The healer was a surprisingly decent woman who had settled comfortably in the northern territory where Jonas was constantly causing a stir.
I relaxed as the strange heat subsided and wondered what Jonas had done today to irritate one of the Storm Lords. Now the head of the Djinn contingent in Tanselm, he seemed to take pride in annoying the powers that be. I snickered. Darius had a temper I considered impressive, and I’d been hard pressed not to laugh in his face every time Jonas pressed his buttons. Especially since all the affai doted on Jonas, and well he knew it.
Another wave of heat struck me. I gasped as I leaned against the counter near Arim’s wall of plants. The foliage reached out for me, but I waved it away.
I’m fine, I sent Tanselm. I think. But maybe I ought to call Arim. The familiar aggravation that had plagued me this entire pregnancy returned. Trust the Guardian of Storm to knock me up as big as a house. I had a small frame, but did his babies understand that? No.
Arim. I tried several times to call him and found my way blocked. What the hell?
Easing into a seat, I rubbed my stomach and winced as a contraction hit. Okay, now I needed help. I managed to stand and hobbled to the plants. I reached out and touched them and sent my need through the earth to Arim. We’d been working on alternate means of communication, and I loved using Tanselm as a medium. The land always seemed ecstatic to be included in anything Arim and I did. It was almost embarrassing how much Tanselm fell all over herself to please me.
I didn’t mention it much, but I knew Arim felt it. Between helping his nephews and restoring the kingdom, he’d found comfort in the aid Tanselm offered.
I knew he’d be upset I hadn’t remained with Ellie and Samantha today. But honestly, just because the three of us were pregnant, did we have to do everything together? Not that I didn’t treasure my newfound friendships — or the uneasiness I still aroused in most of the Storm Lords that I was petty enough to enjoy — but I was used to being alone and cherished my privacy.
Which might not have been such a good idea today. I shuffled back toward the plush couch in the large, open room that comprised our main living area. Just as I reached the arm of the couch, the front door slammed open.
I stared curiously at the most wanted individual in Tanselm.
Likenesses of Ordinary Nohjen had been posted everywhere, a heavy reward offered for information on his whereabouts. Idly, I wondered if I could receive the reward, considering I’d married into royalty.
“You,” Nohjen seethed. He looked very little like his portrait. The image of that wanted man had a keen polish, a muscular build, and an air of arrogant competence.
This man looked wild with long, greasy dark hair in disarray. Dirt streaked his face. He smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in weeks. The long, brown robe he wore was ripped and slashed, and his boots had holes as if he’d stepped through fire.
And speaking of fire… Another wave of heat rushed through me, followed by an intense cold-burn — what I had been warned to expect preceding my delivery. Crap.
“Could you come back later?” I didn’t have time to deal with Nohjen and frankly didn’t care to deal with him. Arim and the Storm Lords could handle their Church messes.
“You know, Muri had a cottage much like this one.”
Mention of my mother froze me in place. “Excuse me?”
“The bitch pleaded for your life. As if I’d taint myself touching you.” He scoffed, and confusion made my head pound.
“You’re saying you killed Muri? My mother?” I stared at the man and pried deeper, aware his thought patterns were anything but normal. “That was over three hundred years ago.”
He was a Light Bringer, and they normally averaged a lifespan between one hundred and one hundred fifty years. Unless he was a sorcerer. According to Light Bringer doctrine, it was illegal for sorcerers to involve themselves in affairs of the Church.
He raised a fist, and I saw beads of Light filter through his fingers until he held a ball of white fire. He tossed the ball from hand to hand, his glare measuring, as if waiting for me to show fear.
“Wait a minute.” I waved a hand at him, my internal temperature irritating the hell out of me. My back chose that moment to scream in agony, and I sucked in a breath. “Are you telling me you killed my family?”
“Slow, aren’t you?” He lost his grin when I froze the fire in his hands into solid ice. “Bitch.” He stared at me with a gaze both hungry and loathing. “You’ll not suckle such filth on my land, nor taint my world with your Dark breed monsters.”
“Okay. Now you’re starting to piss me off.” One of the little ones in my belly began fighting with the other, and my insides felt warlike. “First off, my children will be Dark and Light breed monsters. Second, if you had anything to do with my family’s murder, coming here was a very foolish thing to do.”
As I said it, a red haze filled my mind. Control it. Get your answers. Then fry the bastard. Fear never entered the equation, not with centuries of anger waiting inside me. Not to mention my inability to be injured by Light or Dark, now that I carried Arim’s precious cargo. My pregnancy had made me nearly indestructible with latent, unborn power.
“Why did you do it?” I managed to say between breaths.
“Why? Because Tanselm is mine.” Madness riddled his black-eyed stare. “Because Muri and Esel wouldn’t keep their bedamned mouths shut, always trying to fix the Church when it was far from broken. They brought Darkness into our land, and look what it brought us.”
“You were there when Arim arrived. You attacked him and pretended it was me.”
“He would never be the great sorcerer he is today if I hadn’t set him free. Killing them was a pleasure, but helping Tanselm’s greatest sorcerer was my honor.”
The injustice of it all made my sudden pain pale by comparison. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
