Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ianthe blinked in the soft morning light, trying to remember where she was.
The room was abnormally bright, searing her senses. Lifting a hand to her eyes, she moaned in pain. It felt as though every muscle in her body had been pounded between a hammer and anvil.
"Be still," a dark shadow murmured. Drake appeared in her vision, impassive in black. "You're not to use your sorcery for a very long time, do you understand me?"
"M-my sorcery?"
A hand cupped her forehead, a wash of warmth seeping through her and filling her with strength. Ianthe shivered as her body soaked it up, clinging to the rush of power like a drowning man.
"You exerted yourself immensely," Drake's voice was grave. "From the sound of it, you completely stripped your body of energy in order to protect Lucien, and the demon's psychic assault nearly killed you."
"L-Lucien?"
Drake eased her back onto the pillows and sat on the edge of the bed.
"He's safe and well. Far better than you, actually.
He forged a bond between you, Ianthe, against your will.
A bond far tighter than anything that you wove before.
You will never break it. You will carry it with you until one of you dies, and then most likely, the other will follow.
A Soul-bond." Drake's dark lashes fluttered against his cheeks as he looked down, his fingers still in hers. "He said you were dying."
Coldness spiraled through her chest. Faintly, the image of being surrounded by nothing but darkness flashed into her mind, followed by a voice screaming at her to come back. Reaching out, it held her there, trapped between life and death.
"What he did is illegal."
The words were a slap in the face. "Not if I chose to accept it."
"Did you?" Drake's piercing gray eyes locked on hers.
"Yes," Ianthe lied boldly. "We had a telepathic bond. I knew what he offered."
That steady gaze never looked away. She fought a blush.
"He is a changed man," Drake said. "You are changed too."
"Change is not always for the worst."
"No." He smiled faintly, but it looked like an effort. Someone scratched at the door. "Ah. There's someone else who wants to see you. Two someone's, in fact."
The door opened and Thea stepped inside, her face pale and her hand curled around—
"Louisa," Ianthe whispered, pushing herself upright and opening her arms.
"Mama!" Her daughter's composure broke, and the little girl darted for the bed, wrapping herself around Ianthe as if she'd never let her go.
There was an odd sense of rightness about the motion, as if Louisa's presence had somehow made her whole and she had not realized that a piece of her was missing until now. Ianthe drew back, frowning.
"Someone Expressed herself for the first time," Drake said, his smile set in stone and his hand gentle on Louisa's head, so as not to frighten her.
"She sensed your need somehow and reached out to help her father bring you back.
She is part of your bond, just not as tightly laced as the two of you are. "
That spoke of precognition, perhaps. How else would Louisa have sensed what she'd needed to do? Ianthe's heart grew heavy. Her daughter was far too young for the weight of sorcery, but she forced a smile and kissed Louisa's cheek. "We shall have to begin teaching you how to control yourself then."
"May I?" Drake offered. "I have no apprentice, and someone else needs your full attention."
Ianthe's gaze lifted to Thea. The girl's eyes were full of heartbreak.
Ianthe held out her hand and dragged Thea onto the bed with them.
Her arms curled around both girls. "None of this is your fault," she whispered, kissing Thea's hair.
"It would have happened regardless of what you did.
I tried to wrestle with a demon on a psychic plane that it had created.
" She tried for brevity. "So lesson learned: Stay as far away from demons as possible, Thea, and don't ever think yourself a match for one when you're playing by their rules. They pack one hell of a wallop."
No such luck in diverting her apprentice. "Lucien said you weren't breathing."
"A great deal happened at once, I believe. He probably overstated the gravity of the situation." Ianthe met Drake's dark gaze over the top of Thea's head, and he nodded, just faintly. Louisa's hand curled tightly in hers. There was no fooling her daughter. Not if she'd sensed it.
"Lou, would you like to learn sorcery with Drake?" Ianthe asked, setting both girls beside her, their backs to her pillows.
"Do I have to live with him?" Louisa asked, suddenly fearful.
"No. No, not yet. You're to live with me." And Lucien. But she suddenly wasn't certain of that answer. She could sense him somewhere within the house, but when she reached out—
Ianthe winced. Her head was pounding. The entire world seemed washed in too much light, too much sensation. Was this how Lucien had felt?
"There is plenty of time," Drake said, reaching behind Louisa's ear and producing a penny, of all things.
