Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Rheave
Ivy bites her lip as she paces the room. There’s been an agitated energy to her ever since she and Stavros returned.
A tiny red mark mars the pale skin of her neck. A soldier held a sword to her throat there.
He wanted to hurt her.
My fingers curl around the urge to storm out of the temple’s refuge rooms and across the countryside until I can tear that villain apart.
I should have been there to protect her. But I couldn’t go, because it would have been more strain on her to conceal me too. Stavros was the one who knew what needed to be done at the fort.
I would have made things harder for her, not easier.
The knowledge sets me even more on edge.
I bare my teeth. “They’re all idiots. They won’t listen. Maybe they deserve to get blasted with scourge sorcery.”
The horrified look that crosses Ivy’s face makes me want to catch the words and stuff them back down my throat.
“We broke into their fortress,” she says. “The soldier who caught me and the ones who came after us—they were only doing their jobs.”
A growl creeps up my throat. “Not well.”
Stavros gives a dark chuckle. “We should be glad they didn’t perform better, or we might not have made it back here safely.”
Casimir comes up behind Ivy and sets his hands on her shoulders. He squeezes them with gentle circles of his thumbs, and she partly relaxes into the massage.
I could have done that. It doesn’t look very hard. Why didn’t I think of it first?
There are so many things she needs, and I’m not sure I’ve been doing any of them lately.
The courtesan tilts his head toward the wall nearby. “I made decent use of the time while you were gone. Purchased a few items from passing merchants that could come in handy.”
I can’t stop myself from stroking my fingers over the feathered fletching on the arrows Casimir brought back, bundled in their quiver along with a simple bow. At least I’m ready if there’s anyone around I need to shoot at.
He bought some sort of instrument too, like a long metal tube with a flared end, that he said could be used to sound a warning across long distances. And more food.
I turn back to Ivy with a spark of inspiration. “You should have something to eat. It’s past lunchtime. Casimir got us stuffed buns and dumplings.”
From the way Ivy’s eyes light up, I can tell he made a good choice. He’s known her longer than I have—he’s gotten to see more of her at times when she got to pick what she actually wanted to eat rather than having to settle for what we could hunt or scavenge.
She sits down at the table we unfolded this morning, and Casimir grabs the box with his acquisitions. Alek glances up from where he was peering at his book of letters again and scoots over to pluck up a stuffed bun.
I’m not particularly hungry, but the mix of buttery pastry and spiced meat in the buns is very enjoyable. It’s amazing how many flavors the physical world can hold.
Before I found myself in this body, I could see and hear even if I didn’t pay attention quite the same way. To some extent, I could feel the textures of the things I flitted past. But I had no sense of taste at all.
I lean over to take another one—and a different sensation sears through my body like a fishing line yanking at my spirit.
I lurch to the side with a yelp I can’t contain. Magic shivers through every muscle in my body.
It’s the scourge sorcerers. They’re trying to call this body back to them again. I can’t let them—I have to focus—
But even as I start to concentrate on the thin rug beneath my feet and the thump of my heart to remind myself that this body belongs to me now, my pulse hitches with the impression that it’s not enough. Something’s different this time.
The magic wrenches through me harder—but it isn’t hauling me toward the doorway. It flings me around, whipping out my arms.
My hand has closed into a fist without my realizing. It smashes into Stavros’s jaw where the big man has hurried to my side.
He jerks away with a grunt of shock, and the energy of my daimon spirit crackles through my nerves. My body turns frigid from the inside out.
I could burn them all up if the scourge sorcerers manage to make me.
A frantic cry bursts from my lips. I yank myself away from Stavros before any of my power can explode out, but my body wheels toward Ivy.
A flash of an image passes behind my eyes—her face charred, her lithe frame blackened.
No. Anything but that.
I heave myself away with a surge of desperation. My limbs flail out.
Energy sizzles across the wall, scorching black streaks in its wake.
I need to stop this. I need to stop them.
But the best I can seem to do is to make sure I destroy something other than my companions.
I crash into the shelves of bedding. Sleeping rolls and blankets tumble to the floor.
The magic propelling me whirls me around. I throw myself into the spin so it takes me farther—away from Ivy and the others.
My body slams into the door shoulder-first. More energy flares from my skin, and the wood hisses and cracks apart.
