Page 62 of Desire

“I think it will be a long while before I’m ready to try anything like that.”

“Ready or not, you need to learn. No one can know we’re here. If something were to happen to me, you’re the only other one who can cast.”

Reluctantly, I agreed and went up the ladder first as Garron followed with the tracker unconscious over his shoulder.

“I’ll toss this one into the woods then check on the others. Call out if you need anything.”

I watched him walk out the door then began clearing the table. He returned as I was hanging one of the blankets over the broken window’s opening.

“It’s good that winter is easing its hold,” he said. “Once the trackers are gone, we’ll replace the glass.”

“Gone? Did you not see the fear in his gaze when I asked if he would return without me? They will not leave willingly. How are Edmund and Liam? Can I see them yet?”

“We would prefer you wait for?—”

Edmund bellowed and started cursing a storm. I only made it one step when Garron caught me up in his arms. Darian strode in, took one look at me, and cradled my face between his palms.

“Please, Princess. Stay here.”

“Is he fighting?” I asked.

Darian glanced at Garron in question.

“She knows Edmund was hurt badly and asked that we not keep secrets from her,” Garron said.

“I think the secret of your curse is enough,” I said.

“Edmund was near gutted,” Darian admitted. “He wanted to let the tea heal him, but it’s working slower without stitches. So Brandle is placing them. Edmund isn’t happy.”

“Tell Edmund pain is like anger,” I said. “He can’t show it, not now while they’re listening. He needs to hide it to keep everyone safe. The trackers weren’t hurt badly enough to stay away. I can feel them now. Their search for their missing partner is the only reason they haven’t returned.”

Darian placed a quick kiss on my forehead and left to relay my message.

“I wish I could take his pain,” I said, staring at the empty doorway.

“None of us wants you to suffer in our places,” Garron said. “Ever. Once Edmund is healed, this will serve as his reminder to dodge faster.”

“Pain is a cruel teacher,” I said.

“It is. But it is also effective.” Garron led me to a chair, sat, and coaxed me to sit on his lap.

Outside, the cursing quieted.

“Let’s begin practicing the memory spell. Since you can already feel a person’s intentions, I believe you will master this quickly.

“The words you speak as you gather your energy are simply to focus the intent of your cast. Open yourself to what I’m feeling. The anger that the tracker hurt you and his determination to do so again. I want you to try to erase what he wanted to do to you. What he still wants to do to you. Do you understand? Follow my anger to the reason, speak the spell, then touch my forehead and send your energy into me.”

I hesitated.

“You’re doing this to keep us safe, Kellen. Trust me. This is important.”

Holding his gaze, I opened myself to Garron’s anger. The intensity of it became my own. His anger wasn’t a simple emotion but complex with branches. One for the tracker who’d purposely pushed Liam into the fire. One for the trackers who’d worked together to seriously harm Edmund. One for the tracker who’d threatened me. That branch carried more than the rest. From it, I found fear, love, and determination to protect me.

I understood then why Garron hadn’t simply removed the tracker’s memory but replaced it. Without that branch ofanger, Garron would lose the reason behind the fear, love, and determination he would still feel.

I thought of the spell he’d spoken and considered the words that would help focus my intent.

“Of all the deeds the trackers have shown, let only those done to you and your brothers remain known. When the day comes that they are no longer a threat, you will remember what I caused you to forget.” I touched his forehead lightly, sending a very small thread of energy into his mind to touch the memory attached to the emotion. The energy wrapped around it and blanketed it in a shadowy fog.

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