Chapter 164
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
Panic rushed through me like flood as I rushed over to the man. I grabbed his wrist willing that gut wrenching reaction to take place but it didn’t. It felt like I was completely empty but I knew that wasn’t the case, I could still feel the power thrumming beneath my skin, I just needed a small push and he wasn’t giving it. I concentrated all I could on that raw bright power inside of me, it was like a raging storm willing to erupt and I pushed. I willed it to flow out of me and into him and surprisingly it did. This time however, it didn’t come with the pain or the nerve wrenching experience. Maybe it was because I had finally controlled it for the first time but it flowed out of me easily, like a small stream. I watched as the man’s skin illuminated slightly and I prayed to the goddess that he would be fine.
There was a nudge in the back of my mind that told me when it was enough and I pulled my hand away from him. His skin was still black but it was slowly turning back to its right color. My head swam as I struggled to balance myself. I felt arms wrap around me from behind as Ryker pulled me to a standing position. I had to lean on him because of how weak and fragile I was.
“I hope that was f*ucking worth it,” he mumbled and I immediately knew he was pis*sed at me. I couldn’t blame him considering everything that had happened.
“What do we do now?” I asked and he scoffed.
“We don’t do anything. We are leaving and we will pray that when he wakes up, he doesn’t remember us.”
I dug my feet into the ground to stop him from moving. “You can’t expect us to just leave him here. What if something bad happened to him?”
“That isn’t our problem anymore,” I opened my mouth to protest and he let out a groan of frustration. He turned to me and placed both hands on my shoulders the way he would with a child. “I’m going to say this once and very slowly, I don’t give a s hit what happens to him. Imagine he wakes up with us right next to him, he will assume that you had something to do with it. We already had a problem with the people and trying to convince them that you don’t have healing powers. The last thing we want now is for them to start up again.”
I knew he was right but that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried about the man. There was a possibility that what I did didn’t work. If that were true then it meant he would die all alone and no one deserved to die that way. However, I knew how risky it could be if we were found here so I nodded and allowed Ryker lead me away. I couldn’t help but watch the man until we had gotten out of range.
When we got to the palace, the guards watched us with varying degrees of confusion. We left smiling and happy and returned deep in thought and contemplation. Ryker hadn’t said a word to me since we left the woods and I couldn’t help but imagine how pi ssed off he was at me. His wall was firmly in place, I couldn’t sense any of his emotions and neither could I read him. He rarely did that unless he was in danger or he had something to hide.
We had gotten to our room when I finally spoke. “Please say something. I hate the silent treatment.”
He stilled as if debating his next words then chose not to say anything and instead made his way into the bathroom. I wanted to follow him and demand a response but I knew I didn’t hold that privilege anymore. After the stunt I pulled today, doing that would have been a very stu pid move.
When he returned, he had changed out of his clothes but his stoic expression hadn’t eased one bit. He walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Christine. I wasn’t sure when he mind linked her but she held a small tray of fruits in her hands. He thanked her and brought it over to me. He gestured to the bed and I didn’t even realize when my limbs started moving of their own accord until I was seated.
“Eat,” he said simply placing the tray in my lap. “You used up a lot of your energy. You need to replenish it.”
“Can you at least say something,” I whispered but he said nothing. “Look, I know you’re upset and for good reason to. I shouldn’t have tried to-”
“Upset?” he cut me off with a humorless laugh. “I’m not upset, Camilla, I’m worried. I am worried about whether I can trust you not to make st upid decisions like these when you are alone.”
“What are you-”
“I know you want to help everyone, believe me, I do. I don’t understand why but I know it is who you are. You have to realize that you cannot help everybody. Not everyone needs to be saved. It is like a game of chess, you have to sacrifice some pieces to win the game.”
“He is a person, not a piece in a game.”
“We are all pieces in someone’s game,” he shot back. “Someone is pulling the strings and you are going along with it like her puppet. Listen, Camilla, I want to protect you, I swear, I do but you are not making things easy for me.”
I hated when he spoke like that, there was always an underlying sense of guilt that came with it. Did I understand what he was saying? Of course I did, I just didn’t have to like it. I wanted to help everyone and I truly believed that everyone could be saved. Maybe it was a fantastical way of thinking, I didn’t care, I just wanted to make sure that I did my best.
I knew this conversation was going nowhere because of our vastly different beliefs on the subject. I didn’t want to spend the time arguing when he had a wonderful evening. I put the tray on the bed and moved over until I was seated directly beside him. I intertwined our fingers together but he still didn’t look at me. His eyes were fixed on the wall in front of us like it was the most interesting thing he had seen.
“I can’t promise not to try to heal everyone,” I whispered. “I mean, why was I given these powers if I wasn’t meant to help everyone? Why was I made into who I am right now if I wasn’t meant to make life easy for people?”
“You can make life easy when it is not at your own detriment.”
“Why don’t we make a deal?” I asked and he raised a brow. “I can’t heal everyone, I am sure about that but anyone that is in dire need of healing, I will help.” He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. “When I say dire, I mean the person is on the brink of death with something that we can identify. If there are too many suspicious healings, people will notice.”
He debated it for a second before nodding. “Deal.”
It was a good way to end the night especially since we weren’t pis*sed off at each other. After eating, I changed into my night dress and crawled into bed by his side. It was a relatively dreamless sleep at first until sometime in the middle of the night, I heard my name being called. I didn’t recognize that voice, it sounded old and distant.
I pinched myself to be sure I wasn’t sleeping and although I felt the sting, my body didn’t rouse. I was bathed in pure darkness, I couldn’t even see what was in front of me. It was terrifying at best but I knew I was asleep, nothing could hurt me in my dreams.
“Are you sure about that?” the same old and distant voice asked. “You should be wondering how I managed to get here in the first place?”
“Who are you?” I called out hating the way my voice echoed as if in a cave. Instead of the echoes getting lower, they got louder to the point where I had to slam hands over my ears.
There was a laugh, it was condescending and filled with mirth. I felt the presence of whoever was speaking, there was something ancient and dark about it, something almost primal. I could feel the power radiating from them, it was raw but also warped, as if it had been tampered with and was now made into something that it shouldn’t have been.
“You are not fit to know my name, Camilla, but be rest assured that I know yours,” I recognized the voice as female but nothing more. “You have done better than I imagined you would. You are growing into a wonderfully strong young woman. I thought my tests would be too hard for you but you passed with flying colors.”
“You sent the plagues,” I deduced and although there was no verbal response, I knew I was right. “What do you want with me? I don’t want any problems. Just leave us alone and no one has to know about it.”
“Oh, my darling girl, I am just getting started,” I felt a phantom hand run down my cheek gently and I tried to swat at it but there was nothing there. “We are going to have so much fun together. I cannot visit you this way again, but trust me when I say that we will be meeting soon enough and when we do, it will be the reunion of the century.”
“I still don’t know what you want or who you are.”
“You will soon, but you have been asleep for too long, people are starting to worry,” before I could protest I felt an entire hand on my head. “Now, wake.”
