Beautiful Torment *Book One of the Beautiful series*

39) Going on a Journey

*Sexual Content. Readers be advised.*

Later that night, gathered in the tent she shared with her mother, Lucy watched their fire dance in the pit as Sabrina and Alexander talked quietly beside her. He had told her everything that had happened over the last week, right up to their agreement with the high priestess.

"She what?" Sabrina asked, genuinely surprised to hear the conversation they shared with the priestess. "Artemisia does not involve herself in the conflicts of others." A dramatic gesture with her hand startled Bea laying at her side, "Ever."

Xander shrugged, looking over at Lucy, reaching out and stroking her back in a comforting way that spread searing heat along her spine. "I do not know what to tell you," he looked back at Sabrina without removing his hand. "She suggested that I speak with the leaders of the other covens, and even some of the shifter matriarchs." His expression hardened, tone becoming serious, "Once we have enough people, we will face Endon."

Lucy's mother looked between the two of them like they had lost their minds; Lucy was still lost in her own thoughts, not paying attention to either of them. "What do not you understand?" Sabrina rose to her feet, making her shepherd sit up to watch as she began pacing in the small area on the other side of the fire. "In a battle against him, you will never stand a chance," stopping to point down at her daughter, she added, "Not unless she learns to control her powers, which without the Katherdral monks, is going to take a long time. Too long." Dropping her arm, she shook her head, resuming her pacing and muttered to herself, "Our best bet is to get out of Espen while we still can. Better yet...off the continent to Europe or the new Americas."

Alexander's face transformed--lighting up with a thoughtful expression. "What about Naria? The palace tutors told me there is a temple in the southern mountains and rumors gather that a few of the monks retreated there after the Forged were thought to be no more." Sabrina stopped moving, ceasing her chattering, her back to him so he could not see her face and he pressed on, "We travel there on horseback, on the way I can speak to those willing to hear what I have to say."

Spinning on her heel, she glared at him, the look of death in her eye. "You will not be taking my daughter anywhere near that place."

Off in her own world, Lucy could not help but shiver as she thought about the priestess and the dark shroud she wore around her like a second skin. Something about it was oddly familiar, which was even scarier than being in her presence. When they were finally escorted from the tent, the sickening weight that had threatened to crush her was lifted, allowing her to take the first breath of relief. The more Alexander continued to rub her back, the better she felt, but she prayed that she would not have to face the priestess again anytime soon.

"I do not care if you are the 'Dragon King' or not," Sabrina hissed, finally drawing Lucy's attention to the present. "She is not going!"

Looking up, she drew her brows together in confusion, "Where is it I am not going?" Her voice still carried some of the unsettling fear left behind from their meeting, shaking to a slight degree.

Meeting her gaze, her dark prince reached up to touch the side of her face with the hand that had been rubbing her back. "There is a place we could go, where you could learn to channel that power, but your mother insists you cannot."

Returning her eyes to her mother, who crossed her arms over her chest and looked ready to argue with her about it as well. "There is no chance in hell I am letting my only child risk her life over a chance some of those stuffed fools survived."

This time when Lucy spoke, her tone did not waver, "Alexander would not take us there if he felt my life was in danger." The confidence she had in him was stronger than any fear she might have felt.