Chapter 10
The sound of blood rushing against my temples has me fighting the urge to squeeze my eyes shut. A pounding headache has begun, and I haven’t even left the inn yet.
I clasp my sheath to my thigh, securing my favorite dagger before tucking my pants into my boots.
My fingers graze my hair, reaching around to ensure my auburn mark is securely pinned, when Ezra opens the door to the bathing chamber.
He walks out with a small grin, reaching for his short sword off the side table.
“Let’s regroup in a few hours. I picked up a scent trail earlier a few blocks north of the inn.
I intended on tracking it tonight after one of the taverns.
But if he’s not here, we’ll all follow it tonight,” Ezra says, securing the silver blade to his hip.
“Plus, I think I found the inn he’s staying at. I’m going to try to get in.”
“A few hours. Sounds good,” I say.
I wanted to spend the evening obtaining more information from Alec without being interrupted by Ren, so I stopped by his room earlier. I slipped him the sleeping draft when we shared a glass of whiskey and hoped that he didn’t suddenly become suspicious of the gesture.
Or worse, scent it.
He eyed me as I made quiet conversation and apologized for my behavior at breakfast. I grinned when he threw his head back, swallowing the amber liquid in one gulp.
Now looking at Ezra in front of me, I want to do the same but know that if I do, they would both end up suspicious. Clearing my thoughts, I return to the room and nod to the door.
“We should get going before it gets too late. I need to get Ren.”
“Okay. See you later.” He grins.
We quickly exit the room together, and I watch as he strides down the road, throwing me one last glance over his shoulder. A minute goes by before Ezra finally turns the corner, and I slip into Ren’s chamber behind me. Ren remains seated in the chair that I left him in.
Head back, eyes closed, and breathing softly—asleep.
Taking advantage of what little time I have, I swing my cloak over my shoulders and shut the door behind me, locking it.
I pat myself, feeling for the herbs secured in my cloak just in case Ren wakes up confused.
There’s no need for him to dig through my things if he’s suspicious. Which, I gather, he will be.
My walk toward the Cauldron is quiet except for the sound of my feet lightly grazing against the stone. I stick to the shadows and wonder how I plan on finding Alec. Then a light breeze drifts by, carrying the scent of oakmoss… his scent.
I guess I won’t be needing to find him since he already found me. My brows pinch as I whirl around, scanning the area for him, but he’s not there, causing my teeth to grind.
“Are you alone?” Alec pushes the thought to me, quiet and barely there.
“Yes, I’m alone,” I say. He doesn’t respond, leaving me to face the Cauldron only to come to an immediate halt. Alec stands in front of me with a devious grin.
“Good,” he says, pivoting on his heel toward the tavern without another word, and I quietly trail behind him. The entrance to the Cauldron comes into view after a short minute, and I throw him a nasty glare. He quickly opens the massive oak door for me.
“After you.” He grins.
Laughter fills my ears as incense drifts by, rich and earthy.
The tavern is full of Fae and humans like the previous night, everyone gathered around tables.
Finding a secluded table off to the side, we both slide into the chairs as a golden-haired waitress approaches us.
My eyes break away from her to glance at Alec, but he’s already studying me.
“Two ales, please. I owe her a drink,” he says, finally breaking our gaze long enough to acknowledge the waitress. He smiles, leaving her to giggle and scurry back to the bar, looking over her shoulder as if he hung the moon himself.
“Where are Ren and Ezra tonight?” he asks, quickly scanning the room, then faces me.
“Ren is…” I calculate my answer. “Sleeping, but we should be good for three or four hours until we regroup at the inn. Ezra is at the other tavern working the locals again. I’m afraid they’ll come find me, so we need to be quick.” Before I kill you, I want to add, but not until I get answers.
The waitress strides back with our drinks, and he flashes her a charming grin—one I know he’s probably used a thousand times to get what he wants. Yet I can’t help but stare as he holds her gaze.
I can’t blame her flustered response though. His eyes immediately draw you in, being a deep, vivid shade of blue.
“Now that you bought me my ale, are you finally going to tell me why you’ve been tracking me?
” I get out and force down a scowl and sip the ale, realizing it’s not the same as the previous night.
Little does he know, I’m not typically a fan of ale except on rare occasions. “What do you know about my parents?”
His glass is halfway to his lips when he halts, setting it back down with furrowed brows. He leans back and uncomfortably rubs the back of his neck—or maybe that’s just in my head, but I track the movement anyway.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” he mutters, not quite meeting my gaze when there’s a pause, like he’s searching for the right words—or perhaps he’s just stalling.
“That’s why I haven’t told you everything yet.
