Wings of Fire (Guardians of Ascension #3)(96)
Author: Caris Roane

She didn’t even tense. “I know. That’s why I’m going to train as a warrior. What chance does love have between us so long as there is a Rith, a Greaves, and a war? We’ve already been separated once.”

He turned into her until he was on his side. She faced him on her side as well. “I’m already in love with you, maybe not all the way, but almost,” he said. “But I can’t go any farther. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

She traced his lips with her finger. “I know. It’s okay.”

She looked as serious as he felt, her brow puckered slightly. “How do the others do it? Havily and Marcus? Alison and Kerrick?”

“I don’t know.” He leaned forward and kissed her.

“I love you, too, you know, as much as I can.”

“I know.”

“I want to go back to the guest room tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Endelle about the training camps.”

“Good.” He expected her to pull away, to draw out of his arms, to make good on her word. Instead, she snuggled closer.

Just a little longer, she whispered through his mind.

Yes.

But after maybe only a minute, he felt her sigh and begin to rise up. She leaned over to kiss him, a soft press against his lips.

His head slid against his pillow, pulling on his hair. He watched her leave. He worked to keep his arms immobile. He wanted to reach for her, grab her, drag her back down to the bed, but what good would that do?

This was for the best.

Really.

The lesson ignored twice then thrice,

Creates chaos in the lives of many.

—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth

Chapter 21

Parisa stood on one side of Fiona’s hospital bed and Havily on the other.

Fiona had the bed raised in a full-sitting position. “I want to get out of here. I’m not sick. Just drained.”

Parisa smiled. “Was that a joke?”

Fiona glanced at her, arched her brown eyebrows as if in question, then smiled. She even chuckled softly. “Yes, I guess it was.” She sighed. “I slept well last night, and no drugs in my system anymore.”

She wore a gold locket around her neck, the one Jean-Pierre had given her. Apparently, he’d found it in Toulouse behind an armoire but how he’d found it, Parisa couldn’t imagine. Didn’t matter. Fiona was safe.

Havily turned away from the bed and drew a chair forward. She sat down. “So, we’re actually here for a reason, not just to pay a social call. We’ve been talking about the D and R refugees, for want of a better word. I hate using the word slave.”

“But slave is accurate, believe me. Even though we had daily exercise and a healthy diet, full of iron, naturally.”

Parisa didn’t leave her post by the bed. She had an uneasy sensation about Fiona. The woman had an aura of dry brittle leaves. “This must be so disorienting for you,” she said.

“Yes, I suppose it must seem that way.” She lowered her gaze to stare at her clasped hands. The thumbs touched, rolled against each other. “I’m glad to be here. Let me at least say that. I am glad to be alive and to no longer be in that place or under Rith’s command.”

Parisa glanced at the doorway. The hospital was buzzing with activity. Antony was talking with Colonel Seriffe, and several of the Warriors of the Blood were here. She had seen Alison pass by once or twice as well.

Outside the building, a number of Militia Warriors could be seen through the street-side window, patrolling the hospital grounds.

Parisa had felt uneasy all morning. She had slept in the guest room, alone, the bed cool after Antony’s warm presence. As tall as he was, as muscled, the man created a lot of heat. She had awakened more than once, forgetting where she was, reaching across the bed and patting cold sheets.

She would get used to it. She had to. They’d decided together that this was for the best.

Earlier, they’d met with Endelle, and she’d agreed to permit Parisa to enter the Female Warrior Training Camps. It seemed strange to have settled on that course, but of everything she’d been through in the past year and a half, warrior training was the one thing that felt completely right to her.

“So, what’s going on?” Fiona asked.

Parisa glanced at Havily. “Well,” Havily began, “it may be early in the process here, but the bottom line is that we’ve learned there are twenty-one other D and R facilities around the world.”

“Yes,” Fiona said her clasped hands coming loose. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Parisa asked.

Fiona looked up at her. “I want to help get them out, all of them. Whatever it takes. But I’m not sure how we’re going to do that and not cause even more problems. Even if we break up the D and R program, what happens next? Greaves will want to set up more of them, and in the meantime where will all the death vampires get their blood?”

Havily met Parisa’s gaze. “She’s right,” Havily said. “If we disturb all twenty-one nests at once, two things will happen. More mortals will be abducted to replace them, and a lot more women will die. She’s absolutely right. We have to battle this more extensively.”

“How?” Parisa asked.

“Well, I’ve been thinking,” Havily said, staring hard at Parisa. She shifted her gaze to Fiona. “The three of us have one thing in common. We’ve all been abducted. We all know what it feels like to be helpless, in the grip of someone more powerful. And the reason this hospital is crawling with Militia Warriors is because we are all still in danger. Rith will want his slaves back as well.” She glanced at Parisa. “So, are you headed to the camps?”

She nodded. “Medichi’s here talking with Colonel Seriffe about security at the training camps for me. No one really knows what to do, but I’m determined to go.”

“What are the camps?” Fiona asked.

“Warrior training. I’m becoming a warrior.” She laughed. “It feels so strange to say that out loud.”

Havily rose from the chair. “Did you know that Endelle wanted Alison to go the camps, to train as a warrior, when she first ascended?”

“No, I didn’t,” Parisa said. “Do you mean Alison didn’t want to be trained?”

Havily shook her head. “You know what she is … a healer. She couldn’t even kill her opponent in the arena battle and it was supposed to be a battle to the death. The warrior was intent on killing her, but Alison … you won’t believe this … cut off his arm then reversed a pocket of time so that he got his arm back.”