I burst into the hall in a shower of splinters.
The impact resonates through my bones. I hit the floor in the hall with another jolt.
Pressing my hands against the floorboards with bits of broken wood digging into my fingers, I close my eyes and heave the awful influence away with every bit of my strength.
The raging of magic inside me dwindles. I push the side of my head against the floor too, absorbing the feel of the solid surface.
This is my body now. Mine.
As a breath shudders out of my lungs, footsteps rush over. I cautiously peel myself off the messy floor to find all four of my companions around me.
“Are you all right?” Ivy asks, her face blanched.
Stavros looks grim. “It was the scourge sorcerers again, wasn’t it?”
He has a red blotch on his jaw. I must have hit him hard.
Guilt winds through my gut. “I’m sorry. Instead of trying to call me to them, they were making me lash out. As soon as I realized, I did my best not to hurt any of you.”
The big man rubs his jaw. “I’ve had worse.”
Alek studies me, his expression tense. “They must have realized that dragging you away wasn’t working, so they figured they could use you to do damage in other ways. Do you think—”
Before he can finish his question, the door at the end of the hall swings open. A woman in a cleric’s robes, flanked by two devouts, bustles inside and stalls in her tracks at the sight of me crouched amid the remains of the door. “What in the realms are you doing to our temple?”
Casimir holds up his hands. “All our apologies, Your Holiness. Our friend was ill and had a fit. He’s come out of it now.”
I don’t like the lie, but I’ve seen how people react to finding out the truth of what I am enough to keep my mouth shut for my companions’ sake.
The cleric steps forward gingerly and peeks into the room. I wince at the thought of the mess I’ve made.
She sucks a breath through her teeth in a hiss. “This is unacceptable behavior for guests. We can’t have anyone so disruptive staying here. You need to leave at once.”
She tenses as if bracing for an uncomfortable argument, but Stavros lowers his head. He’s keeping his prosthetic hand tucked behind him, I notice. “We’ll gather our things and be out before the next bell.”
“Here.” Ivy steps forward with a flash of gold in her hand. She offers the coin to the cleric. “To cover the costs of the repairs.”
The cleric takes the coin, staring at it and then the rest of us. It occurs to me that she must wonder why people carrying gold coins would need to shelter at a temple rather than paying for regular accommodations.
I may have caused even more harm than what I can see.
The compensation appears to mollify the woman at least for the moment, though. She dips her head and hurries away with her devouts in tow.
Stavros waves us toward the ruined room. “Let’s get our things quickly. She may decide to call for help if she gets any indication that we’re hesitant to leave.”
I shove myself to my feet and scramble into the room. My spirits sink lower at the sight of the scorch marks and the shelves I didn’t realize I’d cracked when I smacked into them.
I snatch up my cloak, my new bow and arrows, and the older clothes still damp from this morning’s washing.
It only takes a minute for us all to gather our meager supplies. We hustle out to the temple’s adjoining stable, where Ivy and Stavros retrieve the horses they returned there less than an hour ago.
Ivy’s stallion snorts as we head for the nearest stretch of forest, as if he’s annoyed we interrupted his rest. I’ve even upended the animals’ lives.
We finally had a warm, clean place to stay where Ivy didn’t need to constantly work at hiding us, and I destroyed it all.
A gloom settles over me like nothing I’ve felt before. It feels as if a dark, suffocatingly thick cloud has descended to swallow me whole.
As we tramp between the trees, my head droops. An uncomfortable sense of resolve fills me.
I know what I should do. What maybe I should have done from the first moment I realized how the creators of this body could still affect me.
All this time, and I still can’t fend them off properly. How can I say I deserve this body when I can’t even prevent it from hurting the few people who’ve accepted me?
I’m not sure how much time passes before Stavros lifts his hand to stop us. “I think we’ve gotten enough distance from the temple. We don’t want to stray too far from Iblin when we know the scourge sorcerers are using it for supplies. We can set up a camp and monitor the situation from here.”
We’re standing at the edge of a small glade ringed by leafless trees and a few that bristle with dark green needles. Casimir immediately moves to start arranging our possessions.
I set down my damp clothes and the bow but hold on to my quiver. An arrow tip would do better than a stick.
“I’m going to take a walk and make sure there are no threats nearby,” I announce, and set off before anyone can question me.