"That's sleight of hand." Ianthe rolled her eyes. "Not sorcery."
Louisa giggled as Drake vanished the penny then held both hands up, as if to dispute her.
"And it gives me leave to visit every week," he said. "To see how my granddaughter is doing. We can have her lessons then."
No doubt he intended to keep a close eye on all of them.
Ianthe sighed. "Two young ladies threatening to set my house on fire. Whatever am I to do?"
The jesting continued, but Thea held herself somewhat absent. Ianthe reached out to squeeze the young lady's hand, to try and chase away the shadows in her apprentice's eyes, as Drake tried to show Louisa his penny trick.
"I will never use Expression again." Thea's promise was raw.
It ached that this lesson had been so brutal.
"I am glad to hear it." Ianthe paused. "We shall take it slowly. I'm certain Louisa will need someone to help her adjust to all of this. It has been a trying experience for all, but mostly her. She will need you."
"You want me to stay?"
"Oh, Thea. That was never in any doubt." But she realized, looking at the girl, that it had been. Just not in Ianthe's mind. Had she ever been so young herself?
Her smile faded. Of course she had. "I tell you what, why not let us make this formal? I shall draft a document to take you on legally as my ward. I must do so for Louisa; you might as well become sisters in truth."
Thea swallowed hard. "Thank you."
As she hugged the girl, Ianthe caught Drake's eyes over the top of Thea's dark hair. He nodded, just once, but it was nice to know she was finally mastering the art of being Thea's tutor. There was so much more to it than spell craft, wards, and lessons.
"Girls, I promised you could see Ianthe when she was awake. Now, perhaps it's time to let her rest? It's been a strenuous couple of days. Maybe you could scurry down to the kitchens and see if you can get her something to eat?"
"Kisses first," Ianthe said, dragging Lou into her arms. The little girl clung to her, and Ianthe breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. "I missed you," she whispered, "and I promise we are going to have a lot of catching up to do once I've gotten my feet back under me."
Then she snagged Thea into the embrace, kissed her on the forehead, and told them to hurry and fetch her some breakfast, as she was now ravenous.
The door closed behind the two.
Ianthe swallowed. "I still feel like I don't know what to do. It terrifies me sometimes."
Drake crossed to the fireplace to give the coals there a poke. "That feeling never goes away, Ianthe. I think it's part of being a parent."
He wasn't saying something. "How is Eleanor?"
"Lucien's wound wasn't bleeding like Eleanor's was, strangely enough.
We used the Chalice to heal her stab wound, but.
.. the doctors believe she's suffered an apoplectic seizure.
She cannot speak. She can barely feed herself, or dress herself, but she's there.
I know she's there. I see her in those eyes when she looks at me, as if she wants me so desperately to understand her.
" He fell silent, toying with the hilt of the poker.
"They think Ellie would do better if I committed her to a treatment facility. "
"Oh, Drake," Ianthe whispered. "What are you going to do?"
"I am going to keep her here. I will look after her myself. I owe her nothing less. She... she only went into danger in order to protect me."
"And the Order?"
Drake turned toward her, face implacable. "I cannot remain Prime. I cannot split my attention between the Order's needs and my own anymore, and I'll be damned if, for once in my life, I don't give the right priority to those who need me, to my family. I intend to resign."
Ianthe's eyebrows arched. That was unheard of, but then, what man would resign from a position of such power?
"But what about Morgana? What about Tremayne? The Relics?"
"Morgana is dead. The house collapsed and she never emerged.
Some of my men are excavating as we speak, but I expect that thorn in my side to have been buried.
Tremayne, however, remains a problem. The second the tides of the battle turned against him, he commanded his remaining imps to overrun Agatha and Bishop, and then he fled.
Bishop intends to hunt him down. The Relics?
Well, Bishop still has the Chalice that Agatha gave to him, and the Blade was destroyed in the conflict.
I'll set him to hunting for the Wand too.
Morgana shall have hidden it somewhere, I presume. "
She knew him too well. His bland recital hid something that he didn't want to discuss. Too bad. That was part of having this little ragtag family of theirs. "And Sebastian?"
Drake's gaze slid to the window, staring at nothing. "No sign of him. I suspect we will find him once the excavation has been completed."
"Oh, Drake, I'm so sorry."