Wounded(67)

Giselle shook her head. “Be strong, my girl, for it won’t be me who asks it of you, but Milly. Let your heart lead, always your heart. Love will not fail you, not even in this; your hardest hours are yet to come, but love will save you. It will save all of us. You must believe that, even when you think you cannot go on another step. Even when you think your heart is dead.”

I blinked and she was gone. The dream, or vision, or whatever the hell it was, faded.

Of course, I lay their wide fucking awake, my brain unable to shut off now that it had started down the course Giselle had introduced. My hardest hours yet to come? Hells bells, I wasn’t surprised, but really? Didn’t life owe me a break or two? One night of sleep was all I really wanted. I thought about Milly and Berget, neither sister’s by blood. Both bound to me and both putting me in the position where I would have to face them. Liam had told me that Berget had stayed behind, that she wasn’t coming. That I’d effectively lost her once more. I reached for the spot where Liam had lain, the heat from his body still in the sheets. Call me needy, but I wanted to be with him, to lean on his strength.

I Tracked him. He was in the house and as I Tracked the rest of my family I felt Pamela, Alex, and Doran with him. It seemed early, but that wasn’t unusual for him.

Knowing sleep was not going to show, I slipped out of bed.

Quickly dressing, I made my way first to Jack’s small armory. There were only a few blades left and I grabbed two of them, grimacing as I slid them into their sheaths. They were fine, except they weren’t mine and they weren’t spelled. Not quite balanced the way I liked, they were both a little on the short side for my taste. But they would do.

I made my way through the house, avoiding the library and heading to where I felt Erik’s threads. He was outside, near the training grounds we’d set up when we’d been staying here.

Erik sat on the edge of the circular area we used, but he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Fine by me. Taking my two swords out, I settled my feet into a practice stance and started to weave my way through the various movements of swordplay. The minutes ticked by and my mind slowly quieted as I focused on my breathing, the weight of the swords, and the placement of my feet. This was where I would find the plan to take care of the demon packs. In the silence of the morning as my blades cut through the air.

Behind me came the soft scuff of a foot and I spun to face Erik. He held out his hand. “Give me one.”

I tossed a sword through the air and he caught the handle with ease. It had been a long damn time since I’d actually sparred with someone who knew how to handle a sword. Not counting creepy-ass dude who guarded the violet book of prophecy in Orion’s castle.

He circled around me and then—shit he was fast—he was on me, the sword thrusts and blows coming hard and steady, forcing me back a few steps before I caught myself. Grinning, I pushed back, diving under a hard slash and coming up on his side. I kicked him just above the hip, driving the wind from him and nearly putting him into the fountain.

“Too slow, old man.” I beckoned him with my free hand, wiggling my fingers. Laughing, he lunged forward, a wild grin on his face and in him I saw a reflection of myself.

Swords sliding off one another, we worked our way around the fountain for fifteen minutes until he finally backed off. “Enough, enough. You win.” He crouched, using the sword as a prop to lean against.

“You fight pretty good.” I slid my sword back into its sheath and he handed me the second one. I spun it in my hand, thinking. “I’m going to Track the three packs; I think I can draw them to us.” I lifted my eyes to his, but his head was down, chin on his chest.

“Not worth the risk. It isn’t.”

“And if we can’t find them before they’ve done so much damage we can’t rein them in?” Anger leached through my words, though I tried to keep it under control. “We have a chance to beat them at their own game. One chance. I can’t believe you would fucking well think this isn’t worth it!”

Erik finally looked up and I thought he was going to yell at me. But he didn’t, he was calm and cool. “If they destroy you in the process? What then? What do we do when the one person who can save us is dead because the demon packs have fried your brain like an egg on the sidewalk?”

Shit. The image stuck in my head, a drooling mess of a person by my own stupidity and rashness. Not a pretty picture.

“I don’t know. I can’t sit here and wait for a report to come in that they are demolishing our world. The fact they’ve been so quiet scares me.” I pushed the tip of the sword into the soft, wet ground, the fight blown out of me with his calmness.