Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
L ifting my eyelids took a herculean effort. I moaned as I tried to move. My body hurt everywhere it was possible to feel pain. When I finally managed to open my eyes, I looked up into my mother’s worried face.
“Thank the Goddess,” Mom said. Then she kissed me on the forehead and ran to the door. “Rasmus! She’s awake.”
As I blinked, Rasmus and some strange woman appeared in the doorway. Rasmus moved into the room and came to my side.
He whispered something that made me wince. It was the same language Tony used. I didn’t know what the words meant but they carried the power to make me hurt even more.
“Stop,” I said. “That’s making things worse, not helping me.”
“I would have to disagree with that conclusion,” Rasmus said, staring into my eyes. “Your DNA took quite the beating during your recent adventure. Only a plasma weapon could have done more damage to you.”
“It was an energy sword... no, not a sword .” I lifted a finger while I tried to think of the proper word. “It was a spear . It was an energy spear . One of the bad guys stabbed me in the chest with it. When I touched it, it dissolved inside me.”
Mom came to sit on the edge of the bed. She got between me and Rasmus. Her butting in between us made me laugh, but that hurt too.
“Don’t try to talk, Fiona. Ya’re nowhere healed enough to be talking.”
“Move away,” I said, weakly pushing on her. “You two are crowding me.”
Rasmus grinned at Mom. “I forgot your daughter was as bossy as you.”
“I didn’t forget. It’s how she’s survived,” Mom said, grinning back at him.
I looked through the crack between their bodies and saw a strange woman leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed. She looked a little like Rasmus. I started to ask who she was, but Mom interrupted my thoughts before I could form the words.
“That particular spear was meant to kill ya while leaving no trace behind. When Rasmus figured out the weapon had been etheric, he formulated a way to rebuild ya on a cellular level. He assures me ya won’t be morphing into a monster.
I thought of my black wings and snorted. I was already a monster, having become one the moment Mom handed me responsibility for the ring.
What did Jude say? Oh, yeah. He said I looked like Lady Lucifer.
I snorted again. That could be my superhero name. Lady Lucifer. My superpower could be making the wrong decision every five minutes.
It might have been better if I’d stayed with Grandpa and let the great Semyaza train a worthier protector.
My frown had Mom and Rasmus exchanging glances again.
“Where’s Tony? Is he okay?”
They were talking with their eyes over my head. Maybe they had telepathy now. I felt like I’d been gone a year instead of just a few weeks. The far darrig I’d met in the cave came to stand beside the strange woman. He waved at me. I raised my hand from the sheets but that was all I could manage. I sighed at how not yet at home I felt.
“I’m used to Tony leaving. Just tell me if he’s gone. He saved my life.”
“Yer questions can wait until ya feel a wee bit better,” Mom said.
“You sound like Gigi when you talk like that”
“I’m nervous and ya scared me, Fiona. Ma told me what the Shadow Breakers did... and that ya shut them down.”
“ Me and Tony ,” I corrected. “It took both of us. I have a scary voice now that can freeze people.”
“And ya can tell us about it?”
“So long as you don’t tell my secrets to the world. The bad guys came as projections, but their spears were real enough to cause damage. I’ve got a lot to learn before I’ll be able to fight creatures like that.”
“Well... ya’re home now and safe. There’s no need for ya to fight anyone,” Mom said, smoothing my sheets.
“Where is he, Mom?”
She kept smoothing my sheets and refused to meet my eyes. “Fiona, he’s not... he’s not what ya think he is.”
I reached out and gripped my mother’s hand. “Mom, look at me.” When she did, I lifted my chin. “I know exactly what kind of being he is and I’m grateful that he’s willing to train me. I also know he wouldn’t leave me, not even here. I know he brought me here. What did you do?”
“It’s been a rough few weeks around here, Fiona. I have reasons to be cautious with newcomers.”
“ Mom, tell me where he is .”
“All right. I put the wicked angel in yer house. Henry found him furniture to use. It’s not like I ran him off completely. There’s no reason to panic.”
My hand slid limply from hers. For all my brave words, I honestly thought Tony might have left. I’d caused him so much trouble that I wouldn’t have blamed him.
Relief washed through me to know he was close by. Even though I’d done something stupid, he hadn’t let me die for my mistake. I owed him a big thank you.
While I wasn’t clear about how he saved my life, I was absolutely sure he had.
“I need more sleep,” I mumbled. “But I’d also like to talk to Rasmus. I have some questions for him.”
Rasmus seemed startled. Mom glared at me, already suspicious. I snorted at their reactions and shrugged. “Fine. If the idea of me talking to Rasmus sends you two into a panic, send Conn to talk to me. I have some questions for him too.”
Mom patted my shoulder. “What do ya need, Fiona? I can help. Ya know ya can tell me anything.”
My sigh was loud. “I’m not in high school and I don’t need to talk about my feelings. I need answers about some of the experiences I’ve had. I need to learn how to protect myself from the people who want to steal the ring.”
It was blatantly obvious my mother was not in the mood to give me any straight answers. What I needed in my life was someone who wouldn’t treat me like a child, but I didn’t want to hurt Mom’s feelings with that statement just to get my point across.
I stared at my mother. “If I could walk out of here, I’d go find Tony myself. You need to get used to him being in my life, Mom. He’s going to be hanging around until I learn to save myself. Or at least until I can make much better decisions about my dealing with my enemies.”
Mom leaned down. “Tony isn’t his name, Fiona. He’s an ancient creature who was punished by his gods for his transgressions against humans. Ya need to tread carefully around yer so-called teacher.”
I glared at her. “If that’s true, then I’ll deal with it. Here’s what I know for certain. I’m doing what I was meant to do and Tony is doing what he was meant to do. That’s all I’m going to say about my situation. You’re going to have to trust me when I say that I know what I’m getting into.”
Mom shook her head. “This is my fault for sending ya away. Ya left here a child. I forced yer fate on ya before ya were ready for it.”
I shrugged against my pillows. “Maybe you did, but you had no other choice. You made the best decision you could have made about protecting me and the ring. I didn’t think that when I left but I know it as a truth now. I grew up over in Ireland. Please try to accept that I’m choosing this.”
“I guess ya did grow up over there,” Mom said, pushing my hair from my face. “I love ya, Fiona. I’ll always be here for ya.”
I nodded. “I know. I love you too, Mom. Call Gigi for me. I was supposed to call her when I got here. If you don’t tell her a good enough story, she’s going to want to move in with you. It was all I could do to keep her from flying home with us.”
“Will ya promise to get some rest if I go downstairs and call her? I’ll think about what ya said and we can talk about it when I get back.”
“Mom, stop awfulizing. I can’t even get out of bed without help. Where would I go?”
Then I realized Mom was no longer moving.