You already… startle so easily. I don’t want to frighten you any more than you are.
You’re like a little fawn.” He chuckles and crosses his arms, but I can’t tell if he’s uncomfortable or just being an ass.
Regardless, my temper flares at the comment—little fawn. Good to know this is a joke to him. After all, he should be dead. The ale in my hand suddenly meets the table with a hard thud, my patience thinning the longer I sit here.
“Are you going to tell me anything, or are you just going to keep avoiding answering my questions?” I grit my teeth.
The silence stretches as he holds my gaze, the air thick with tension, but he doesn’t look angry, almost as if my quiet outburst is expected. He sighs, hands splaying like he’s bracing himself.
“Isa,” he says quietly, but then his brows pinch as if he’s having a hard time finding the right words. “You’ve been missing for twenty years, but I haven’t seen you in fifteen. My name is not Alec… It’s Rydian.”
I bark a laugh of disbelief, the sound sharp, before taking another sip of my ale, shaking my head in annoyance at the untimely humor.
Then discomfort coils deep into the pit of my stomach as the ale slides down my throat.
My eyes flick up, stomach dropping to the floor when I catch his serious expression. He’s serious?
“That’s not… possible. We’ve never met. I don’t know you,” I say, the words tumbling out.
Alec—Rydian’s calm exterior falters just enough for me to catch the brief flicker of panic in his eyes before he composes himself. He remains seated though, hands calmly resting on the table like he’s trying not to spook me.
Missing for twenty years? What does that mean, exactly? Does he think I’m from Aurelia?
My pulse rises as his words play in my head over and over. I slowly shake my head, rubbing the inside of my wrist until it aches. He’s Shadovar—he could be manipulating me, right? It’s in their nature. So he has to be lying.
“You know me,” he says confidently.
“Twenty years?” My voice wavers, and I hate how unsteady it sounds as I process his words. “You’re lying. That’s not—that’s not me. It’s not possible. I was born here, in Elderheim. You’re mistaken.” But even as I say it, doubt squeezes its way in. What if he’s not?
“I found you once before when you were ten,” he says calmly. “It’s not a mistake. I knew your parents. Your father was—”
“I would have known,” I growl, my mind racing with all the possibilities. Bracing my hands on the table, I stand with a deep breath, closing my eyes. Alec mimics the movement in anticipation, earning a few glances from guests nearby, I assume, given the quietness that just settled over the tavern.
And just like that, I flee from the table, away from this, leaving my ale and Alec—Rydian, or whoever he is—behind as I bolt for the doors.
“Isa, wait!” he calls out, but I’m already out the door, heading to where we met under the trees. A minute passes before he finally catches up, my pulse thrumming in my veins when he reaches for me.
My eyes flare when I whirl around. “How? How is it possible that I could have been missing for twenty years? It doesn’t make sense! This is my home.”
“This is not your home!” His eyes frantically scan mine as if searching for any sort of recognition, but I come up blank.
Frustration grips me, because I know he’s wrong—he has to be. I’ve always been an orphan, no sign of my parents or knowledge of where I came from even after searching for them.
But what if I’ve been searching in the wrong realm? Doubt pushes its way in just as he takes two large steps forward, extending a hand as if to prevent me from running. Only I step back with a glare, instantly palming my daggers.
“Isa, please,” he says calmly, his hand still outstretched. “Please don’t run. It’s much easier to show you than it is to explain it to you.”
He quickly darts forward and suddenly grabs my face with a heavy exhale. Yet for some reason, my daggers fall to the ground the moment a shudder races down my body from his touch. He’s suddenly the only thing keeping me in place as his eyes dart across my face, lips parting.
“How can you show me? I can’t leave with you,” I mutter.
“I can show you in a different way. Let me show you,” he says, and a strained exhale escapes me when I slowly and hesitantly nod “You have to say yes, Isa.” His voice is low, carefully exhaling in relief.
“Yes,” I breathe.
“You’re going to take a breath and close your eyes.” He guides my head back in his hands. “Then you’re going to feel my presence in your mind. When you do, you’re going to search for me and let me in.”
I do as he suggests, searching for him behind closed eyelids, something I’ve never done before, but I feel him.
It’s faint, but his presence rests against the forefront of my mind, cool and heavy, right between my eyes.
It’s as if he’s wrapping me in a comforting embrace, yet there’s an undeniable power in his presence, steady and unwavering.
I inhale, catching the earthy scent of oakmoss, something that’s grounding and ancient.
I mentally reach out to touch his presence.
He shudders. “Let me in.”
Just then, my head is thrown back in a series of images as they flood my mind, launching me into another world.
Not a world… his memories.