Chimera Awakened

Chapter Fifteen

Back at the castle, I settled comfortably in the giant, wonderfully fluffy bed in my room. Broderick led me straight to it without asking if I wanted to be here or in his room. I longed to be surrounded by his things, by his scent, but this was probably for the best. I was growing too accustomed to him, his touch, his kisses, his soothingly deep voice.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when my door flew open and Charlie charged in, Jack close at her heels.

"Ev!" she exclaimed. "Never scare me this badly again."

She crawled over the bed and sat on her heels as she surveyed my face. I'd looked at it in a mirror, against my better judgement, and could only stare in shock. Only a sliver of my golden brown eye was visible through the red, puffy skin of my eyebrow and eyelid. Purple and red dotted the entirety of the left side of my face and my lips boasted two deep gashes. One was on the left, at the corner of my mouth and the other was directly in the center. Probably from the rock I'd face planted on, I'd mused.

Then, there were my ribs. Deep purple, nearly black splotched along my upper ribs, just below my left breast. The skin around the purple mark was tinged with red and I was shocked my ribs hadn't fallen in on themselves completely.

"Sorry for scaring you," I said as Charlie ran a hand down my hair.

"I didn't even know what had happened until you were back." She was speaking quickly. "Graham came out to tell me and then just left. Prick."

I snorted a laugh. Graham's aloofness toward Charlie, I thought, was because he had feelings for her. It was like he didn't know how to act around her.

Jack stepped forward then, a look of muted heartache on his face. "That may have been because of me. Graham gave me a letter from General Broderick, asking for my assistance in healing you."

Jack almost exclusively used his gift of healing on animals. I couldn't remember ever seeing or hearing of him healing a person, though I knew it was possible.

"You came," I said quietly.

"Of course, Ev." He forced a smile to curve his lips. "We're friends, remember?"

I could only nod when my throat tightened painfully.

The door swung open and Broderick strode in. He motioned Jack over and the lean, quietly handsome man walked to the General. He looked like a General now. He was clean, freshly shaved, hair neatly tumbling around his brow and he filled out his black pants and shirt in a way that made my mouth dry.

"Ev," Charlie said and I turned my gaze to her. "I... shit," she trailed off.

Charlie had never been good at expressing her emotions. Maybe it was a family trait since the only emotion I readily showed was anger.

I reached out with my mind and made the connection with her. Practice, I told myself to drive away the guilt.

Anger washed over me first. Burning hot and blazing red. It was the kind of anger that could raise a village to the ground and scorch the earth so violently that nothing would grow there for decades. Then fear skittered across the connection and my heart beat a little faster. This fear was desperate and carried with it a sense of helplessness. But, beneath all that, was the feeling of love. It was shining like a star, radiating a soft, pure light on the connection.

"I know, Charlie." I said as I broke the connection. "I know."

She leaned in to give me a gentle, tentative hug and I wrapped my arms around her. Her soft red hair curtained my face and it smelled of lavender, hay and horses.