Ellida (43 page)

I kicked and screamed, but couldn’t hear
myself.

I saw Ahmed on his knees beside my mother as
I tried to break free from the iron grip around me. I could hear
nothing but two sets of heartbeats, one very weak, one just a
little bit stronger:
thum-thum…. thum-thum… thum-thum-thum-thum…
thum… thum…

“LIVIA!!! OVER HERE!!!” Ahmed’s voice broke
through my mental barrier. With a feeling of strange detachment, I
listened to the voices and registered movements around me. Ahmed’s
right hand covered my mother’s left breast, the place where her
heart was. The other hand firmly gripped around her wound. Livia
knelt down.

“Suck the poison out! Quickly!!!” Ahmed
yelled.

“Is her heart protected?” Livia said in a
calm voice.

“Yes! Do it, damn it!”

Livia lifted my mother’s injured arm, sealed
her lips over the wound, sucking and spitting the black liquid on
the ground several times.

“So she’s your bond mate, huh?” She stood up,
looking at Ahmed and wiping off the traces of poison and blood from
her lips with the back of her hand. “Now everything makes sense.
Tristan, come here! You stay with Rowena. Ahmed, let’s check
Heather.”

“
No!!! Stay with her!”
I thought I
screamed, but no voice came out.

Then I heard Louise again. “
Mom’s gonna be
fine. I broke the tip, the most dangerous part of the knife. Clever
move, huh? The poison on the blade is much less deadly. Her wound
isn’t deep. Listen, I need to go now.”

“
No! Don’t go!”

“
I must. Everything will be fine.”

“
My baby… Rosie?”

“
Rosie’s okay. We all are.”

“
Jack?”

“
Jack’s fine, too. Calm down. You always
worry too much. Everything’s fine.”
I heard her throaty laugh
and the next moment Louise and I became one again.

STILL UNABLE to articulate a single word, my
mind was focused on the conversation around me.

“You’ve gotten into the habit of saving those
you didn’t use to like,” Tristan said. “First Madeleine Blackwell
and now Heather.”

“Well, I’ve changed my opinion about Lanni,”
Livia said.

“Ah, she’s Lanni now. Interesting. The next
thing we know, she’s under your personal protection. Oh, I do love
you, Livia Aurelia Lucilla Blake. All your little prejudices aside,
you’re one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met.”

Livia frowned. “She can always count on my
support. And I have no prejudices.”

They were teasing each other. They were
joking. Surely they knew mom would be fine, otherwise Liv and
Tristan would be dead-serious, my mind speculated, still
half-frozen with fear.

“You do, my love, just like everybody else,”
Tristan said. “But how we deal with them is the only part that
matters, and there you’re great.”

“Are you done talking, you two?” Ahmed said.
“Livia, is Rowena going to be okay?”

“Don’t fret, Ahmed. She’ll live, thanks to
that wolf and you. That freaking bastard Seth aimed for her heart.
You kept her heart well protected. The poison stayed in one place,
it didn’t get spread around. By the way, where did those two
blaidds come from? Who are they? I’ve never seen them before.”

“They are from Winston,” I heard Morgaine’s
voice behind me.

“Livia, you sure you sucked out everything?”
Ahmed asked.

She threw him a look. “Of course I did.
Rowena will have a scar on her arm, that’s all. She’ll need a few
hours to recover completely.”

My heart made a mighty jolt. My mother would
be fine! Livia always knew what she was talking about. She was the
best doctor ever. Better than Tristan, better than Ahmed, better
than I… Livia, the smartest, the oldest, the wisest… If she said
Mom would live, then she would live… she would live… Oh, Mom,
please, live…

I saw Ahmed and Livia walking toward another
woman lying on the ground.

“Okay, what do we have here?” Liv said.
“Could you draw the poison to one spot, Ahmed? We should work fast.
She got less than Rowena, but she isn’t that strong, and the poison
is spreading quickly. God, I hate to suck out
poscoc
poison.
Makes me nauseated for days.”

“Liv,” I heard Darius, “while you’re here,
would you mind having a look inside Heather’s head?”

“Oh, with pleasure,” Liv said and cradled
Heather’s head between her palms.

“They all owe Rowena a huge apology,” she
said merely a few seconds later and shook her head. “Although even
this pathetic creature didn’t want Brian and Hal killed. Especially
not Hal. She was in love with him, sort of. And she did believe
Rowena was responsible for their deaths. How sad, how terribly
sad.”

