The master healer nodded and billowed out his robes before sitting himself lower on a similar branch on the other side of the prime root bed.
“Yes, I caught that. A beautiful name.” He placed his hands gently on Riella's forehead and chest. The fluttering of her dark lashes were the only indication that she registered his touch. “Quinn did well treating her symptoms.”
A throat cleared from the doorway and I gritted my teeth seeing the shifter Quinn standing there. “Thank you, Master Riss.”
“I said this because I knew you were thereand…I am proud of you. You have something to tell me. Come over and speak then.” The master healer’s studious gaze stayed on the faeling, not bothering to look up as he evaluated her with his power.
“Yes of course.” Quinn cleared his throat again before walking over to us and bending to speak quietly into the healer's ear.
I narrowed my eyes at them both, unable to make out the soft whispered tones.
The ancient hummed and nodded in agreement, then closed his eyes. “Quinn tells me he believes there is something blocking the child from fully transforming out of her water fae form. He is…halfway correct. There are powerful wards here, power the likes ofwhich I haven’t seen in a very long time. They are blocking atransformation…of what I do not know yet. Do you have any information about why that isforta?”
I kept my stare steady on Master Riss. “No, I do not knowwhy.” I chose my words carefully. I didn’t know why Riella had wards upon her but I did suspect that they were Sanguine in nature.
The healer grunted. “So be it then. I will have to break them to fully heal her. I am not sure what the repercussions will be once I do. Do you still wish to proceed?”
I scooped up Riella’s small hand and squeezed it. Shocked to find it clammy and cold. “Will it harm her?”
The master healer shook his head, eyes still closed and focused. “I do not know but as an experienced healer I will do my best for her to be as comfortable as possible during the process.”
I bent, my hair falling over my face like a dark curtain, shielding me as I kissed the child's small hand and whispered a prayer on her ashen skin. Rising, I chewed on my bottom lip. “I am not entirely sure this is my decision to make. What if we do nothing?”
Master Riss hummed again. His slanted blue eyes opened and slammed directly into my own. I felt it like a vice squeezing my chest.
“She will fade and then die.”
Sucking in a sharp breath, I managed to meet the healer's intense gaze. “Then do what you need to save her.”
The ancient tilted his head in thought…after a long pause he nodded to himself. “Let us begin.”
Chapter 35
“Doyouhaveanyneed of me?” Quinn fidgeted with his sleeve and glanced nervously over at me.
Master Riss frowned deeply, tarnishing his ancient beauty with worry. “Our time has run out.” He whispered and then waved Quinn closer. “Yes, you will need to stay, my boy. This will be a power you have not yet experienced as a healer and I have an unsettling feeling it will not be your last. Link with me.”
Quinn’s jaw tightened, grunting his assent and reaching out to the ancient fae’s shoulder.
The hairs on my skin stood on end when the air shifted and an influx of warmth pulsed through the room. Curious, I shifted to my aura sight and was awed by the vibrant shades of blues molding together into a perfectly balanced power of unity. Auras only reacted that way with family lineage or with soulmates!
My sight switched back to stare at the blonde features of the two fae before me. Their build, the bright blue of their eyes....
“Quinn is your son!”
Master Riss’s twinkling blues smiled up at me and then back down again. “That he is,forta.”
“You could have told me.” I shot Quinn with an accusing glare.
The healer's son gave me a small apologetic smile. “Apologies, Mistress—”
“No time for that, my boy! Pay attention! Do you see?”
A slight blush stained Quinn’s face before his thoughts turned inward, pinching with concentration. “What in the goddess above is that?” He gasped.
“A power I hoped to never see again. It is the Sanguine, Quinn.”
I looked away, my jaw tightening. Of course an ancient fae would recognize the Sanguine power! It was likely he once knew the extinct blood fae at the dawn of their creation and it was very likely he fought in the blood wars against them, just like my mother had.
