Page 69 of Claiming Sarah

CHAPTER 21

Deacon

Regret wrapped around my heart as hard as my fingers wrapped around the metal banister on the balcony. I was angry with myself, embarrassed for how I had spoken to Sarah and Jac, and mortified that I had let Rex get in my head so easily.

At least I didn’t tell them my secret.

It was a small comfort, but it was all I was permitted in the moment.

I exhaled a harsh breath in the afternoon breeze. The trees swayed past the moat, yet the water still never moved. It was almost mystical in its stillness. There were many things that did not add up at Rex’s manor. The moat. His ability to be touched by Sarah. The way his doctor operated.

The last one would have been more than enough for me to call on conduits, before their demise. Back then, any suspicionof magicians was to be torn out, root and stem. But now, with nolivingconduits—aside from Sarah—who was I to call upon?

The doctor’s lab had been sparse, few medical supplies anywhere, and no equipment. My ship’s infirmary was better stocked. For that matter, Jac’s infirmary was better stocked than that, and his ship was constantly in need of repairs and inventory. Not thatSovereignwas falling apart, but it was nowhere near as nice as my own, and even that was better prepared for a patient to walk in.

A manor house’s lab should have looked like a surgical suite.

Instead, the old man dripped a concoction onto my wounds, before he took my hands close to his mouth and whispered on them. Within moments, the wounds reknit, and the skin had begun to form at the edges, patiently waiting for the muscles and tendons to finish their work before closing up over them.

I stared down at my hands, unsure of them. Unsure of myself, too. The new skin had laid down in faint strips, so it was still sensitive. But it was solid and no longer injured.Perhaps magicians aren’t all bad?

I nearly laughed at myself, becauseof course, they are the worst sort.

Sarah’s voice had carried through the glass balcony door as she and Jac argued, but I caught only random words. “Jerk…idiot…fool.” I was all of those things and more. She had every right to her harsh words. I wasn’t angry with her about them. I was angry because they were true, and I didn’t know how to speak to her in the moment. I was unaccustomed to feeling wrong. I was a Ladrang. We were never wrong. Misinformed, mistaken, confused, but never completely wrong.

I sighed.We were wrong about so many things.

The door behind me cracked a short time later, alerting me to someone’s presence. I waited anxiously for Jac’s reassuringhand on my shoulder. I loved his touch—it was one of my life’s greatest comforts.

But the touch never came.

“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” Rex asked.

I stiffened at hearing my nemesis’ voice. “What are you doing here, and where are Jac and Sarah?”

“They’re…about,” he said vaguely.

After hearing Sarah storm out of the bedroom, I could only assume that Jac had followed her at some point, to make sure she didn’t wander the manor by herself. Which made it convenient for Rex to drop by unannounced.

Glancing at Rex, the cause of all my turmoil, I steamed. “What do you want?”

“To admire the view, as well,” he said, staring at me. “It’s rather handsome.”

My stomach churned with distrust. “Flattery and lies get you nowhere with me. I thought you would remember that.”

He chuckled softly. “Ah yes, the Ladrang way. Straight truths, followed by needless formality, and a dull sense of duty and morals. You must be so proud of your people.”

“I am,” I half-lied. “What do you want, Rex?”

“For you to unhand my banister before you bend it with all the tension in your restored hands.”

I immediately let go and glared at him. “Happy?”

“At times,” he said, deliberately misconstruing my reply. “Are you?”

“Deliriously,” I said sarcastically. “Can you leave me alone now?”

“No time for old friends?”

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