Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Kole’s face entirely closed off, his telltale mask falling into place. “You found it. You actually found it.”
“Yes!” I jumped in excitement, and magic from the Stone hummed in my grasp. “Now, all I need to do is return to Whiteolf. Legends of Our Realm says I must be in close proximity to a fairy if my wish is to affect another. But I can save my uncle, Kole. He’s not going to die!”
Kole’s throat bobbed, and a crack in his mask appeared, but instead of the joy I expected to see, he looked . . . devastated.
My smile dimmed. “Aren’t you happy for me?”
He abruptly tore a hand through his hair. “Prim, I’m so sorry, but—”
“Is this her?” another male said.
I jolted and peeked over Kole’s shoulder.
Behind Kole and walking toward us was a male who was just as large and just as broad as Kole, but instead of also seeming surprised by this stranger approaching us, Kole nodded and replied stiffly, “Yes, this is Primelle Hollaran.”
The second the male came to stand beside Kole, he gazed down at me with sparkling brown eyes. Blond hair, similar in shade to Opalin’s, covered his head, and his light-brown skin shone in the twilight.
Instinctively, I shielded the Stone from him, slipping it beneath my cloak so he couldn’t see it. But that was pointless. The brightness of the Stone and its constant emittance of starlight made it impossible to hide. It glowed right through the material.
“Who are you?” I demanded, all manners leaving me in my shock. I surveyed our surroundings. Snow glittered in the glowing moonlight, and I wondered if there were more than Kole and this male about.
But a quick check of the area confirmed that it was only the two of them. But where did he come from? Kole obviously knew him, making me think this new male had traveled here with him.
The male bowed at me but chuckled, apparently finding my bluntness amusing. “Jamie Axthrower at your service. A pleasure to meet you.”
Axthrower. Sure enough, a huge ax was strapped to Jamie’s back. “You’re an Imperial Warrior as well?”
“Indeed,” Jamie replied.
I supposed that made sense if he and Kole knew each other, and I deduced that Kole must have mistphased Jamie back here with him.
I looked at Kole for confirmation, but he stood rigidly, not making eye contact, and I wondered if he was allowed to tell me anything about why Jamie accompanied him.
Maybe his orders forbade it, and it briefly occurred to me that something had to be going on because Kole had just started to apologize to me.
But apologize for what?
I cocked my head at him. “Is Jamie here to do Imperial Council business with you?” My eyes went wide as it suddenly occurred to me why that might be.
I whipped around, and magic surged out of me automatically, searching for a threat in the area.
“Are there more of those things here? Did you need Jamie as backup?”
“No, Prim, that’s not why.” Kole sounded resigned. Apologetic. And again . . . devastated.
Unease grew in me anew, strengthening with each second that passed. Frowning, I peered up at the warrior, but Jamie cut in. “How much have you told her, Kole?”
Kole snarled in his direction. “I’ve told her nothing. She saw it with her own eyes in Inisville.”
Jamie crossed his arms but didn’t say anything further.
“What’s going on?” I suddenly felt entirely discombobulated.
Kole’s somnolent energy wasn’t helping, but whatever had caused two Imperial Warriors to venture here today didn’t matter.
I needed to save my uncle, and I needed to begin the long journey home on my carpet.
Or rather, Kole’s carpet. It didn’t matter why Jamie had joined Kole, or what they’d been assigned to do in this Wood, or why Kole had even bothered returning here if he had other business to tend to.
Essentially, it had nothing to do with me, but just like I’d predicted, the time had come where the warrior and I would have to say our goodbyes.
“I need to go back to Whiteolf.” I glanced down at the carpet, and a thought struck me.
It would take me days to venture back to the capital upon it, but maybe, just maybe, Kole would mistphase me there before he had to return to work.
I bit my lip, hating to ask that of him, but I was desperate to return.
I had no idea how much time my uncle had left.
“Would you be able to transport me there? Please?”
Jamie scoffed. “Of course, he’ll transport you there. He’ll mistphase both of us to Whiteolf.”
My eyebrows shot to my hairline. I tried to swallow my trepidation, and I gripped the Stone harder. “Both of us?”
“Indeed, upon our commander’s orders,” Jamie replied readily, then smiled as if his remark was to be expected.
Frowning again, I looked to Kole for an explanation. “What’s he talking about?”
Kole dipped his head but didn’t speak. His behavior again reminded me of when we’d first met, when he’d been a male of few words.
Something was definitely going on, but Kole’s Shield had locked down tight, and he obviously had no intentions of sharing anything with me.
