Chapter 15 Not Alone
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NOT ALONE
ADELINE
Dreams plague me. I don’t know when I dozed off again. Somewhere between the raven flying off and Roane finishing his soup, I must have fallen asleep on the blankets and furs that smell like him.
It’s no big surprise, I tell myself. He’s the only familiar creature in this place, the only one that isn’t an animal or a monster. And he’s the one who took care of me both times when my body gave up on me, carrying me in his arms and feeding me his bland broth.
Yet when I wake up, unsure of what sound pierced my dreams, and find him crouched beside me on the bed, I jerk away with a gasp. In that brief moment between sleep and waking, he’d been made of shadow, merging with the shapes of the goblins we fought earlier.
He stays still, his sharp gaze fixed on me. His dark brows are drawn together. I don’t recall a moment since I met him when he wasn’t frowning.
“Sorry.” I gather my wits and my limbs, shoving a hand through my long, messy hair. Olm’s book lies beside me on the furs, the sight of its dark leather cover also familiar and somehow reassuring. “I got startled, that’s all. I’m tired. The past few days have been rough.”
He gives a slow nod. His eyes watch my every movement, tracking the way my legs bend, the way I push myself up to sit, pulling my dress down to cover them. Wary. A hunter watching his prey, or the hunted making sure there is no danger?
I jerk a little when he lifts a hand to my face and grips my chin, the strength in those long fingers bruising.
“Roane…” I hold my breath, wondering what he’s doing. His dark frown makes it seem as though he’s wondering the same.
Then his grip relaxes, fingertips tracing my cheek with feather-light touches. He tugs on a strand of my hair, then gently tucks it behind my ear.
My breath hitches, and he snatches his hand away as if I’ve burned him.
Another sound breaks through the last dregs of the spell, and I twist around only to find the raven flying down the library toward us, the lioness silently trotting behind.
I stare at the strange tableau, the two animals, one black and the other white, moving inside this dark, mysterious, tomb-like place. We’re small like moths inside the vastness of this domed, columned temple.
“Is she up? She’s up!” The raven flies down to us just as the lioness reaches us, ruby tongue lolling. “What did she say her name was? What has she told you?”
“Tal, be quiet,” Roane says.
“You don’t get to tell me when to be quiet,” the raven retorts, landing on the nest a few feet away from me. “Right, girl?”
“I’m Aline. I…” I sit up properly and a gasp escapes me as fire shoots through my ribs. I press my hand there, biting my lip.
Roane’s frown turns into a glower. “I asked if you were hurt and you said nothing. Show me.”
“It really is nothing,” I say through gritting teeth. “A bruise.”
“She was knocked over,” the lioness says. “It’s no wonder she’s bruised.”
“Show me!” Roane is suddenly on me, hands tearing at my dress, eyes dark and blank. It’s terrifying. He tears the bodice of my dress apart, baring my dirty chemise and he lifts it without permission. “Where?”
I fight him and bat at his hands, but he doesn’t stop, although his movements gentle a little. Not until he’s bared my skin, hard fingers poking into sore flesh.
It hurts. “Stop! Roane—”
“You’re wounded. Bruised, cut. Hurt. You didn’t tell me! How…?” His gray eyes widen and he leans away, his gaze moving over me. “I…”
“Take a breath, Ro,” the lioness says. “Just take a breath and calm down. She will be fine.”
His eyes are still wide, gray oceans, golden clouds traveling in their cores. “Did I hurt her, did I…?”
“It wasn’t you,” the lioness says. “It was the goblins, remember?”
Roane backs away from me until he all but falls out of the niche. Then he scrambles to his feet and turning, he runs away, long hair flying, vanishing among the columns.
The raven is quiet, head cocked to the side, watching us all with bright, golden eyes.
Ardruna huffs.
Gathering my torn yellow dress against my chest, I scoot away until I hit the wall of the niche. “What…?” I wet my dry lips with my tongue. “What was that about?”
“Don’t mind Roane.” The lioness settles down on her haunches on the mosaic floor and nudges the pot toward me. “Have some more soup before it goes bad.”
Swallowing hard, I glance down at my ruined dress. Well, Naida was nothing if not practical and I’m her daughter in all but blood. Untying my wide, fabric belt, I tie it under my breasts, keeping the bodice together.
Then I climb off the raised platform of the nest, settling on the cold floor beside her. “How do you even speak without…”
“Lips?”
I wince. “You do have lips. I meant without being human or fae.”
“Magic,” Ardruna says. “Didn’t you guess?”
“But what are you? Are you fae, after all? Dark fae shifters, like the werewolves who are said to be multiplying on the mountains?”
“I’ve never shifted or multiplied.” The raven hops down to the floor and pecks at something. “Have you ever shifted, Druna?”
“This is the only form I know,” Ardruna says.
“You’re friends,” I say, not really a question, making no move to reach for the pot. Not sure I can stomach anything right now.
“Guilty as charged,” the raven quips.
“We haven’t been properly introduced.” The lioness’s long tongue rolls out of her mouth. “I’m Ardruna.”
