doing a calculation of his own, but in the other direction looked at Allie sleeping on the couch. So it is certainly mine then he thought. “Is it…is the child…healthy?”

  Brynneth stood as well, easing gently off the couch so that his movement didn’t wake her. He reached out and clasped Bleidd’s arm, squeezing reassuringly. “There is no indication that the accident caused any harm. However it is very early and she has only recently recovered from being poisoned…and I am uncertain why she seems so stressed now. These things may all have a cumulative effect. I’d recommend waiting to see. If she holds the child another six weeks, the odds are better.”

  “What can we do?” Jess said looking to Bleidd’s eyes very young and uncertain.

  The healer released Bleidd’s arms with a final pat. “She needs to eat, she needs to rest, and she needs less stress. Knowing Allie as I do however I doubt even such simple things will be easily accomplished.”

  Bleidd grimaced as they all turned to look at the sleeping woman. “Indeed. I am not certain that the two of us together can accomplish it.”

  “I would like to argue,” Jess said wryly, “But I fear you are right. One thing we can do though is uncover the cause of whatever strange energy has been around, and sort out whether there is ill magic afoot.”

  Bleidd’s eyes narrowed as he thought of the letters and the veiled threats. He was not entirely ready to speak of it to anyone else, but he nodded at Jess. “Indeed. If nothing else we must be certain that all the recent ill luck and minor accidents are nothing more than what they appear.”

  Jess turned to Brynneth, “Is there any indication of active magic affecting her?”

  The healer frowned. “Not that I can see, but human magic can be an odd and ephemeral thing sometimes. I cannot swear there is none just because I cannot perceive it.”

  “At least we know that there is no Fey magic involved,” Jess said thoughtfully.

  Bleidd blinked, realizing suddenly that Jess was right; he may not know who was tormenting him or potentially causing these problems but whoever they were, they must be human, or mostly human. That at least narrowed down his pool of suspects….

  “Indeed,” Brynneth was agreeing. “There is certainly no trace of any Fey magic around her, besides what I would expect to see.”

  “Her kelpie friend passed a warning along to us, through her, the other day. He said he sensed strange magic around but he was not sure what it was or what its purpose was,” Jess said.

  Brynneth nodded thoughtfully. “Interesting. I might suggest then checking the grounds and general area for any signs of foreign magic.”

  “It might be good as well to reinforce the wards,” Bleidd suggested, his mind still turning over the problem of potential suspects.

  Jess nodded. “I will leave that to you and your skill. I am no mage but I have enough experience to test the area for spells and the most likely sorts of magic. Bryn would you mind sitting with her for a bit?”

  The healer inclined his head in a shrug, “I can spare a few hours.”

  Jess retrieved a blanket from the back of one of the chairs, draping the afghan over Allie carefully so it wouldn’t wake her. Then he nodded at Bleidd. “Let us go outside then and I will begin checking the yard, if you will see to the wards.”

  Bleidd moved towards the front door, but hesitated as the now familiar feeling of unease swept over him again as he stepped across the threshold into the hallway. Jess was already opening the front door and with an effort Bleidd forced himself to shrug off the concern and follow. It may be too late, Bleidd thought grimly, but if I am going to fight for the happiness I have found here, then I must do everything I can. If I am to lose everything I have built here then I will not simply hand it over. I will go down fighting.

  Chapter 7 - Wednesday

  “So I hear congratulations are in order,” a familiar voice spoke from behind her and Allie turned slowly, the dream taking shape around her even as she moved. It was a bit disorienting, but by the time she’d completed the turn her surroundings had resolved into her own living room, a fire crackling cheerfully in the fireplace. The sky outside the windows was black and the ghost of her best friend was lounging casually on the chair closest to the fire, her bare feet dangling next to the fire screen. Syndra was
dressed in the sweatshirt and shapeless sweat pants she’d always worn hanging around the house on her days off and her blond hair hung loose around her face.

  “What’s with you and that fireplace? Half the times you visit me we’re in here with a fire going.” Allie quipped walking over and sitting in the chair opposite her friend. Since Syndra’s death in the spring Allie had slowly gotten used to her friend visiting her this way, but it was always an unexpected experience when Syndra decided to show up.

