Page 33 of Alan

The additional light brought the tear in Emelie’s scalp into sharp relief, and I groaned at the sight of it.

“Superficial,” she whispered with a glance my way. “Though humans do not heal as quickly as you do.”

“I’m aware of that,” I snapped, then remembered to whom I was speaking and what I was asking her to do. I needed her to treat Emelie, to help her. “I’m more concerned with what might be going on beneath the wound. In her head.”

“You think she struck it hard enough to cause damage?” Keira whispered. I looked up to find Tamhas enfolding her in his arms, holding her close to his chest as they watched Selene conducting her examination.

“I do not know—hence my concern,” I grunted through clenched teeth. Panic spread in my chest, pouring into my arms and legs, consuming me as it never had before. What if I lost her when I had only just found her? Foolish girl, unwilling to listen to reason, unwilling to allow me to even come near.

Selene looked at the woman beside her. “Calliope. Do you think you might be able to help her?”

Callie merely grimaced at the use of her full name, which she did not enjoy and never had. Electra took the torch from her, and I watched as she placed her hands on Emelie’s head.

I looked down at Emelie’s pale, blank face. She was so peaceful, likely for the first time since setting foot in the woods. We had brought her nothing but pain and confusion, caused her to question everything she had ever believed.

Callie’s frown deepened the longer she attempted to assess Emelie’s mind. “She is closed-off,” she murmured, eyes shut. “There is a wall around her. I cannot see her.”

Selene nodded sagely. “An attempt at protecting herself from what she’s learned here. Her mind rejects what she cannot understand, and she is blocking it out.”

“But she’s all right?” Keira asked.

“She is aware, and I sense no severe injury.” Callie’s eyes opened, locking onto mine as they did. “The problem is, I cannot begin to predict when she will awaken. The inner mind is a mystical thing, something not even I am well familiar with. She is stubborn, holding onto her disbelief and fear. That fear may keep her locked in her head for a long time.”

“No. That cannot happen. It must not.” I looked at Selene. “There has to be something we can do for her.”

“I believe the best course of action at this time is to allow her some rest,” she announced, hands folding at her waist.

“You cannot be serious.”

“I am,” she said, her gaze stern. “If the girl needs a bit of time in which to make sense of what has so deeply shocked her, we must allow it.”

“It could take days, weeks, months,” I argued. “We must find a way to access her and bring her back to us.”

“Calm your dragon,” the High Priestess murmured. “He is not thinking clearly, nor is he being fair to the girl.”

“Now, just a minute,” Tamhas snarled, stepping away from Keira to face the witch. “You know nothing of our dragons, so do not speak as though you do.”

“Just as you know nothing of what this poor, innocent child is suffering.”

I had to give the witch begrudging credit, for she did not so much as flinch in the face of Tamhas’s size or strength. Likely because she could bring him to his knees without unfolding her hands, I reasoned.

My dragon, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with her reprimands. Remind her who has the strength, who has the power of ancient blood in their veins! Let her serve as a warning to the others!

Selene looked down at me again, this time smiling in understanding. “I know you wish to reach her, to bring her back, but it is best we exercise caution and give her what she needs. She cannot withstand everything she has learned from us. Let us not force ourselves upon her until she’s had time to process. We will find a way to reach her.”

I had never struggled so.

Another look at Emelie told me she was still safe, wherever she was, and that Selene was more than likely correct. The lass needed time to herself, away from the nightmare we had inflicted upon her.

The last thing I wanted was to cause her pain, and yet we had done just that.

“Should we move her, or should she stay here?” I asked, resigned.

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