Anna watched as her mom surveyed their group. On the outside, to the untrained eye, they probably didn’t look too bad, but her mom could obviously see beneath thesurface.
“You have had a rough time for a while,” Jezebel said. “There is much I need to tell you, but I also need to know you are thinking clearly. Right now, my guess is that you’re all so tired that your thoughts aresluggish.”
“We’ve been under Volcan’s thumb,” Sly offered. “You know who Volcan is,right?”
Jezebel nodded, her face growing tight. “Yes, I am very familiarwithhim.”
Anna wanted to ask a million questions, but her mom was right. She was tired. Too tired to be able to be able to thinkclearly.
“I can only imagine what horror that man has put you through. That said, I will feed you and then you will sleep. First thing in the morning, we will begin to plan our subtle retaliation against theevilfae.”
“Subtle retaliation,” Anna said with a smile. “Soundsintriguing.”
Jezebel laughed. “It will be that and more. Now, for food. Sit tight.” She left them in the living room while she prepared somethingtoeat.
Jewel looked at Anna. “How are you doing with all of this?” She motioned toward the direction her mom had justdisappeared.
Anna shrugged, it seemed to be her consistent response. “I always knew there was something different about my mom. I just didn’t know howdifferent.”
Jewel nodded. “It seems like our parents lived whole other lives while we were growing up. Even though I knew my mom was a true seer, I had no clue about all the other stuffsheknew.”
Anna could see the pain in Jewel’s eyes at the mention of her mother. She could only imagine how much it must hurt her. Anna, though she’d not been super close to her mom, would be devastated if she lost her. She was the only person who’d ever loved Anna. The only person who thought Anna was of any value. Though she hadn’t been bullied in school, neither had she really been accepted into a tight-knit group offriends.
“Not the only person, Criña, not anymore.”Gustavo’s voice filledhermind.
Anna quickly locked down any thoughts about her location. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Gustavo to come for her, but she needed to find out exactly what they were dealing with before he came charging in. She didn’t want him to be collateral damage if things went to hell in ahandbasket.
“Anna?”She hated the worry in his voice and knowing she was the reason it wasthere.
“I’m okay, Gustavo. Justtired.”
“Has Volcan hurt you anymore?”His voice was tight with the rage she knew he kept barely undercontrol.
She thought about theVthat the dark fae had placed on her stomach, and bile rose in her throat. It was one more mark that didn’t belong tohermate.
“I don’t care about the marks, mi amõr. I care about you. We are working on finding you and Jewel. I know Jewel thinks you have to do this on your own, but Dalton and I will not accept that. You both need to get that through your beautifulheads.”
She grabbed onto the distraction he’d just given her.“So you think Jewel has a beautiful head?”She was teasing him and not jealous in the least, but making him squirm sounded like a better idea than getting into the fact that Volcan hadreleasedthem.
“Sheisbeautiful, but I notice it like I would notice a beautiful flower or butterfly. I see it, acknowledge it, and then the thought is gone. You, however, your beauty is not something I see in the same manner as those things. When I see your beauty, I see the inside as well. And that beauty is what captivates me and holds me to you. It magnifies your outer beauty and stirs desires in me that no other female evercould.”
Anna’s heart was pounding in her chest and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him where they were and to come get her, but she knew that wouldn’t be safe for him. So she swallowed the desire and said,“Nice save,”making sure he only felt her humor, although some of her weariness slipped throughaswell.
“You need rest. Please remember that you are not alone anymore, Ann. You have a place and it is by my side, building a lifewithme.”
“I’ll remember,”she told him before picturing the wall in her mind that would keep him from her thoughts but still allow him to feel her presence. She didn’t understand how she was able to control the connection they had with their minds, but it just seemed to come second naturetoher.
“Eat up.” Her mom’s voice pulled her attention back to the rest of the group. Jewel caught her eye, and a knowing look passed between them. Jewel had noticed the way Anna had blanked out while she’d been internally conversing withGustavo.
The sandwiches her mom had made were simple, yet tasted divine considering all that they’d been given to eat, like the two warlocks, had been the fae bread. The fae food wasn’t bad, but three months of nothing but one type of food pretty much ends the appeal ofanything.
Only a little while later, Anna found herself in her room, tucked into the bed she’d slept in all her life. Jewel had refused the bed and was on a pallet she’d made in the floor. She was a stubborn mule when she wantedtobe.
“Anna, did you know that when you are tired your decision-making, reaction time, situational awareness, memory, and communication decrease by twenty to fifty percent?” Jewel asked, accompanied byayawn.
“I didn’t know that. But I did know this. I’m a bear when I don’t get enoughsleep.”
Jewel chuckled. “I think weallare.”
