Zotera grabbed my arm, stopping me from running out the door.
“It’s safer if you stay here, Ashlyn,” she said.
“But I think he’s hurt. Please, Zotera,” I begged. “We can’t let anything happen to him. He’s too important to Megan.”
She nodded. “I will check on him.”
I stayed in the house as she went to him.
“He’s breathing,” she said.
“Is he conscious? Does anything look broken?”
Oanen groaned, and Zotera tilted her head as she watched him.
“He’s very pretty,” she said.
“He’s very Megan’s,” I said. “So he’s not pretty. He’s just Oanen, a protector of those who can’t protect themselves. Just like Megan. Okay?”
Zotera nodded, and Oanen groaned again.
“Oanen?” I called. “Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he managed.
I wasn’t sure if he was answering one or both of the questions.
He sat up before I could ask, and I saw the blisters on his face.
“I don’t understand what happened,” I said.
“The ward protecting your house went off,” he said. He looked at Zotera. “Would you mind helping me stand? Carefully?”
She looked at me, and I motioned that she should.
“Just be really gentle,” I warned.
She helped him to his feet and waited until he let go of her before she released him.
“Thanks,” he said.
I reached my hand out, passing it through the ward. Nothing happened to me. Just that aggressive tingle under my skin again.
“Why would the ward go off like that?” I asked, looking at Oanen. “It’s only supposed to stop uninvited people from entering.” And I’d invited him in just like I’d invited Eliana.
“I don’t know,” he said, wincing slightly as he lifted his hand and offered the bag he still held to Zotera. “This is the phone I promised. It should still work.”
“Oanen, I am so sorry,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. Something must have happened to the ward.”
Adira had said the same thing. But she'd suggested Megan had her druid do something to it. However, if that had been the case, Oanen would have known.
It didn’t make sense that it had reacted to him so violently. Wards were only meant to dispel, not harm unwanted trespassers or those who meant me harm. Why him and not Adira? Of the two, it would be Adira who was more likely to mean me harm.
Which was why I hadn’t invited Adira in, not that she needed an invitation as a member of the council and trusted protector of the humans living here. But if she was working with Thanatos, could she have lost that inherent ability? Was it possible that, even with an invitation, the ward would have rejected her?
I wish she would have tried.
