Tammer looked as if he’d been slapped across the face.
“I know it’s Herra. We’re going to have to find her if we truly want to put an end to all this.”
“Well done.”
“What?” I asked.
Tammer looked at me oddly. “What?”
“Why’d you say well done?”
“I didn’t.
I jumped to my feet. It was the same voice I’d always heard; the same voice that had made me doubt myself all this time. I knew it was Herra.
“You’ll never find me.” She began to laugh and it reminded me of the laugh I heard in my dream when I found Thayde on the beach and couldn’t bring him home. It faded away until she was completely gone.
“I don’t think I’ll hear from her again, but I’ve been hearing her voice in my head for months now. I thought I was going nuts.” I paused, considering her last words to me. “She thinks I’ll never find her.” I took Tammer’s outstretched hand and let him pull me up the side of the boulder. “I need to talk to Aletheia.”
He escorted me to the house in silence, sliding the porch door open and following me into the kitchen. Aletheia sat at the kitchen table, her long raven colored hair pulled into a messy bun. In her left hand, she held a coffee cup and stirred it with a spoon she held in her right – she looked a million miles away.
“Sis,” Tammer began and she focused on us. “Morgan thinks it’s Herra who’s been doing all this – not Limus.”
She looked right through him while she considered what he’d just said. “If that’s the case, your work is not yet complete.”
“Is Thayde going to be in any more danger?” I was nervous to hear her answer.
“No, he’s under your protection and will be forever. He’ll be virtually indestructible now. It’s you who may be in danger. If Herra is the one who’s been behind all this from the very beginning, she’s going to be very difficult to take care of.”
“Why?”
“She’s very powerful – too powerful. I believe she may have made a deal with the dark side to become this way. If she wants to be The Link, she may have sold her soul in order to seal the deal. But, of course, it’s impossible – she may come close, but only bloodlines can create The Link – not deals with the devil.”
Deals with the devil? This was very quickly becoming a whole new ballgame.
“What did she tell you?” Aletheia took a sip of her coffee and eyed me from over the rim.
“She said I wasn’t The Link and that I’d never find her.”
Aletheia was quiet as she swallowed and thought a moment. “She’s regrouping. You won’t see hide or hair of her for a long time. It may be years. But she’ll be back, that you can count on.”
“Then I need to take care of her myself. Now,” I said and Tammer held up a hand as if to stop me.
“I think you’ll need a break before you go off hunting for Herra. Wait until Thayde is completely healed and you get used to the powers from The Blessing. Herra’s going to be a lot harder to deal with than Limus. He easily beat the three of us on his own. I can’t imagine how it will be fighting Herra.”
I understood what he was saying, but part of me just wanted to face her once and for all.
“Give yourself time to recuperate and finish your training,” Aletheia suggested.
“Perhaps Herra wants you to follow her now. You’re finished once and for all with becoming The Link, but you are nowhere near as powerful as you can be. That may be what she wants. Take a break. Maybe you and Thayde could take that honeymoon you both want.” Tammer smiled slyly.
It sounded lovely, but how could I possibly enjoy the honeymoon knowing Herra was out there?
“Morgan,” Tammer warned, “both of you have been through a lot these past few months. Take a break.”
Okay. I relented. True, she was going to be in the back of my mind, but if we were safe for now, it would be good to recover and spend time on us.
It’s about time you started seeing things from my point of view! Tammer interrupted my thoughts, pushing his words into my mind and my mouth dropped open in surprise. You’re not the only one who can do it! He thought.
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Okay, so we’ll take a break before we hunt her down. I’d like to find her before she finds us.”
“The mark of a true hunter,” Lars interrupted as he walked into the kitchen. “Kill your prey before it kills you.”
I glared at him. Sometimes the guy just rubbed me wrong. He kissed the top of Aletheia’s head and looked from Tammer to me. “What?”