The Silvia Saga: Boxset

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Dara

I stay with Jolie for hours until she asks to have time on her own after the healers have taken Anna away. Everyone’s gone off to process what’s just happened. I still can’t believe she’s gone, the lady who felt like a mother to me. That’s something that I’d never truly had before her. I want to cry, to punch something, to scream, but I know none of that will bring her back.

I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen; I need to make something for everyone to eat. Just as I enter, I find Clary there cooking up a storm with multiple pots and pans. She smiles at me, and I wave. We haven’t exactly had much time to talk, but I knew how close she was to Anna, so I want to get to know her better.

“Thank you for cooking for us, it’s very sweet of you,” I say, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Of course, sweetie, it keeps my mind busy and off everything else.” Her eyes fall to the chopping board and a lone tear tumbles down her cheek.

A door slams, followed by swearing. Glancing into the living room, I find Harlan storming toward the door. His shoulders are hunched, and his top is soaking in sweat. He looks like he’s about to explode. Something’s not right.

I follow him outside. He starts running straight through our village, heading toward the border. I run after him, trying to pump my legs as fast as they can go. I need to catch up to him; the look on his face before tells me he’s about to do something stupid and impulsive. I need to talk to him before he gets any farther.

Harlan’s about a hundred metres ahead of me now. He doesn’t once look back. I manage to catch up. I have no idea how—maybe it’s the adrenaline. As I come up behind him, I grab hold of his T-shirt and yank it backward. He abruptly stops, spins around, and grabs my shoulders, then pushes me back. I trip and fall down to the ground, landing hard against the dirt. Pain rips through my spine and I hold back a scream. He hovers over me, panting. His chest rises and falls. He looks feral like he’s about to murder me. I haven’t ever seen him like this before. It frightens me but I don’t show it—I just try to remain calm.

We stay like this for several seconds before he blinks and then collapses on top of me.

A loud cry comes out from him then he sobs, clutching my shoulders. I hold him tighter, rubbing his back gently. Harlan always keeps his tough exterior up, never showing emotion like this. He keeps it all bottled up inside but now, after his mother’s death, he’s letting it all out.

“I was going to kill him, Dara,” he whispers between sobs.

“We will, Harlan. We will, but when the time is right. Not like this,” I say honestly.

There’s no way I would have let him charge into James’s castle and try to murder him in this state. It would have been a suicide mission. We will make James pay, but we have to do it right, when he least expects it, so we make sure we don’t miss. He will be sitting in his castle now, waiting for us to attack and get our payback, but we won’t fall into his hands.

We stay locked in an embrace for a few minutes before Harlan pushes himself off me. He offers me his hand and pulls me up. He whispers into my ear,“Thank you. Without you here, I wouldn’t survive this.”

“Good thing I’m never going anywhere then.”

He offers me a tight smile and takes my hand. We walk back to the village.

I’m walking through the village watching as more people are outside their homes gardening or chatting with their neighbours. The healers have cured everyone that fell ill with the virus, although we lost a few people who didn’t make it in time. That’s going to be something that’s going to always be in the back of my and the healers’ minds. If we were quicker, we could have saved more, but they did the best they could.

It’s been a week since our lives changed forever—since we lost our mother to the virus. We haven’t spent much time together as a group. We have each given each other space to heal.

Declan’s been quietly working away in the training room, nonstop. Harlan has been with his father a lot, trying to plot how James will pay in the worst possible way. Oliver’s stuck by my side the entire time, not wanting to be apart from me. It really warmed my heart, having him cling to me because that was exactly what I needed too—to have someone with me so we could heal together. Everyone has grieved in their own ways, and I have realised that this past week.

Blair’s been spending his time up in the canopy, having time to himself. He has cooked every day for everyone, making sure we all eat. He has been through a lot lately, and I know he’s just holding on to a little bit of hope. Jolie hasn’t been coping at all. She has locked herself in her room, only coming out to eat once a day. Luckily, she lets Elijah in her room. She’s taken this the hardest, blaming herself for not having the cure earlier.

I sit outside her room when I hear her screaming out. She keeps yelling, “Why? Why couldn’t they have come up with the cure just a minute earlier?”

She keeps saying that she should have tried harder, and that it’s her fault. I’ve been sitting outside her room, crying for her because I want to take away the pain that she’s feeling and make her see that it’s not her fault. Her mother wouldn’t want her to blame herself in any way.

Kayla and Alaric have been spending their time in the training room, with Alaric teaching Kayla some self-defence. She doesn’t know much at all, but she needs to—especially now.

Me? I have been trying to connect to the Ruby but am having no luck at all. My mind has been in total chaos, and I’m trying to force the connection. It’s no wonder it isn’t working out. But, now more than ever, we need to find the final stone so we can end this and let Anna’s legacy live on. We will bring James down, but I won’t let Harlan and his father go racing into the castle without a solid, foolproof plan. We need to map this out, so we’ll have more chance of success.

I’ll do everything in my power to make that happen, but we need the Ruby first.