Page 80 of Wraithwound

Once inside, Lena realized the house was merely staged to look lived in. A worn sofa sat in front of the fireplace, there was a small round table with four wooden chairs in the kitchen, and a desk with blank pages scattered over the top sat under the window. The exposed shelves in the back of the cottage were empty with not a single personal touch on any of the available surfaces.

Stopping at the small round table, Leonid pulled forth a large bottle of water. After pouring two glasses, he reached for an ampule in his pocket and placed a drop of the clear liquid into each glass. Holding them out to Cross and Lena, he said, “Here, drink. This will negate the side effects of the pollen.”

“Pollen?” Cross asked.

“The pollen from the sighing stalks works as a hallucinogenic that causes those who inhale it to hear words or phrases, usually of whatever torments that individual. This is the antidote.”

Cross sniffed the glass, eyes narrowing slightly before throwing it back. After a moment, he nodded at Lena. She drank most of it, leaving about a third. She offered the rest to the eleuth, who lapped it up from the glass, just in case it too had been affected.

Collecting their glasses, Riley put them into a sink and then extended her arm towards the back of the cottage where a sloped passageway descended into the ground beneath them. Lena thought of the maze of tunnels at the manor house where she’d first met Leonid and paused, hesitant to descend into darkness once more.

“Where are we going?” she asked, peering into the tunnel below.

“I thought we might sit down and talk. In my study, if you’re open to it,” he said.

Cross stepped closer, silently filling the space beside her as they began their descent. The dirt path eventually gave way to solid stone and the darkness to a blue-white glow. Encrusted with the same blue-white crystals that’d been embedded in the walls of the cavern, the light they emitted was soothing. Cross’s presence at her side made her feel more at ease and she tried to focus on that instead of the questions that filled her head.

As Leonid led them down the long passageway, she couldn’t help but notice that even though his gait was steady, he walked with a subtle limp. The injury hadn’t been treated properly, then, or perhaps it had been treated too late.

He stopped in front of a narrow wooden door, unlocking it with keys he pulled from his belt, and held it open for them. A small fire smoldered in a hearth toward the back of a space lined with overstuffed shelves and so many books. Plush rugs were layered over each other in contrasting colors and mixed patterns. At the center of the space was a long wooden table with mismatched chairs abandoned haphazardly around it, as if the meeting held in the room prior to their arrival had ended abruptly. Hand drawn sketches of plants covered many of the exposed surfaces, and peculiar trinkets sat out amongst the books.

Leonid walked over to the fire and fed another log into it.

“If it gets too hot, you’ll let me know?” he asked, addressing Lena.

Lena nodded and walked towards the table where Leonid gestured for them to sit.

“I must say, part of me never expected I would see you again, and yet another part of me hoped,” he said. “I dare say we’ve been waiting for you.”

“What do you mean you’ve been waiting for me?” she asked, suddenly feeling exposed.

“Taya. She’d seen a half-turned wraith would end up here, but we had no way of knowing who you’d be or even why you’d come.”

Lena’s heart sank as her suspicion was confirmed. It made sense that she would have known about Ada and Eduard and that Lena had killed them. She’d likely sketched the drawing after seeing the vision.

“Have you come for assistance in delaying the turn?” he asked.

“No, I—” she started, unsure of what to say.

“Have you come to help then? That you have yet to turn completely is nothing short of miraculous. Perhaps we can apply what we learn to help the others.”

“The others?” she asked slowly, the exhaustion she felt battling with her comprehension.

“Yes. We’ve had some success in slowing the progression of the infection with the treatment we’ve developed, but it’s not enough,” Leonid said.

“Treatment?” Her voice sounded hollow.

Nora’s words echoed in her mind as shame crept up her neck. They thought she was here to help.

The hope on Leonid’s face made her stomach lurch because the truth was, she had come to help herself. To help Henry. She’d never imagined there might be others out there who were still alive, let alone to warrant such a set up. The precautions, the secrecy, and apparently healers and caretakers were all trying to help find a cure.

Then suspicion and doubt crept in, warring with the disgust she felt for herself and what appeared to be a noble cause. Was Leonid just another person who would try to use her like the Healer’s Organization had tried to do? Would she end up in a cell to be experimented on like the missing maidens? She didn’t know these people, and in Reimar, extending trust before it was earned was an excellent way to get yourself killed or locked in a cage.

“I’m not sure how I might be of help to you,” she said, shifting in her seat.

“Will you let me show you?” Leonid asked.

Cross looked over at her, the message clear in his eyes: It’s your choice. I’ll support whatever you decide.