Page 173 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

“Things that were set in motion thousands of years ago will come to fruition soon. You must trust your instincts. The magic that lives inside you was never meant to be discovered. I thought if I could hide it somewhere no one would look, and it would be safe, but that is not how things worked out.” Her nostrils flared and she clasped her hands around my face. “You must be strong now. Stronger than you’ve ever been. Everything will work out as it should. Believe in the Trinity, Aelia. Let them guide you.” She faded into nothing.

I opened my eyes to find Alwin standing over me.

“Time to go,” he said. His brown eyes were glassy, and his brow was damp with sweat. He hadn’t drank last night and soon the shakes would set in. I could use this to my advantage.

“He can’t carry me. He’s going through withdrawal,” I said loud enough so Erissa would hear me.

She crossed the room and took the giant man’s face in her slim fingers.

“Ugh. You can’t travel like this, and we can’t wait. Not when we’re so close.” She turned to Baylis. “Undo her ankle shackles.”

Baylis did as she was told, and the lock sprang open.

“Now for these wounds.” Erissa opened the cupboard where she had pulled the parasites and grabbed a jar of red salve. “I need you two at your full strength for the ritual, so I’m going to heal you.”

Caiden and I exchanged skeptical glances.

Erissa took the paste into her hands and slowly spread it over Caiden’s wounds. The gashes healed and closed, like they had never been there at all.

“There we are, right as rain.” She turned to Baylis. “Fetch them some water, and hunt for our breakfast.”

Baylis huffed but did as commanded.

“Alwin, go with her. Make sure she is safe.” The glassy-eyed man followed Baylis out the door and into the morning mist.

“Now for you, Aelia.”

I gritted my teeth and winced, preparing for the burn of the salve, but instead a calming sensation flooded over my body.

“Why not use this for your face?” I asked, trying to look for a glimmer of any emotion on her face. Was she upset about her wounds? Could I connect with her this way?

“The wounds have to be rather fresh for this to work.”

“Why heal us at all?”

“The task ahead of us is dangerous and fraught with peril. I cannot have two injured captives slowing us down. And I’m sure you don’t know, but long ago, I was a healer. Perhaps there is still some of that in me.”

A rare moment of kindness in an otherwise cold existence. I pushed for more.

“Where is Gideon?” I asked.

“He is on an important mission. One that will change the fate of this world.”

Gideon was her favorite subject besides Crom Cruach. I hoped she’d get overzealous and spill more.

“Why him?” Maybe it was delirium or maybe I just didn’t care anymore making me so bold, either way I wanted answers.

The mage sighed.

“I served the Ironhearts for generations. They took me in after Crom, when no one else would. I hatched my plan then and waited… waited for a son to be born under the right set of stars, with just the right temperament to be what I needed him to be.” She rolled me over and rubbed the salve over where the arrow had pierced my back. “Of course, I planted the seeds to makesure each generation was crueler and more power-hungry than the rest.”

I sucked in a breath at the touch of her cold hands. The salve burned as it regrew my skin. I gritted my teeth, fighting to keep control of my thoughts.

“All for what? So you could reclaim some lost glory? Bring your lover back from the dead? Why let men control you like this?’

“Control me? No one controls me.” Power flared behind her green eyes. “I would be nothing without Crom. I owe my life to him. I will honor him in death as I did in life.”

“Let the dead stay dead, Erissa. No good can come of this.”

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