Chapter 10 #3
Leanne wasn’t having it. “I’ll leave you alone to speak with your friend. It’s obvious she is more important to you than I am.”
“No, my love. Nothing is more important to me than you. Nothing.”
“Except your rules. They are more important to you.”
“I told you. I’m bound, not just for my own safety, but for the safety of others.”
“Then let me join you and these others, and we can finally be together.”
“I don’t have the authority to share that information with you.”
Judd would be so proud, listening to Ronald defend the rules and regulations.
“Where can we find you, Leanne?” I asked. “Maybe I could bring Ronald to you instead.”
Leanne’s lip curled as she regarded me with dagger eyes. “That isn’t possible. From what you’ve said, he’s too weak to travel. I’ll come back when we can be alone again, darling. Our time is precious, and I have no desire to share you with anyone.” She disappeared from view before he could object.
“Well, I think I finally understand the situation,” I told him.
“I told you she’s beautiful,” he said wistfully.
“Why haven’t you told her where to find you?”
Ronald raised his stubborn chin. “I signed an NDA.”
“You can be honest with me, Ronald. Leanne has left the chat. She won’t hear what you say.” For now, anyway, but I had no doubt she’d return when I was gone to try to twist the final screw.
Pinkish hues formed on the elf’s cheeks.
“You’ve seen the condition I’m in. How can I possibly let her see me like that?
She’ll fall out of love with me as quickly as she fell in.
As soon as I’m better, I’ll tell her. Then she can come and live with me.
” He stared at the place where the faerie had stood.
“I miss her already. Do you think she’ll come back? ”
“I can guarantee it.” She was trying her best to manipulate him, but his ego was overriding hers.
“Sometimes I feel confused, though,” he said. “I want to be with her, yet part of me wants to run away and can’t. I feel like a tree, rooted to the earth.”
“Because deep down, part of you senses that she’s dangerous.”
Ronald laughed lightly. “Dangerous? My sweet Leanne? Impossible.”
I had to try to break their connection. “She’s not who you think she is, Ronald.”
“Then who is she?”
“She’s similar to a succubus.”
He made a dismissive face. “Leanne isn’t a succubus. She wants more than sex from me. She wants a whole life together. As soon as my health improves, she’ll have everything she wants.” He clasped my hand. “Can you help me get better, Maya?”
I looked into his desperate, shining eyes. “That depends, Ronald. Do you want to heal?”
“Yes,” he said, with slight hesitation. Poor guy was being tortured from the inside out. Narcissists had nothing on Leanne.
“Then I’ll do everything in my power to help.
” Leanne had him ensnared, but there was still a chance we could cut him loose.
The faerie had probably been doing this for centuries and she was very good at it.
In fact, I was shocked a slight elf like Ronald had managed to last as long as he had. He should’ve been dead by now.
The wind picked up again, and I felt a tug toward the gate. My time here had almost reached its end.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said.
But first I had to find Leanne in the real world and break her hold on him.
“Maya,” he began. The tether snapped, and I was yanked back through the forest, past the gate, to his bedroom.
I looked up to see Dr. Adam watching over me with a tense expression. His features relaxed when he realized my eyes were open.
“Any luck?” he asked, hopeful.
I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. “It’s the breakthrough we’ve been hoping for. She’s a bright, shining star named Leanne. I think she’s a leannán sídhe.”
“Fae?”
“Yes.” Which was why the ward around Ronald’s bedroom wasn’t helpful. I’d designed that to combat shadow magic, not fae. “And now I know for certain what she looks like.” Bless Ronald. If he’d been more talented as an artist, maybe I would’ve known sooner.
“Yes, but now she also knows what you look like.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Sounds like you’re on top of things, as usual.”
If I were more on top of things, I wouldn’t have a dead Darlene and a fading Ronald. Maybe I shouldn’t have scared away Justine’s applicants.
I grabbed the edge of the dresser to hoist myself up.
As I rose to my feet, my gaze snagged on one of Ronald’s photographs.
This one was another of young Ron at the beach, surrounded by a group of friends.
An odd detail stood out to me, nestled between Ron and his closest companion.
Frowning, I gave the other photos a second look.
There was only one constant in the photographs aside from Ron.
His cane.
Why would young, fit, healthy Ron need a cane? For that matter, why would Ronald need one now? Dr. Adam mentioned that the elf was fit and healthy and spiking volleyballs two weeks ago. The cane didn’t make sense.
I picked up the beach photo and carried it to his bedside. “Ronald, can you hear me?”
Although his lips moved, no sound came out.
“How long have you been using this cane?”
I’d assumed the cane was a later addition, a supportive necessity as his light, elvish bones began to show their age, but these photos suggested otherwise.
Ronald’s eyelids struggled to open. His cracked lips opened and closed, like a fish out of water.
“I think your dream visit tired him out,” Dr. Adam said.
I returned the photograph to the dresser and picked up the cane that currently leaned in the snug between the wall and the bed’s headboard. It was beautifully crafted, like smooth seashells had been blended together to form a sturdy staff.
Ronald seemed to sense foreign hands on his cane. With great effort, he managed to turn his head toward me. “Mine,” he rasped.
“I’m not taking it from you, I promise.” His response solidified my theory that this cane was more important than it appeared. “Can you tell me where you got this? Do you remember?”
Ronald’s nod was slow and heavy, as though it took every ounce of his strength to move his head. Maybe it did.
“Me,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
“Do you think this cane is connected to his condition?” Dr. Adam asked.
“Yes,” I said, although I couldn’t yet explain how or why; that would take a bit more research. The photos showed that Ronald had been in possession of that cane for decades.
“What’s it made of?” Dr. Adam asked. He picked up the cane to examine it more closely. “Looks like pink and blue seashells.”
“Actually, I think they’re bones.”
Many others would’ve dropped the cane at my revelation. As a healer, Dr. Adam wasn’t one of them. “Interesting. His?” The druid’s brow furrowed. “No. These aren’t elf bones, are they?”
“I’m not sure. There’s a mixture here.” It was possible this cane was the only reason Ronald was still alive right now.
Dr. Adam glanced at the patient. “Can you slip back into Ronald’s subconscious and ask him about it?”
“Not right now. The cord snapped and it’ll take time to be able to regenerate it.” My powers worked differently from Leanne’s, but I didn’t want to get into the details. Questions would beget more questions.
“Then what?”
I thought of all the dead ends I’d encountered during the course of my previous career. “We work another angle.”