Page 62 of Hair, She Bears
“Either grab a machete and help or leave, I don’t care. You’re free of your obligation.” The thicket trembled as Carlyle slashed at the eye-level thorns.
“I need to find Katina.”
The slashing sound paused. “She’s safe with Moira.”
“How is that possible?” Suspicion tainted Jax’s question. “Moira is dead, and Mother said Katina was hidden where no one would ever find her.”
“Katina was one of the exotic birds in Mother’s collection. Malik freed her, along with Bear, and they flew to Moira’s lodging, where she has hidden for the past ten years. I’ll take you to her once we’ve recovered Malik,” Carlyle replied and hit the bramble with his machete.
“Give me one of those.” Swinging his arm, Jax sliced through the briar.
“We may have a bit of a problem,” Malik said, drawing Zenna’s attention from the conversation outside the thicket. He gestured at his leg.
Zenna turned, her gaze following his hand, and gasped. A long thorn, roughly one inch in diameter, stuck through his calf, blood oozing around the sides of the wound. She sucked in a quick breath.
“It’s not as bad as it looked.” He attempted a smile.
“I can break it off.” She climbed off Malik, knelt at his side, wrapped her fingers around the thorn, and wrenched it sideways. Malik cried out, his torso jerking off the ground. She released the thorn, her hands flying to her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“Fine,” Malik forced through his clenched jaw. He inhaled and exhaled, his chest moving slowly. A line of sweat broke out on his forehead. “It’s too thick. You need something to cut through it.”
“Mother’s knife.” Zenna’s head whipped to the right. “He didn’t fall far from where you stopped rolling. I’m sure I can find his body.” She turned and crawled toward a small hole between the brambles.
“Zenna…”
“I’ll be careful.” She glanced back at him. “He might have some Votras Alute on him, too.”
“I hate that stuff,” he called after her, his voice waning as she squeezed through the thicket.
Thorns tore at her skin. She maneuvered around a large thorn, flattened her body to the ground, and slithered under a low-hanging branch. The sounds of Carlyle and Jax hacking at the thicket faded until the only noise accompanying her was the pounding of her heart. Mother could not have fallen this far from Malik.
She frowned, and turned around, catching her arm on a branch. Two long, thin lines appeared on her skin, carving scarlet trails from her shoulder to her wrist. She ripped a section from the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it around the deepest part of the cut. A scream echoed across the courtyard. Malik! Her heart constricted. She needed to find Mother fast.
Crawling in the opposite direction, her gaze scanned the dim briar, skipping back and forth over the shadows. Her eyes narrowed, stopping on a discolored portion of the bush. Boots! Scrambling over to them, she reached out and froze, her gaze flicked to Mother’s chest. Had he moved?
She licked her lips and lowered her hand to his boot. She paused again, her nerves jangling, like a deer just before flight, and her blood pounded through her ears.
“You can do this,” she said and rolled her shoulders back.
Lifting the boot, she yanked it from Mother’s foot, and the knife fell to the ground. Her hand whipped out, snatching the knife from beneath Mother’s leg, and set his foot back down. She tucked the knife into her apron and crawled forward, sliding her hands up Mother’s body. There had to be another vial, Mother always carried two on him. Her fingers closed around a solid cylinder in his breast pocket. Trembling, she pulled a small bottle from the pocket and inside sparkled Votras Alute. She tucked the vial beside the knife and turned away.
“Are you going to leave me here to die?” Mother asked. His gravel voice resonated with agony.
Zenna turned back, her body protesting, and terror rippled down her spine. It wasn’t possible…
“Mother?”
“Give me the vial.”
She cringed at his command, her body hunching over. Her hand dipped into the apron, closing around the vial, and her fingertips brushed against the cold silver of her necklace. Her head whipped up.
“No.”
“No?” Mother snarled, his head twisting toward her, his eyes glowing black. Without warning, his body spasmed as if a bolt of lightning struck him. He screamed, his voice rising in volume as his body arched off the ground, then collapsed, unconscious.
“Mother?” Zenna scooted closer. She reached out and poked his chest. He gasped, his eyes flying open. His hand whipped out and closed around her wrist, dragging her closer.
“After everything I did for you, how can you let me suffer?” he asked, his voice tinged with agony, barely reached her ears. “I raised you.”