MY GRANDPARENTS were now with my mother and
Tristan, who was checking her vitals.

“LET ME GO!!! LET ME GO!!!” The high-pitched
words inside my head finally found their way to my lips. “LET ME
SEE MY MOTHER!!!!”I screamed, fighting with all my might the strong
hands that held me in place.

“It’s okay, baby, it’s me. She’s gonna be
fine.”

A crazy carousel inside my head came to a
halt. “Jack! Oh, Jack! Are you okay?” I collapsed in his arms,
sobbing heavily. My body suddenly felt boneless and heavy, but
there was enough strength in my hands to run across his body,
checking for injuries.

“I’m okay, not a scratch. Are you okay? The
baby?”

I panted heavily. “She’s okay and safe. Here,
feel her.”

Jack flattened his warm palm against my
abdomen and Rose responded with a strong kick. “She sure seems
well,” Jack said and kissed me. “Astrid, thank you for keeping her
safe,” he whispered in a thick, raspy voice.

“Louise… came to protect her,” I
stammered.

“Louise?”

“My wolf. A long story, never mind that now.
Jack, a blaidd knocked me down. And another one saved my mother… I
want to see my mother.”

“In a moment, Astrid,” Morgaine said from
behind us. “Let me remove that bloody knife tip from your
necklace.”

She unclasped the silver chain from my neck
and carefully pulled out a triangular piece of black metal stuck
firmly between the wolf’s teeth.

“Powerful protection, this pendant, I have to
admit,” she said. “Good thinking, Jack.”

“I thought it might come in handy.”

“There,” Morgaine said securing the necklace
back around my neck. “Beautiful piece. You should always wear it,
Astrid. Now, go see your mother.”

Jack wrapped his arm around my shoulder and
kissed my temple. “She’ll be okay, Astrid. Check for yourself.”

MY MOTHER seemed unconscious, but her cheeks
were rosy, and her heart beat in a steady rhythm. Ella and Arnaldur
were kneeling beside her, each of them holding one of her hands.
Robert, Anwen, Darius and Tristan stood beside them. I sunk to my
knees, dizzy with relief, and gently ran my fingers along her
face.

Ella brushed away her tears. “She’ll be fine.
But you, Astrid, you scared the shit out of us!”

My jaw dropped. It was the first time in my
life I’d heard my grandmother swear.

She gave me a lopsided smile. “Worse than in
your most glorious teenage days. Remember, Tristan?”

“Do I ever? It was me who tracked Astrid and
Ingmar down in Cairo and tipped you and Ingmar’s father.”

“What was she doing in Cairo? How come I
don’t know about that?” Jack said.

“Some things are better left unsaid,” I
murmured and smiled, thankful for this ordinary conversation. It
was an additional assurance that everything was going to be
fine.

Jack bent and kissed my lips. “I still want
to know them, eventually. Listen I gotta go now. Don’t forget to
eat. Find some warm clothes and better shoes. You should rest for a
while.”

“I will, I, will. You go, Jack. They need you
there,” I said and hugged him. “I’ll see you later. I love you,
Jack.”

“Take a rest, Astrid. Please. I love you,
too.”

I KISSED Mom’s cheek. It was soft and warm.
“Let’s take Mom inside. It’s cold here.”

My grandfather lifted her up as easily as if
she was a small child. “Where shall we take her? Where’s
Darius?”

“I’m here,” my stepbrother said and then
turned to his aunt Arina, who’d joined us a moment before. “Aunt,
we’ll take my mother to your house. Dr. Vandermeer,” he said to my
grandmother, “Ingmar wants you to come to the hospital as soon as
possible. Grandmaster Arnaldur, Einhamir Robert, I need you with
me. We’re opening Seth’s treasure vault.”

Ella nodded, gently brushing away a dark lock
from my mother’s face.

“Rowena will be sleeping for a while. Stay
with her, Ahmed. She’s your patient now.”

“I will,” he said softly. “I’ll send for you
as soon as she wakes up.”

“Wakes up? Does it mean she’s not unconscious
anymore?” I said.

“No,” Ahmed said. “She’s in a deep sleep
state. That’s what her body needs the most now. I induced it, to
help her recover. You come with us, Astrid. I’ll see that you put
some food in your belly and rest a bit.”

