Page 116 of Captive

She offers me a tired smile. “The gods only offer things to me in glimpses. I only see what they show me.”

“Did they tell you what a reversed tree is?”

She shakes her head. “No. Not yet.”

I glance at the snowcapped mountains in the distance and frown.

She notices my stare and clucks her tongue in disapproval. “You must not travel through those mountains.”

“There is no other way.” The irony of my situation gets the better of me, and I add, “Not unless I sprouted wings and flew out of here.”

She clucks her tongue again. “There’s always a way out for those who are brave enough to look for it.”

“How?” I plead, desperation ringing in my voice.

She pulls her hood over her head, turns, and walks away, her cloak billowing after her.

“Wait!” I call out, my hand outstretched toward her retreating form, but she continues walking until she is nothing more than a speck.

I let out a frustrated breath. She left me more bewildered than before. I close my eyes and grab my necklace, shivering at its icy touch against my skin.

The Kyanite part of me is weak and forcing me away from here. Yet, it’s the essence of my being. Being Kyanite. Being a healer.

Without it, I am nothing.

I don’t want to be nothing.

ChapterForty-Five

Over the next three days, I search for a way out beyond waiting for spring, but I never discover a path. Nor do I stop sharing Hector’s bed.

On the fourth morning after speaking to the Seer, I wake early, attend a council meeting, then spend the rest of the day walking in one of the massive courtyards.

As I begin my second tour through the gardens full of evergreen bushes and marble statues, Wrenley approaches, her face pale, and her hands trembling.

“Lila is gone.”

My heart thrashes against my chest. “Are you certain?” I ask, trying to maintain calm.

Wrenley wrenches her fingers together only to loosen them, then wrench them back together. “Yes. I’m certain.”

I pace back and forth, my mind racing with thoughts of what could have happened to Lila. Was she kidnapped? Did she run away? Was she hurt or worse? The possibilities are endless.

I come to a sudden halt. “I want to search for her.”

“I thought you might.” Wrenley glances to her left, where a group of four guards stand. They all have dark hair, bronzed skin, and black eyes. “We will takemyguards with us.”

Something about the way she saidmyguards makes me take a second look at the men. They all wear black surcoats without a coat of arms.

“Are they Hematite?”

Wrenley smiles and leans closer to me, dropping her voice to a whisper. “They are my brothers. So, yes. They are Hematite.”

Her brothers?

Does Kheldar know that? Does anyone?

My gaze jerks to her brothers as they approach. They move with a fluid grace that betrays summers of combat training. Their faces are chiseled and handsome, but there is something unsettling about them. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I sense they are hiding something. Perhaps it’s the way they move, so in sync with each other, or the way they carry themselves with a quiet confidence that borders on arrogance.

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