Tristan smiled and pushed out his chair. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out. For now, why don’t we go into the living room and see if I can’t teach you a few checker moves to try on our friend Desmund when you see him again?”
* * *
Over the next few days, I found myself settling into a familiar routine. After a disappointing morning training with Callum, I visited the menagerie. Hugo and Woolf were always excited to see me, and I spent our time together teaching them to walk beside me properly and to heel when commanded. I was determined to show Tristan that they were well-behaved enough to be trusted out of their cage. I understood Tristan’s reservations – they were hellhounds after all, bred and raised to kill – but I also saw gentleness in them and I refused to condemn them to a life of confinement.
Alex continued to crouch in the back of his cage and watch me like I was a juicy steak whenever I passed him. Even the nice chunks of red meat I brought him didn’t soften his attitude toward me. Once I forgot to keep an eye on him and I didn’t see him move closer to the bars until it was too late. My reward was a blistering four-inch burn on my arm, which required a dose of gunna paste and a trip to the medical ward. Mohiri medicine was very advanced, and by the next morning, the burn was nothing more than a patch of reddened skin that quickly faded. But I had learned my lesson. After that, I was extra careful not to let the wyvern catch me unaware. I still gave him his daily treat, but I made sure to throw it from a safe distance.
I took to spending a lot of time in the main library and accessing the stronghold’s vast database, reading up on demons, vampires, witches, shifters, and anything else I would have learned about if I’d had a normal Mohiri education. Remy had taught me a lot, but I was just coming to realize how much about the supernatural world I did not know. It was going to take months to catch up to the other trainees in that area.
I also looked for anything I could find on Hale witches. I knew the likelihood of me finding a way to help Desmund was slim when the Mohiri had tried for centuries to cure people like him. But I felt compelled to try. More than anyone, I understood what Desmund had endured and I could not forget the feel of the terrible sickness inside him. I searched through every article I could find that referenced Hale witches, and I was frustrated that there wasn’t a single mention of how their power worked. I despaired of ever finding a way to help Desmund.
Three days after my dinner with Tristan, I got the nerve to go visit Desmund again. I entered the library and let out a gasp. Books were strewn all over the room and an overturned lamp lay on the reading table with pieces of broken lamp shade on the floor. Scattered around the chairs near the cold fireplace were ripped pages. I picked one up and made a sound of dismay when I saw that it was from Daniel Deronda, the same book I’d been reading the last time I was here.
My eyes fell on a partially charred piece of wood that had fallen from the fireplace, and I immediately recognized the beautiful antique checkerboard. Tears burned my eyes. Why would Desmund wreck the library he loved and destroy the checkerboard and this particular book? Was he angry at me for some reason, maybe for the way I had run away? With his illness, it was almost impossible to know what went on in his head or what would set him off.
The scene from the library troubled me long into the night. When I entered the dining hall for breakfast, I was tired and barely aware of the people around me until Olivia slid into the chair across from me.
“How can you look so glum? I would have thought you’d be happier than anyone else?”
I frowned at her grinning face. “Happy about what?”
She rested her elbows on the table. “About going to Boise. God, I haven’t been to the mall in a dog’s age. This whole credit line is awesome, but buying clothes online is just no fun. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah,” I replied, though I hadn’t used my line of credit yet. But a day in the city? I felt Olivia’s enthusiasm infecting me at the thought of getting away from here for a day. My gaze moved around the room until I found Tristan sitting with Celine at his usual table. He smiled at me, and I smiled back before I looked at Olivia again. “When are we leaving?”
Olivia laughed. “That’s more like it. You’ll have plenty of time to finish your breakfast because we aren’t leaving for another hour.”
At ten minutes before nine, the trainees who wanted to go to Boise gathered in the common room closest to the main hall. I walked over to Michael who was in his usual spot with his laptop.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Michael? We’re going to a movie after the mall.”