Page 97 of Wraithwound

“Do you think I’d be standing here like this if it wasn’t?” she said, cocking her head.

Lena knew it could very well be the truth; she could sense an absence where Henry had been.

“What do you want?” Lena asked.

I want you. And I’ll have you, just as soon as I please. The words slithered around in her head, but the wraith’s mouth didn’t move. Lena opened her mouth to speak, to demand the wraith tell her more about Henry, when golden sparks ignited in the air, and she was thrown from the column of light.

Chapter

Fifty-Four

Lena awoke several feet from Laney’s cell. She sat up in stunned silence, her mind working to process what she’d learned, to make sense of the last several weeks as she understood the truth of it all. She was not infected. Was she possessed?! No, not that word. She didn’t like that word. Inhabited? Was that a better term? And Henry⁠—

Across the way, a familiar face, eyes round with shock, stared back at her. Her reddish-brown hair and honey brown eyes were a welcome sight. Lena went to stand when the flash of violet light drew her attention. She turned to see Cross standing there, his sword not only drawn but alight with flame. The others stood behind him, weapons also drawn.

“Lena?” Laney’s voice rang clear across the space between them.

Cross’s head snapped to her cell.

“Laney? You’re—you’re you?” Lena said.

The maiden nodded, sitting up from where she’d apparently collapsed on the stone floor.

“I—” she started but then reached for her tunic, pulling it up to expose her ribs. There was a scar where she had originally been scratched, but the skin was no longer grey, and the black veins had vanished. Riley rushed forward, skirting Cross who stalked towards Lena, after having sheathed his sword.

“Lena?” he said softly.

She took in the concern on his features.

“It’s me,” she reassured him.

“What happened? And who in the EverGods is Runa?” Taya kept her distance. Leonid stood beside her, a mixture of awe and curiosity on his face. When no one answered, she lowered her weapon. “So we’re all just going to pretend like that didn’t happen?”

Riley slid a key into the lock at Laney’s cell.

“Wait, we don’t know if this is temporary,” Taya objected.

“It’s not. It’s not temporary,” Lena said, somehow knowing Laney was no longer infected or inhabited? That seemed to be enough for Riley, who opened Laney’s cell and rushed in to hug her.

“How is this possible?” Laney asked.

Lena stepped away from Cross to greet Laney as well, the two women holding each other for a long moment. Lena was so happy to see Laney like this again, and she wanted to bask in the moment but knew she’d have to cut it short.

Where she should feel burning outrage over the wraith’s brazen entitlement to Lena’s body, she only felt determination, a strengthened resolve. She had made up her mind. Now that the wraith was free inside her, she would spend however much time she had left making her own choices. She’d spent far too long reacting to things that were entirely out of her control. If she was going to go out, it would be on her own terms, not those dictated by the thing inside her.

“I have to get to the Tower,” Lena said, turning to the others. “I don’t think I have much time left, and if I can release the Goddess before I’m lost, then that’s what I intend to do.”

“Who is Runa?” Taya asked again.

Lena didn’t ask how Taya knew that name although she could guess. Part of her didn’t want to know what happened when she was unconscious. For Cross to have ignited his sword, it had to have been pretty unsettling.

“Turns out, I’m not infected. I’ve been inhabited by some creature who’s decided it is entitled to my body. To me. I don’t know what it wants, but it won’t matter if I can free the Goddess,” Lena said.

“What?” Taya asked.

But Lena ignored her and turned to squeeze Laney’s hand. “How do you feel?”

“Exhausted and hungry. Starving actually,” she admitted. Lena marveled at Laney, her heart squeezing in quiet joy.