  Syn shrugged, kicking her feet slightly. “Whatever. I just like it. So sue me for enjoying a nice warm fire, which by the way I can only feel here. Wherever here actually is.”

  “I try not to think too hard about it,” Allie said seriously, having long since given up trying to figure out why Syndra could haunt her dreams but Allie had never been able to see her anywhere else.

  “That’s the story of your life isn’t it Al?”

  “What?”

  “Trying not to think about things,” Syndra said, watching Allie closely.

  Allie frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing, except that once again you have all the pieces and you aren’t seeing the picture the puzzle makes,” Syndra said, shrugging.

  “What picture? What are you talking about?” Allie tilted her head, annoyed but also curious.

  “Never mind,” Syndra said, waving one hand in the air. “Back to my original point. Congrats on getting knocked up.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Allie said sharply.

  “What’s with the bitchy attitude? I’m serious.” Syndra said, making a face at her. “By the way if it’s a girl I highly recommend the name Syndra. You know as a nice homage to your murdered bestie.”

  Allie couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure Jess’s family would love that.”

  “Fuck them. Who’s popping out this kid anyway?”

  “Well, before I start picking out baby names I’ve got some other things to worry about,” Allie said.

  “Yeah, just when things seem to have settled down its right back to bad magic town,” Syndra said. Allie gave her a hard look and Syndra held up one hand in a calming gesture. “Hey nothing personal, just an observation. You know, my advice is to stop running around like headless poultry and start really working together to get to the bottom of this. You know, while Jason’s truck is still the worst casualty.”

  “We’re trying.”

  “Really?” Syndra said skeptically, “Because I see an awful lot of rugged individualism going on right, left, and center.”

  “Syndra!” Allie was still caught between annoyance and amusement. It had always been hard to get annoyed, or at least stay annoyed for very long, with Syndra when she was alive, and now that she was dead Allie found it even harder.

  “I’m just saying,” Syndra said staring into the flames. “That you guys need to pull together especially now.”

  Allie thought that was an odd way to say it even for Syn. “What do you mean? Why especially now?”

  To her intense frustration she could feel the dream losing cohesion and she fought to stay in the moment. Syndra answered carefully. “This thing isn’t over yet. You need to pull together and fight back.”

  “What?” Allie struggled not to wake up. “What happened to ‘I’m dead I’m not omniscient’? What do you know that I don’t?”

  “Nothing,” Syndra said as the dream faded. “But I don’t have to be omniscient to know where this is going.”

  Allie woke up and realized for the first time in more than a week she felt like she was starving, instead of nauseous. This was followed by the slightly more urgent realization that she really needed to use the bathroom. Then the memory of the accident flooded back wiping away the memory of the dream and she sat up, struggling against the weight of the blankets that covered her. She was alone in the bed, but as she turned her head towards the window she saw Jess standing there, looking out at the yard with a brooding expression. She was about to crack a joke, maybe ask him what the yard had done to him to merit that look, when the amount of sunlight flooding in registered and she let out an undignified squeak instead, writhing her way across the bed to stand. “Crap! What time is it? Gods I’m so late-“

  “Allie,” Jess said, moving swiftly across the room and trying to gently push her back to a sitting position on the bed, “Relax. It is nearly 10 in the morning. You are staying home today-“

  “I am not staying home today,” she sputtered, thinking of her business, and how often in the spring she’d had to close because of near death experiences.

  “Yes,” he said, calmly, finally succeeding in pressing her back to the bed, his hands firm on her shoulders. She gaped at him, furious, but he was unmoved. “Allie, my love, you were in a car accident yesterday. You just slept for 18 straight hours, so deeply that even being carried up here and put into bed didn’t wake you. Brynneth said you were too stressed and not well, and he wasn’t talking about your injuries from the accident. You need to rest.”

  “I can’t just…18 hours? I really slept that long?” she frowned trying to work it out in her head but memories of the day before were a bit fuzzy.

