Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2) (31 page)

“Well then,” Dramin interrupted loudly, “if that’s all settled, I am going to bed. I have been awake for seventy-eight hours, and my body is a little tired. Seeing as Joclyn’s eyes are dragging, I don’t think she is ready to face a full two days without sleep.”

Dramin stood and began to make his exit, his long black
bathrobe dragging on the stone floor.

“More
water, child, more water!” he called as he walked away toward his bunk.

“Good night
, Dramin,” I called before taking an obligatory sip.

“Well, if Dramin’s leaving then I sure as hell don’t have to be here to watch this gush fest.” T
hom did not wait for anyone to say anything more. He stood and strode away; his hands plunged into his pockets.

“Goodnight, Thom
,” I called, although I knew he wouldn’t care either way.

“Whatever.”
He grunted as he disappeared behind the blanket he had hung over his bunk.

I watched the blanket for a moment before turning back to my
Black Water, letting it warm me.

Ilyan sat silently next to me, watching me as I
took sip after sip. After a few minutes, I began to feel uncomfortable. Mostly because I knew he knew what I was doing. I took another long drink, staring him right in the eye.

“Are you ready?” he
asked, softly.

H
onestly, I would never be ready. I looked away from him, back to the fire, and set my mug down with a gentle clink.

“You know
, with everything that has happened, you think I would be more ready,” I whispered, not wanting anyone but Ilyan to hear. “You think I would plunge into the nightmares and know exactly what’s going on and there wouldn’t be a worry or a stress about it.”

I hesitated and pulled my blanket up to my neck, trying to fight the desire to hide.
Instead I watched the fire, the magical flames burning and crackling in a rainbow of colors. I kept my focus on the flame, not knowing if I wanted to meet Ilyan’s eyes.

“But every time I close my eyes
, I am scared of what Cail is going to do to me. I’m scared of what he is going to make me witness. It’s the same with the Tȍuha. I’m scared of it too. I never know what Ryland will do to me the next time or how long he will let me stay in.”

I turned to him and extended my hand. He grabbed it eagerly
, wrapping my hand in his. He leaned forward, his torso close to me as he absorbed my words.

“
My body gets weaker and weaker.” Ilyan’s magic surged through my shoulder and I smiled. “I can’t control the nightmares, but I can control the Tȍuha. I can’t do it tonight. I can’t do it tomorrow.”

“I understand, Joclyn. And when you wake tonight and your heart is aching and your mind is screaming
, I will still be here.” I leaned toward him and wrapped my arms around him, the chair awkward in between us.

“I know
, Ilyan. I can’t do it without you,” I whispered in his ear, surprised when he lifted me up and swung my legs up over his other arm.

He held me against him as he moved, carrying me to my bunk. He s
at me down softly, his hand sliding up to rest against my neck. His finger touched my mark and the now familiar jolt shot through me. I closed my eyes at the touch, my heart hammering, unsure of what I felt or what I wanted to feel.

“That is why I am here,” Ilyan whispered, his lips millimeters from my face. “That’s why I was born. I have waited the last thousand years so I could protect you.”

I closed my eyes and exhaled softly, his proximity making it hard for me to focus.

“Someone has to help me hold up the world.” I spoke softly, more to myself than to Ilyan, but Ilyan smiled anyway.

“Ah, you’ve been talking to Thom.”
He smiled and moved to sit on the side of bunk. He pulled the heavy blankets over me, his hand resting softly on my knee.

“It took some doing to get it
out of him, I’ll admit.”

“He is a very smart
man. He just has a lot of pain in his heart – a lot of regret.”

“
How does he know Wyn??” I asked.

“He doesn’t,” He said, hi
s voice strained, “He knew her Mother.”

“
Oh.” I guess that made sense, but that was quite the reaction he had earlier.

Ilyan looked at me, my eyes drooping
further the longer he stared at me. Finally he shook his head and gently helped me to lie down, his hand smoothing over my hair. I was suddenly very worried that he was about to leave me.

“Sleep well, Jos.”
I smiled at his use of my nickname before panic set in.

“Ilyan
.” My hand shot out to grab his, desperate to stop him from leaving. “Will you stay with me, just for tonight? I don’t mean… but I need…”

I stuttered to a stop as Ilyan came back, his finger tip tracing the lines of my face.

“I know.”

My eyes began to droop again at his touch,
at the gentle magical pulses that he weaved through my body. His finger left my face as he moved, my eyes opening as I watched him move to the foot of the bunk, his strong arms hoisting him up to settle near my feet.

“I will
stay here, Joclyn. I want you to go to sleep now.”

I felt his magic grow
in my shoulder, the strong energy moving through me as he put me to sleep. I tried to fight him for a moment before I gave in, letting the world of sleep, and the horrors that it held, take me.