And since I refused to use my forbidden magic to read his mind, I was out of answers.
Stomach tumbling, I gripped the Stone tighter beneath my cloak. “Can we please leave? My uncle is waiting.”
The fact that Jamie couldn’t mistphase told me that Kole had never informed his fellow Warrior that such a feat was possible for any siltenite with enough magic to learn, or Jamie didn’t possess enough magic.
I didn’t ask which one it was.
Thankfully, before we left, the warriors let me collect my pack with my smutty novel and the precious book from the Isle of Song. They also let me extract the seekerill from the carpet’s magic.
Everything else, though, we were leaving behind, including Kole’s brand-new carpet.
I briefly wondered if anyone would ever return to collect Kole’s carpet and my boxes.
Most of my stuff was food and camping supplies.
It was wasteful to leave it, and it would likely scatter and litter the land and sea.
On impulse, I burned everything in a flash of elemental fire.
Once everything had turned to ash, all that remained was Kole’s carpet.
But he didn’t seem to care. He didn’t even look at it twice or try to retrieve it, and since it was heavy enough, it wouldn’t fly away and it would stay there until someone retrieved it.
“Ready?” Kole said.
I nodded, and the warrior grabbed ahold of both me and Jamie. He held our hands, not touching either of us more than what was needed for his mistphase.
Another bolt of trepidation jolted through me, and it occurred to me just as the realm fell out from beneath us that Kole had enough magic to mistphase two fae with him at once.
But that thought was there and then gone in the flurry of mist and shadows, air and wind.
The mistphase was over in a blink, and we landed back on solid ground, rematerializing in Whiteolf. The second I had my wits about me, my jaw dropped at how precisely Kole had transferred us.
Kole had mistphased us exactly to where my family lived, right at the bottom of the stairs leading up to my aunt and uncle’s house and out of the busy street. It suddenly struck me that I’d never given him the address, yet he’d known where to go. But I didn’t give it another thought.
My uncle was waiting.
I squeezed Kole’s hand tightly in gratitude. “Thank you.”
Before he had a chance to reply, I sprinted up the stairs.
Heart tripping anew, I burst through the front door. Verin shrieked. The servant was in the adjacent chamber to the entryway, using charms to clean the sitting room.
“Primelle, you’re back already?” Her gaze dipped to the shining Stone within my cloak, and her eyes grew as wide as saucers. “You found it?”
“I did.” I grinned.
She took a step forward, but then Kole and Jamie crossed the threshold behind me, and she froze. I glanced over my shoulder, then remembered that for whatever reason, the warriors had been ordered to accompany me back to Whiteolf. But I hadn’t realized that meant they’d stay.
I didn’t bother to ask what they were up to now.
“Is Timith in his chambers?” I asked the servant.
Verin’s head bobbed, and her gaze glued to the floor. “Yes, Miss Hollaran.”
I made a beeline for the stairs and bounded up them, not bothering to introduce the warriors. Kole followed me, his aura pounding at my back, but I didn’t feel Jamie’s energy and figured he’d stayed downstairs.
It didn’t matter. I just needed to get to my uncle.
“Aunt Gwen?” I called. “Aunt Gwen, where are you?”
The door opened to my aunt and uncle’s bedchambers, and she stepped into the hall. I nearly collided with her since I was moving so fast.
“Prim!” Gwen’s eyes widened, even more so when she saw Kole behind me.
“Look! I found the Stone. I actually found it!” I thrust it toward her, pride beaming through me. “I can save Timith!”
Her jaw dropped as she beheld the sparkling gem that shone with radiant starlight, but instead of throwing the door open and ushering me inside, she stayed in front of the door and said, “Gods and Goddesses, you did it!”
“Yes!”
She appraised Kole again, and I frowned. “Aunt Gwen, what are you waiting for? Don’t you understand what this means? I can save Timith. I just need to be near him when I cast my wish.”
Jaw clenching, she gave Kole a barely concealed sneer, then addressed me. “He’s not well, Prim. Not well at all.”
“Of course, he’s not. That’s why I got the Stone.” I again tried to move past her, but she blocked me once more.
“He’s taken a turn for the worse.” She eyed Kole again, her look hard, and I glanced between the two of them.
Kole’s chin was dipped, and his jaw was clenched so hard the muscle jutted out. It suddenly struck me that he hadn’t said a word, and my aunt didn’t seem confused by his presence.
Bafflement strummed through me. “Do you two know each other?”