  He nodded, “Indeed you did. I know you dislike when Bleidd and I worry for you, and I do not want to argue about this, but I fear that we should have pushed earlier for you to see Brynneth. I will not make that mistake again.”

  She gritted her teeth against the wave of his love and concern that swept over her. “I’m fine…”

  “You are not,” he insisted before she could build up any speed with her argument. “You have said yourself that you continued to feel dizzy and couldn’t eat as you normally would.”

  “Yes well,” she mumbled, her hand twitching unconsciously towards her abdomen before she stopped it. “I think we know what that was about now.”

  “Don’t assume so,” he said. “We can’t now fall into thinking everything is due to the child. Brynneth said that it was too early for the pregnancy to be affecting you to any great degree.”

  She sighed, shifting uncomfortably, “Okay, you know what I really need to pee, and that isn’t code for me not wanting to talk about this. I think I might burst something if I don’t get to the bathroom now so just hold that thought and give me a minute okay?”

  He looked suspicious, but stepped back so she could stand, and she limped as quickly as possible to the bathroom. Despite her hope that he might have backed off a little she re-emerged to find him standing almost against the door waiting. She sighed again, just as her stomach growled loudly. Jess smiled at that, his own tense expression relaxing slightly. “Perhaps we should find you something to eat? If you think you are up to it?”

  “I’m starving,” she said, resisting the urge to tell him she wasn’t an invalid. Instead she dressed quickly and as they walked to the kitchen she asked, “So what did Brynneth say?”

  “The healing went well, but he feels you need to reduce your stress levels.”

  Allie couldn’t help it, she laughed out loud at that, earning an annoyed look from Jess. “Well, come on Jess, it’s not that easy. I can’t just decide to have less stress. I own my own business for one thing and there’s the house. There’s the car. There’s my hand and the accident, and, I mean do you want me to keep going?”

  “I understand that your life is complex,” he said, “But you must put your health ahead of – do you smell that?”

  He had stopped a few steps down from the top of the staircase; she was still on the upstairs landing. She lifted her head slightly sniffing, then frowned. “I smell something, what is that?”

  He stood for a second, vibrating with tension, every sense alert, then he pushed her back. “Stay here!”

  He lept down the stairs taking them two and three at a time. For a moment she froze, his alarm coursing through her. She could feel Bleidd somewhere close by – the yard perhaps? – also sensing a problem and rushing to the house. Then her paralysis broke as her brain finally registered the scent as
smoke. She followed Jess down the stairs at a slightly slower pace, limited by her bad ankle. She had no intention of standing by and trusting Jess to keep her family home from burning down.

  At the bottom of the stairs she could see a slight haze in the air by the ceiling and a moment later the smoke detector began shrieking, the sound making Allie wince. She jogged down the hall towards the kitchen realizing at the last minute that the fire wasn’t there but in the small side room attached to the living room; the walls were lined with bookshelves and there were only a few chairs and a small side table with a lamp in there. The smoke was thicker here and she began coughing, waving her hand in front of her face as she tried to sort out what was going on. Jess had grabbed one of the ubiquitous knit blankets that draped across many of the chairs and couches, courtesy of Liz’s obsession with knitting, and was using it to try to put out the fire, which seemed to be centered on the little side table.

  It was still a small fire, thankfully. She gathered her own energy and focus, preparing a spell to put it out. It would only work if she could catch it before it got any bigger and it wasn’t easy, or fast, but it would take just as long to run for the fire extinguisher and run back. Before she could do more than get the framework of the spell set up though Bleidd burst in.

  He grabbed her and physically moved her back, ruining the nascent magic she was trying to cast. She was too angry to even think of what to say, and he was already drawing on his own, admittedly higher-level, magic to extinguish it. A moment later she felt the surge of his magic through the room and the fire curled out of existence with an audible “whoomp”. Jess relaxed, his shoulders dropping, the singed blanket still in his hands.

  All three stood for a moment taking in the blackened table and melted rubble that had once been a lamp. The smoke alarm was still shrieking and before Allie’s brain could fully register the import of what had happened she heard another set of feet running down the stairs, as Shawn finally woke to all the noise.