If anything, I felt worse. This Spirit had no right to be here. No right to speak to us. Not after what she did.
We should kill her, the dragon said.
That was an excellent suggestion. It might have been the best one I had heard all day. Granted, I’d just woken up, but a good killing was exactly what I needed.
Myhhena quirked a brow, as if she knew what I was thinking. That was ludicrous. Other than a few vampires who bore that ability, I’d never met any other mind readers.
The more I thought about it, the more I decided the dragon was right. Letting my anger fuel me, I ran towards Myhhena. Raising a fist, I aimed for her face. A growl ripped from my throat, but that overgrown pile of leaves and twigs did not even move. Standing still, her eyes tracked my movements as I approached.
I was mere inches from Myhhena’s lying little eyes when thick vines wrapped around my wrists and waist. One moment, I was seething, planning to remove Myhhena’s head from her shoulders, and the next, I was on my back looking at the cavernous roof of this gods-forsaken mountain.
Snarling and struggling against the bonds, I turned. Still tangled in the makeshift ropes, I snapped, “What the hell did you do that for, Aileana?”
My mate stood above me, the vines wrapped around her wrists. “Don’t swear at me, Xander. I just stopped you from doing something you’d regret.”
“You’re wrong.” I snapped a vine as I rose to my feet. “I would never regret killing that leafy bitch.”
Aileana raised a brow. “I asked her to come.”
“What?” My brows furrowed, and I unclenched my fists. “You brought her here? She… why?”
It was Myhhena who answered. “The High Lady of Life wanted to know if I could help.”
“Help?” Steel edged my voice as I echoed the Spirit’s words, keeping my eyes on Aileana. “We don’t need your half-assed version of support,Spirit. Not now. Not ever. Our friends are dead—”
“Maybe,” Myhhena interrupted.
Blinking, I whirled around. “What?”
“They might be dead. There is a chance—albeit a very small one—that they are alive.”
“What are you talking about?” I growled. “We searched the entire city. We saw the blood. Maiela couldn’t See them anywhere.”
“But there are no bodies,” Aileana murmured so quietly only I could hear.
I stared at her, stunned. I had no words. Even the dragon was silent.
My Earth Elf placed her hand on my arm. “That’s why I asked Myhhena here, Xander. I wanted to know if there was anything she could do.”
I returned my gaze to the Spirit of the Woods. “And is there?” I asked harshly. “Something you can do?”
Myhhena’s leaves rustled as she stared at us for a long moment. “Truthfully, I don’t know,” she replied, sounding oddly sad about that.
“What does that mean?” Clenching my fists, I glared at her. “Can you or can you not help?”
In another gesture that was far too human, Myhhena shrugged. “Maybe. There is darkness here, dragon. Evil reigns in this place and the balance is broken.”
“Enough about the gods-damned balance,” I snapped. “I know it’s broken. We all know it’s broken. Darkness was coming, now it’s here. This is no longer a surprise, and I don’t want to hear about it anymore. Are they dead, or not?”
A long moment passed before the Spirit of the Woods blinked. “Probably,” she admitted. “But there is a way to know for certain.” Turning to Aileana, she asked, “There is no trace of them, correct?”
“None that we could find,” she replied. “That’s why I thought that maybe…”
“They might be alive,” Myhhena finished.
“Yes,” Aileana whispered.
The Spirit of the Woods straightened, her twigs making a strange crunching sound as she cracked her neck. “I am not supposed to interfere with these matters, High Lady.”