“Good night my love.”

Twenty-Eight

Isola
Sant
a
was a small tourist trap of a village in the high Alps of Italy. It consisted of one restaurant, a small hotel, and a few homes of those who worked in and ran the small businesses. Each house was made of grey brick, with the trademark alleys and small walkways that were signature of the renaissance. The whole thing was nestled up against a beautiful lake, the high mountains surrounding us on all sides.

It was beautiful. I looked around in wonder as I
sat in one of the many outdoor tables of the town’s café and forced down my perfectly sautéed mushrooms, the crisp mountain air breezing through my hair, moving the clumps around awkwardly. I just hoped I didn’t smell too bad, I didn’t need too many of the tourists cringing in my direction. I had already had a few.

Ilyan looked around uneasily before his
magic surged through me strongly. Even though I could now easily manage my own shield, Ilyan didn’t want to take the risk. I was grateful for it anyway. I could already feel my body ache from being outside the Tȍuha so long. I should have been calm and collected in this beautiful place, but instead I was so on edge I could barely function.

Ilyan looked as he did that night in Sant
a Fe. His hair was pulled back in a braid, and he had aviator sunglasses on. Although his jeans were a little ripped and dirty, it was nothing compared to the disarray I was in. My clothes were filthy, my hair greasy and matted, and I am sure I looked like a messy beggar that Ilyan had picked up along the way.

I kept placing
the Ilyan in front of me against the image of him from the sight. With short hair, his jaw line popped more.

Ilyan caught me looking at him and I looked away quickly,
causing him to laugh.

“What?”
he asked, his accent rolling as he laughed.

I looked back to him, narrowing my eyes as I contemplated what to say. “I think I like you better with short hair.”

I spoke my mind and instantly regretted it. His eyes widened and a smirk played on his lips as he connected where my comment was stemming from.

“Not like before, not dark. You didn’t look good with dark hair.”

“But short…” he interrupted me, “like in the sight.”

I nodded
and looked away. I don’t know why this conversation was making me uncomfortable, but it was.

“Maybe I will cut it for you,” he mused.

I ignored him and went back to staring at my mushrooms, contemplating if it was worth it to try and eat another. It had been decided this morning that it was imperative that Ovailia did not find out I was a Drak, which meant that I needed to at least attempt to force down normal food. But the taste was so bitter and the texture so gritty I was having trouble making it look like I was enjoying it.

“Are you okay?” Ilyan
asked from beside me. He sat back in his chair sipping at his wine, his eyebrows arched in question.

“I’m swell,” I grumbled, poking at a mushroom. “You know,
I am just chilling in a beautiful Italian village, dressed like a hobo, forcing down strange food, and waiting for your sister – who is, in a strange way, my step-mother – with the hopes of begging her to go save my boyfriend.” Ilyan’s smile at my discomfort grew. I scowled and ignored him.

“How did I ever eat this stuff?” I asked a little grumpily, but Ilyan
only laughed deeper.

“I think they are delicious.” Ilyan leaned over the table and plucked one of the perfectly golden
mushrooms from my plate. He plopped it in his mouth and smiled heavily, as he leaned back in his chair.

“Better tha
n a hamburger,” Ilyan said with a smile.

“
Ew.” I cringed at the thought, and Ilyan laughed harder. I rolled my eyes at him and forced another mushroom into my mouth.

“It’s kind of endearing, this new side of you.” Ilyan swirled the wine in his glass alluringly as he leaned
in, his back arching him forward.

“Why? Because I don’t eat meat now?”

“Well, there is that. But it’s everything, all of it. How strong you are, how confident, how powerful.” I cringed. “You’re amazing, Joclyn.” My heart thumped into a restart, I ignored it.

“At least you don’t think it’s creepy
. The last thing I need is for you to think I’m some kind of freak.”

Ilyan reached forward and grabbed my hand, his thumb rubbing over the ridges on the back.

“Never, Joclyn.”

“Well, aren’t you two cozy.” I jumped at Ovailia’s voice
, my aches surging through me.

Ilyan
stood at her arrival, his arms wrapping around her without question.

Ovailia looked the same, perfectly poised, not a hair on her head out of place. She
embraced Ilyan awkwardly, looking thoroughly out of place in jeans and a silk top.

“Ovailia!
” Ilyan finally released her but kept a hold on her shoulders. “I’m so glad you are okay!”

Ilyan’s voice was so pained, so relieved. I felt bad
. Especially given what the situation was. The planned double-crossing suddenly felt like acid on my tongue.

“You too, Ilyan. You have no idea. When I saw them... in Prague...” Ovailia
broke off, and I was suddenly worried we were going to hear a play by play of what had happened. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. I didn’t want to hear traumatizing accounts of what had happened to my best friend and what she had gone through because of me.

