The Year of the Tiger (Book 3 of The Almair Series) (Completed)

Chapter 50

I sat up, choking on a scream. My heart thundered in my chest, and I gasped for breath, trying to calm my pounding heart.

"Good, good, you're awake," the voice of the male I had been looking for said. Hermes smiled and bowed his head. "I'm sorry that I hadn't made contact with you sooner, Almair," he said. "That Dark Force had been hanging around the area for too long, and I didn't want to get kidnapped or worse." He was hiding something; I could tell. He didn't look at me while he was busy making something.

I let out a soft sigh and laid back against the bed, closing my eyes and grimacing when a headache appeared out of nowhere. "You could have given me a warning, Hermes," I said. "I could have died, and that thing almost made me come towards you."

"I know," Hermes said, nodding his head. He walked over to me and held something out. "Here," he said, and I opened my eyes and noticed that he was holding a cup of something. "Drink this. This will help with that headache of yours."

I sat up and took the cup from him, muttering my thanks. Hesitantly, I took a sip of it before I started to drink the sweet-tasting whatever it was. My head stopped pounding, and I felt refreshed as if I had taken a good night's sleep and woke up feeling ready to take on the day.

Hermes chuckled and went back to doing something else. "You know that there is an easier way for you to find me, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow while he turned to look at me. "You didn't need to come back this way."

I scowled and set the cup to the side when I was finished with it. "I did not," I replied coldly. "If I did, I wouldn't be out here getting choked by something that I couldn't see and fend for myself."

"You did fill another one of your gems," Hermes said. He gestured towards my bracelet, and I looked at it to see what he had said was true. There was another stone filled, and when I saw it, I looked at him in question. "Loyalty," Hermes said, catching my questioning look. "Your loyalty to me helped you fill another gem."

I hesitantly nodded my head, relieved. I was grateful that I had at least finished one of them, even though I still had more I needed to fill.

"So," Hermes said, and I tore my gaze off of the bracelet and looked at him. He raised an eyebrow. "What can I do for you?"

I licked my lips and cleared my throat, feeling nervous. I had no idea if my plan to find answers would work, and I prayed that it would. I didn't want to come here for nothing, without any of my questions answered.

"Well?" Hermes pressed gently. He studied me, and a grave look appeared on his face as if he knew what I was trying to do. "Go on with it, Almair," he said. He offered me a hesitant smile. "I know you want."

I nodded and looked around, noticing my bag on the floor near me. Slowly, I reached forward and opened it up, fully aware that Hermes was watching my every move.

"Ummmm..." I cleared my throat and tossed him the small jar that had people tell me the truth. I trusted him, but I didn't trust him. I knew that he was hiding some information that I needed and wondered if I could get some out of him with that.

Hermes caught the jar and moved his hand across it. He studied it before he looked at me. "Oh," he said. He cleared his throat and looked at the jar again. "I see that you figured out what each of them did."

I nodded. "I did," I confirmed.

"Did you bring the counter cream?" He raised an eyebrow, and I nodded.

"I did," I said again. I cleared my throat and licked my lips. "If... I feel as if you are starting to panic or go on a long tangent, then I will stop you," I said. I furrowed my brows. "I can do that... right?"

Hermes smiled and nodded his head, and I could tell that he was relieved. "Yes," he said. "You can tell me how much or how little information you need from me."

"So... do you trust me?" I twisted my body around until I faced him and tucked my legs close to my body. I wrapped my arms around my legs and placed my chin on them while I waited for Hermes to answer.

Hermes didn't reply and moved the jar around in his hands. His brows were furrowed, and he was in deep thought while he thought about the pros and cons of what I had asked and wanted him to do.

Slowly, he nodded his head and opened the jar. He took in a deep breath before he looked at me and stayed silent, waiting for my questions.

Some weight lifted off of my shoulders, and I breathed out a sigh of relief when he smelled the jar.

He trusted me, and I swore that I wouldn't break that trust between us.

***

I licked my lips and cleared my throat. I had no idea how to ask what I wanted to find out, and I prayed that I hadn't just wasted mine and his precious time.

"Well?" Hermes asked gently, studying me. He closed the jar and tossed it to me. "What did you want to ask?"

"A lot of stuff," I admitted with a breathless chuckle. I caught the jar in my hands and moved it around while I looked at it. "Why does this smell horrible to me?" I asked, looking at Hermes.

"Well." He shrugged. "You can't control yourself, now can you?" He gave me a pointed look, and I blushed and shifted in my seat. "You can't hide the truth from yourself, Martha. The jar can only be used on others hiding something from you and having them tell you the truth, no matter how much they want to hide it from you. For ex-"

"I don't know if an example is necessary, Hermes," I said, interrupting him because I sensed him become slightly distressed. "Thank you, though." I offered him a hesitant smile, and he smiled back, relieved.

Hermes nodded his head. "Of course," he said. "What else?"

I rolled the jar in my hands and thought about what I needed to ask. I wanted to know if there was a way that I could bring Marcus peace for a little bit, let him have control over his own self and not under someone's control.

I also needed to see if he knew what those symbols mean on the last page of the journal Marcus had given me. I had a feeling that they were important, but I had no idea how.

There had to be a reason why Marcus made sure to keep writing while he became under their control. He wanted me to see something, to know something that was hidden from me.

The last big thing that I needed to know was if Hermes could find out why Marcus gave me a piece of a t-shirt and then the dirt and leaves.

Like the writing, there had to be a reason why. There had to be a reason why he did this. He knew that it was important for me to figure it out and soon.

But the question was, how did I ask Hermes without having him spill out too much? How did I know the boundaries between not enough information that could lead me to my death or a lot of information that could lead me to my death before I was ready to fight?

Because I didn't know, I didn't know what that boundary was.