“I know. I heard Roane calling you that. And the raven?”
“I’m Talton,” the raven says. “A pleasure.”
“Olm,” Olm says. “In case you were wondering.”
It’s the first time he has spoken in a while, but they don’t react to his voice.
“You really can’t hear Olm, can you?” I ask, to make sure. “My brother had to hold the book to hear him.”
“Olm? Is that the name of the book?”
I nod.
“You should eat,” Ardruna says.
“I’m not hungry. Why did he…?” I wince. Despite the conversation, my mind is still on Roane. “Why did he react like that?”
“Who? Ro?”
“No,” Talton chuckles, “Apurita, the goddess of love.”
Ardruna ignores him. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen Roane like this. This… panicked.”
“Maybe you remind him of someone,” Talton tells me. “Maybe he remembered something from his past. He seemed afraid.”
“Roane? Ha.” The lioness cackles. “He doesn’t know the meaning of fear. He’s just not used to being around people, like he said.”
Talton preens his feathers. “I’d say. What do I know? I’m just a bird.”
“You like saying that, don’t you? Gets you out of trouble.”
“I hadn’t realized I was in trouble,” Talton says. “What did I do?”
My heart is racing. The way Roane had looked as he fell on me, shredding my bodice… It had seemed like rage, but underneath it… had that really been fear? For me?
No, that doesn’t make sense.
“Are you in pain?” Talton asks, twisting his little head up to look at me.
“It’s just a scratch and a bruise,” I mumble. “I’ll live.”
“Someone ought to tell Roane that,” the raven says thoughtfully. “Maybe I should.”
“Why would he be afraid I won’t survive?” I whisper.
“He’ll come back. He’s probably checking the books in the sanctum, making sure everything is in order.” The lioness grabs the pot with her teeth and hauls it over to me. “Eat, girl.”
“The book.” I give up and lift the pot into my lap. “What do I do with it? Tell me what to do and then I’ll be on my way.”
“Lock it up and chain it.”
“Be serious.”
“I am serious,” Ardruna says. “Give it to Roane. Only Roane can wrangle magical books, being the designated librarian.”
“You make it sound complicated.”
“Well, it isn’t an easy task. We’ve tried helping on occasion, but it’s magic we don’t possess.”
“Do people often drop off magical books here?”
“Often?” Ardruna barks a laugh. “No. We’ve just been here for a very long time.”
I sigh. “I need to get back home.”
“Didn’t you hear us earlier?” She gives a slow blink, “You can’t leave. You’re staying with us.”
“So what are you saying? I’ll stay here until I die? My family is out there, waiting for me, Eiras—”
“Eiras?” Roane’s voice is dark and raspy. He approaches and leans against a column, folding those muscular arms over his chest, no sign of his earlier panic in his expression. “Who is Eiras?”
“My brother.”
“Ah.” His chin dips, his long dark hair sliding forward to hide his gaze. He’s braided it again, I notice, but the fine strands keep escaping.
I look away with an effort. The soup in the pot has turned into a sludge, cold and unappetizing. Yet I make myself lift the pot, bring it to my lips, and take a few sips of the congealing broth.
He’s still watching me, his gaze intent as I put the pot down, icy gray blazing under his lashes.
Slowly, he pushes off the pillar and approaches, his boot soles whispering on the floor. He crouches down beside me, gaze raking over me, as if I’m an animal he unexpectedly encountered inside his home.
We’re quiet for long moments.
Then he asks, “Are you going to eat that?”
Startled, I shake my head and lift the pot for him to take.
He grabs it and lifts it to his mouth, and I can’t look away as he drinks the broth, his throat working with every swallow. Once finished, he wipes the back of his hand over his mouth.
A barbarian. An uncouth wild fae.
So why is my breath so short, heat spreading through me? Heat in my belly and a strange tightening in my chest I normally associate with my family and home, and the two combined can’t spell anything good.
He finally catches my gaze on him and goes still. “What?” he growls. “Enjoying the show?”
Shaking my head, I climb back on his bed and curl up, saying nothing.
“Now you’ve gone and scared her again,” Talton grumbles.
Roane grunts. “What? Why?”
“Eating like a black bear, and then growling like one. What do you think?”
After a long blink, Roane glances down at the pot and his dirty hands. Abandoning it, he gets up. “It doesn’t matter, Tal. She’s not staying here much longer.”
“And where do you suggest she goes?” Talton hisses, hopping after Roane who walks away without a backward glance, again with that slight limp in his step. “She’s trapped here, same as you.”
“We’re not the same, she and I.”
“I’d say you’re not! She’s a fine girl and you’re a grumpy ass…”
Their voices fade, though the echoes bounce around for a while longer, the words growing distorted and incomprehensible.
Ardruna snorts, lying down on her belly and resting her muzzle on her front paws. “I’ll just pretend I don’t know them.”
I laugh softly, but for some reason, I feel sad. They are like a family, and I miss mine. Their easy banter, their teasing, their friendship, it all makes me feel more alone.
“It’s all right,” Olm says. “You have me.”