I shook my head. “Find me when my mother
wakes up, Ahmed. I need to talk to Darius now.”

“Let’s go, Ella,” Anwen said. “I will help
you in the hospital.”

“I’ll take Heather with me as well,” Ahmed
said.

I’d almost forgotten about the other injured
woman. I turned around.

Arms wrapped around her legs, head resting on
her knees, Peyton was sitting next to her mother. She looked lost
and fragile.

I walked to them. “How are you?” I asked,
sitting beside Peyton on the ground.

“Okay, I guess. Don’t sit. The ground is
cold… They’ll sentence her to death, won’t they?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“She’s a terrible person and mother, but I
don’t want her dead.”

“She saved my life.”

“I saw it. Before that, she betrayed you. She
endangered your life. That is a capital crime. I don’t know what to
think.”

“Endangering the Ellida’s life should be the
same as endangering anybody else’s life, Peyton,” I said. “It will
be fine. Heather’s my problem now.” I hugged her tight. “I don’t
know what we’re going to do with her, but I give you my word, I
won’t let them kill her. If it hadn’t been for her, I could’ve been
dead. I owe her. Look, Ingmar is in the hospital. Go find him. He
needs you with him.”

Ahmed came back to take Heather inside. He
gently placed his hand on Peyton’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay,
Peyton.”

She gave him a weak smile. “I know. If you
need me, I’ll be at the hospital.”

I walked with Ahmed to Arina’s house. My
stepbrother and his two men met us at the door. “Ahmed, call me
immediately when Heather awakes,” he said. “The sooner we talk to
her, the better. I’ll leave two of my people with her, just in
case.”

“Is Lady Rowena going to be okay?” one of
Darius’ men asked.

Darius patted his shoulder. “She’ll recover
completely. Make sure the house is warm. Take one of your people
and stay with Heather Kincaid. She’s a prisoner. Don’t let her out
of your sight, not for a moment. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Darius, I need a word with you,” I said.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we
took our leave. “What’s up?” he said and then stopped and looked at
me, assessing my overall condition. “How are you, Astrid?
Everything’s okay?”

“Everything’s fine. I need to tell you
something. Let’s find a quiet place. It won’t take long.”

“You want Red Cliffs to prosecute Heather?”
Darius guessed.

“I want to talk about that too, but
first—”

“So you want to save her, right?” He shook
his head and smiled. “You know you didn’t kill those two vampires
you attacked? It takes considerable skill to use that kind of sword
and not kill your enemy. You diced them nicely, but they’ll live.
But then, why am I surprised? You’re an Ellida, your mandate is to
preserve life, even when it’s wiser not to.”

I laughed. “You say that as if it’s a
disease. Believe it or not, I wouldn’t have lost sleep if those two
had decided to die. But I won’t let anything happen to
Heather.”

“You feel you owe her your life.”

“I do. She did save my life.”

“From what I saw, it was a group effort,
including two of Ariel’s werewolves.”

“It doesn’t diminish her part or her
intentions. I wanted to talk about something else, more important
than Heather, but since you insist, let’s finish with her first.
She is
my
prisoner, Darius.”

Darius ran his hand through his bushy hair.
“She’s a wicked woman if ever there was one, but I also don’t want
any more blood spilled. If you want her, she’s all yours. I’ll talk
to the High Council and let them know. They won’t be happy, just to
let you know.”

“Heather’s current address is in Red Cliffs,
and she’s going home with me. Darius, I wanted to talk to you about
an entirely different matter—”

At that moment, Darius’ phone rang. Jack
wanted him to go immediately to the castle.

“Can it wait? I’ll catch you later,” he said
and hurried to meet Jack.

I WANTED to go to my mother and just curl up
beside her in the bed, but there was so much to do. I had to find
Graeme and let Frances know he was okay and tend the sick and
injured, no matter on which side they had fought.

And find Darius as soon as possible and tell
him about his real father.

Adam Mackenzie caught me in passing and
passed on a message from Dr. Altman. “Henry Flanagan’s recovering
fine. Here,” he dug into his pocket and took out my phone, which
I’d had to leave in my office. “Leslie thought ye might need
it.”

“Recovering from what?” I asked, panicky.
“What did they do to them?”

“They didn’t hurt him. I heard he
deliberately took a drink of milk and raised a Code Blue. To alert
the hospital about the kidnapping. A brave lad. Put himself in
grave danger.”