“It’s right there. I didn’t see it before… Must have been a trick of the light.” He guessed, though he didn’t look convinced. The terrible clashing of the fight was still drifting toward them.
“Come on, let’s go,” she said, hurrying over the rocky terrain toward the opening.
Cole followed her and grabbed her arm when they had reached the opening.
“How did you do that? I mean, you healed Madgie, you shielded us, and you lent me power for that distraction spell. Even with all of my training, I’ve never been able to keep it for that long, or control it from this distance. I could never have gotten us out alive. Did you see how many were out there! How, Amanda?” he asked in puzzlement.
She looked behind her in time to see her wolf’s bushy silver tail disappear into the cave. “Well, first don’t feel bad. It was you that got us out. You’re still carrying Madgie, aren’t you?”
Madgie grunted a little, but Cole’s eyes were still searching.
“And second, and don’t be freaked out by this, but I kind of have this huge wolf spirit following me around. Oh, and I seem to be the only one who can see him.”
Cole’s eyebrows reached for the stars. “What?” he asked as Madgie’s grunts became more audible.
Amanda shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, he’s been following me since the night Madgie was missing. I don’t know how, but he gives me all sorts of energy. I think he’s what healed me from the demon’s poison and Carter’s attack and that cloud of acid. Just pretty much everything that’s happened since we left home,” she said in a rush. When she stopped talking, she realized the battle had died down.
The distraction spell wasn’t working anymore. She quickly followed her wolf into the cave. The opening was narrow, and she found herself stuck a few times but finally emerged. Calling on light, she slowly brought the large room into view. Not a room, but a cave, she told herself. But it looked like no cave that she had ever seen.
Looking up, where she should have seen stalactites, she saw an intricate carving of a dragon. The dragon looked more serpent than bat, and its long scaly body wound itself around the ceiling of the cave with its giant head in the very center. The face of the creature had thick whiskers surrounding its mouth, which was full of large teeth.
She tore her eyes away from the ceiling and saw that the rest of the cave had been carved in the same oriental decor. Scattered throughout the space was stone furniture that had also been carved with intricate designs. A heap of silver fur already occupied one of the stone couches. Moving back to the opening, she saw that Cole was taking a little longer getting in. He was having trouble balancing Madgie, who seemed to be putting up a fight. Amanda couldn’t quite hear what Madgie was saying. Was it something about her?
“Calm down, Madgie. Just hold on one second,” Cole said. “Stay still. You’re hurt. You can see her in a second.” He finally emerged, looking dazed. “I think she’s in shock. She keeps hitting me and calling for you,” he said, taking her from his shoulder and laying her gently on the floor. “Wow! What is this place?” he asked before she could say anything.
Madgie sat up. “Amanda?” she cried.
Amanda rushed to her side and knelt down, putting her hand on the woman’s too-white cheek.
“What is it, Madgie? I’m here,” she said.
“You, you said… about a wolf. Only you see. Giving energy…” Madgie swayed in place, and Cole put a hand on her back to steady her.
“Yes, Madgie, that’s what I said.” She turned to Cole. “This is good. It means she’s coherent enough to —”
Madgie interrupted her quietly. “The mark, the wolf. Do you… Do you understand what this means?” she asked.
Amanda had to strain her ears to hear; her voice was getting weaker. “No, Madgie, what does it mean? Have you figured out why they marked me?” she asked desperately.
“Not them, it’s a…” Madgie’s eyes slowly closed. Amanda waited for them to open again, but they didn’t. She looked over at Cole.
“I guess we’ll have to wait to find out just what it is,” he said. “But for now, she needs fluids and any nutrition we can get in her.”
She looked around the room and expected to see a banquet. After all, furniture had been supplied, but there was nothing. Not even water.
“Maybe I should go out in an hour or so. I can collect some supplies. We are way unprepared,” she said, gazing at the crack.
He looked at her in puzzlement. “I’m not sending you out there. I’ll go. You can stay here and tend to Madgie. She needs someone with her at all times.” Had he already forgotten that she could take care of herself? That she could take care of all of them? “No, I think I have to go. I don’t think the cave will open for you,” she said matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean, open? I got in here fine the first go around,” he said, obviously annoyed.
“Well we didn’t see the opening at first, and I think it was because she was making sure I wanted you to come in too.” She wasn’t sure if it made any sense to him, but she was fairly certain that was the reason they didn’t see the opening at first. Shiphra put this place here for her, and it would open for her. She knew that even if the Guard were right outside of the walls, they would never see an opening or even think about this as a hiding place.
“Who?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“Who, what?” she asked.
“Who was making sure you wanted me to come in?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot you didn’t know what was going on. Shiphra led us here. She guided me through the fight and showed me this safe haven, and having seen the inside, I’m guessing she did more than lead us to a hideout. I think she created one,” she said, looking around the room.
“Well, if you don’t think it will open without you, we’ll go together,” he said simply.
“Ah, but you said someone needs to stay with Madgie, and
I agree with you. So it looks like you’ll stay here, and I’ll go find some food and water.” She returned her gaze to him and almost laughed when she saw how red his face was.
“Do you know how impossible you are?” he shouted, throwing his arms in the air and walking across the room. “Do you even care how hard it is for me to…?” Cole seemed to be searching for the right words but just plunked down on one of the chairs, giving up. Seeing him with his head in his hands as if his world were about to crumble was too much. She felt a tug on her heart and followed it across the room.
“Cole?” she whispered, putting a hand on his head. His body moved reflexively closer to her, but he didn’t look up. “Listen, I’m not trying to hurt you. I would never do anything to hurt you.” slowly lifted his head up to her, and she could see the exhaustion in his eyes.
“It’s just that you can’t take care of me all the time. You aren’t going to be around every minute of my life to protect me. I mean, you will have to go to the bathroom sometime, right?” She sat down beside him and guided his head into her lap, thinking he would resist, but he didn’t. Lifting his legs, he stretched out across the stone couch. “You need to get some rest unless you plan on learning how to protect me while sleep walking.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need to sleep,” he said through a yawn, reminding her of a child who didn’t want to take a nap.
Suppressing her laughter, she ran her fingers soothingly through his dark curls. His hair was softer than feathers. After a few minutes of combing through it, her eyelids were heavy with sleep. She kept herself awake by creating a list of things she needed to collect when she went out, which would be in a few minutes. She thought the best time to venture out was when Cole was fast asleep and therefore not going to worry.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. He looked more peaceful than she’d ever seen him. His beautiful face, smoothed of all lines of worry, made him look like he didn’t have a problem in the world. With him so close to her, it was easy to forget that they had problems. Thinking back to what they’d just miraculously made it out of, she realized how many problems they had.
After what happened with Carter, she’d told herself it was an isolated incident. She thought that Frey and Carter were uniquely cruel and hateful people. She didn’t believe every Guard member could be like them, even after learning about how a Guard member is made. But she’d been wrong. The thirty or so people who had just tried to murder them had made it clear.