Ilyan pulled away from her and brought up a chair, prompting her to sit down. The waiter approached and Ilyan ordered something in Italian before sitting. The entire time
, Ovailia kept her face down in an emotionless mask. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, the sight of her carrying Ryland down the hall still fresh in my mind.

“
Ovailia,” Ilyan said as he sat down. “I need to know what happened. You have to tell me who betrayed us?"

Ilyan
’s voice boomed with his normal regal air, a sound I hadn’t heard in quite some time. It was obvious he was putting on the front with Ovailia in an attempt to get the information he needed from her. I tensed as I turned toward her, my body stiffening in expectation of whatever truth or lie was going to spew out of her mouth

“It was Talon
.” I gasped at her words, her head whipping around to glare at me.

“Talon?” Ilyan
asked, his voice just as stunned as I was.

“Yes
,” she said, her voice strained. “I don’t know how and I don’t know why. But he was leading them down the hall. There were so many. I don’t know if anyone else escaped, Ilyan. I couldn’t find anyone else.”

“No one else got out?” Ilyan
asked his voice loud in his heightened fear. The waiter jumped a bit as she came up behind him, placing another glass of wine and another plate of mushrooms on the table. Ilyan apologized in Italian, before turning back to Ovailia.

“No one?”
He repeated, his voice catching as the emotion of this new reality pushed its way up. Subconsciously I reached my leg out toward him from underneath the table, pressing my calf to his. He looked up to me gratefully, his eyes shining.

“I couldn’t find any
one. I was too scared to stay. Father was there and I... I...” Her voice tensed to a stop and Ilyan reached out gently to take her hand.

“Why would Talon do that, Ilyan?” I asked softly, “I
t doesn’t make sense. Why would he do that to Wyn?”

“She was screaming to her F
ather when we last spoke with her, it must have been his call. Besides, I don’t see Talon allowing them to kill her. She had to have been taken.” Ilyan’s logic made sense, but something still did not fit.

“But Ilyan,
I saw...” I stopped myself, having been about to reveal something I had seen during my first sight.

“Oh, what would you know about it?” Ovailia snapped, her icy blue eyes digging aggressively into me.
“And what in the world gives you the right to call him by his given name?”

I opened my mouth to re
ply but closed it quickly. I needed Ovailia to believe me weak and incapable still.

“Ovailia,” Ilyan scolded soundly, “Joclyn is as much of a piece of the puzzle as we are now
. I do not keep anything from her anymore. And as for the name, she is free to call me anything she chooses.”

He smiled at me and I looked away, placing another of the gritty mushrooms in my mouth. My body was angry with me, it needed
Black Water.

“So, you have told her everything, then?” Ovailia asked, her voice awed. I kept my gaze away from her, fully aware that her eyes were boring into me.

“I have.”

“Odd. She doesn’t seem worried
, and you don’t seem to be as hands on as I thought you would be.” I kept my head down. I was not enjoying this reminder as to why I did not enjoy Ovailia’s company.

“Unless th
at is due to her hygiene. I had assumed you knew how to take better care of yourself, Joclyn. Though this look does suit you, it’s disgusting.”

I flinched at her words and sunk into the chair,
my body aching as I looked away from both of them and toward the café.

“Be polite, Ovailia,” Ilyan scolded her loudly his leg mov
ing against mine more. I looked toward him, grateful for the contact. “We’ve been hiding in terrible places since someone ratted us out in Santa Fe. There hasn’t exactly been a shower available.”

“And yet, you stay perfectly poised.
”

I fought the urge to yell at her
. To tell her that Ilyan had been unconscious for three days whereas I had been working and training almost nonstop. I hung my head forward and let the clumps of hair fall around me. I was beginning to realize why Thom kept his hair in the dreads.

Ilyan and Ovailia spoke in Czech, their tones quick and irritated, before I felt Ilyan’s hand on my chin
. He lifted my head and I closed my eyes, not wanting to be looked at.

“I think she is b
eautiful.”

H
is chosen words in front of Ovailia caught me off guard and I opened my eyes.

“Not
now” I reminded him, my voice caught between pleading, worry, and joy.

“Not yet,” he
replied, his hand dropping back down to the table.

“And speaking of that,” Ilyan mused, turning back to his sister
who was looking at us with a mixture of disgust and irritation. “I need you to go and get Ryland.”

“What?” Ovailia burst to her
feet. The table shifted with her movement, causing most of the remaining wine to spill from the impact. Heads turned toward us at the sound and I shrunk away, hating the way people were wrinkling their noses at me.

“Sit down,” Ilyan h
issed, yanking her arm back down toward the table.

I felt his magic flare in me abruptly,
his power pressing right up against my barrier. He turned his head slightly to either side as if looking for something. I closed my eyes and expanded my vision, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.