Chapter 195

I woke in the morning with my head feeling like it weighed at least twice what it usually did. This jet lag was really catching up with me.

When I sat up, the room swam a bit, and I had to sit still for a moment, blinking until everything had righted itself.

“Is everything all right?” Charles asked.

I nodded. “Just jet lag,” I said. “All of this trouble we’ve been dealing with... It’s caught up with me.”

He kissed my forehead. “I just wanted to make sure before I sent you off on your own. It’s going to be a couple of days before I see you again.” He paused, his gaze flicking between me and the mirror. “I was hoping maybe we could make love one more time before you left.”

I shook my head, and this time, the room didn’t stop spinning. I ran for the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet.

“Maybe I actually caught something,” I called back to him. “It’s probably better not to be in my personal space, right?”

“You should take some supplements,” he suggested. “Your immune system seems to be down. I’m sure it’s all the stress and the travel combined. But I hate to see your suffering.”

“Maybe I will,” I agreed. “Theo and I will stop somewhere along the way.”

“Why don’t you wait until you get to the moon temple? That sized temple is probably well equipped,” he suggested through the closed door. “I bet they have an apothecary there.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” I flushed, washed my face, and then came out of the bathroom. “I feel better now. I’ll let Theo drive, and maybe I’ll catch a nap on the way up there. I can try and make up some of the sleep that I’ve lost.”

I hurried into comfortable pants for the trip, frowning at the button when it pinched, then switched to athletic pants. Great. I was bloated, too.

“What do you and David have planned?” I asked.

Charles shrugged. “Whatever. We’ll just take off somewhere and do whatever we happen to run across while we’re driving.” He grinned. “It’ll be fun to be spontaneous. I’ll be sure to call you and tell you all about it. You’ll keep me posted, too, assuming that there’s cell phone service where you’re headed?”

“Absolutely.”

An hour later, Theo and I were on the road north toward the moon goddess’ temple. We’d be on the road for five hours. So, I took one of the hotel room pillows with me, and I snuggled against the door, letting myself fall off to sleep.

Several hours into the drive, Theo shook me awake. “It’s almost lunchtime, Elena. And we’ve only got one more town before we really head out in the wilderness between that town and the temple. I think we should stop and get something to eat. Are you hungry? I know you were ill this morning.”

I yawned and stretched and sat up. “Actually, I am starving. I guess I really just needed to catch up on some of the sleep I’ve missed.”

“I’m feeling all the travel too,” he agreed.

“Do you need me to take a turn in driving?” I asked.

“My fatigue is not that bad. Besides, this time, I intend to take a nap while you go into the temple. No one’s going to hurt you at the moon goddess’ northernmost temple.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I’m sure.”

A little bit of trepidation ran through my body. Evidently, Theo caught this, too, because he gave me a soothing smile.

“You don’t need to feel unsafe at this particular mood goddess’ temple.”

“How do you know? How can you be so sure?” I pressed. “I’ve angered the king. He could get to me just about anywhere.”

Theo shook his head. “Not at this temple. That’s probably why the doctor retired to it. You don’t have any idea about the history of this temple?”

I shook my head. “I just know that it’s at the very northernmost edge of our border.”

“Actually, there’s a small bump in our border that’s expanded to the north to include this very temple. It used to be outside Orlune. It was neutral territory for several different kinds of shifters. But King James’ grandfather fought a bloody battle, killed almost all of the monks and initiates, and installed his own monks in their place, taking over what should have been a place of sanctified worship for all shifters and turning it into an exclusive werewolf territory.”

“Then, doesn’t that mean that the people inside are indoctrinated by this regime?” I asked.

“Actually, it’s the contrary. They hate King James and his entire family. They would like nothing more than to see his dynasty fall. They turned what was a sacred place of worship for the moon goddess into a place with a legacy of blood.

“In other words, they’ve spent the last two generations trying to purify the place and reclaim the moon goddess’ favor, at least get it back to the way they had it before.”

“I’m sure she’s forgiven them. It wasn’t like it was any of their fault. But King James’ family has quite the stain on more places than one. Then maybe Mabel did misremember how good things were under the reign of King James’ father.”

“Probably not,” Theo speculated. “King James’ father’s reputation wasn’t soiled by the kind of things the current Alpha King’s reign is. Such sins don’t escape the notice of the public. There’d be some kind of informal record, and the time Mable remembered wasn’t that long before our time.”

We stopped for lunch, and our conversation continued all the way through the abandoned wilderness, up the rocky mountainside on which perched the moon goddess’ temple.

I could see why they had chosen this location despite the forbidding landscape. The hills here were loaded with moonstone, and the temple itself was perched on a cliff that looked out so that you could see both the rising and the setting of the moon.

Plenty of streams cascaded down the cliff faces, which would fuel the temple’s moon pools and keep them full year-round. And it was isolated so one would have nothing to do but reflect upon whatever devout endeavors they wanted to pursue with nothing to distract them.

We had to park the vehicle and walk the last half mile up to the gates of the moon goddess’ temple. They were round, the frame carved from beautiful moonstone, polished to a gleaming gray, and fitted with a round, gray wooden door that opened in one piece, upward, like the rising moon.

“So much for your nap,” I said to Theo. Nothing about this place suggested comfortable sleeping accommodations.

“It’s okay. They have all sorts of space here for visitors and pilgrims. I’m sure there’s a room where I can rest.”

“Greetings.” A monk greeted us with a bow as we entered.

“Hello,” I greeted him in return. “My name is Elena, and we’re looking for a particular monk. Maybe you can help us.”

He bowed his head and waited for me to continue.

“I desperately need to speak with a man named Monk Blythe.”

“Yes. I believe he has duties at the moon pool today. But I’d be happy to show you the way. Will you be joining her, sir?” he asked Theo.

Theo shook his head. “I’d be much obliged if there were someplace where I could take a rest. It was a long drive after a long flight into the airport before that. My friend got to sleep on the car ride up here, but I am still exhausted.”

The monk let out a low whistle, and an initiate in white robes hurried over. “Take this man to one of the sleeping chambers,” he instructed. “He’d like to rest after his journey here. Miss Elena, if you wouldn’t mind following me.”