Chapter 53

Clara

Ronan jumped to his feet, bringing me with him.

“Who’s attacking he asked. “Is it the wolves?”

My heart clenched. Had Gideon broken his word?

“No,” the scout replied. “I recognized the leader. It’s Sir Theo.”

Who was Sir Theo? And why was he attacking the Warren?

“Damn,” Ronan cursed softly. He turned to me and handed me his violin. “I need to ask a favor from you, sweetheart,” Ronan said to me. “Would you keep my violin safe? Jordan here is going to get you into the Warren by the secret way.”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to leave him.

“I know,” Ronan said. “I would keep you close if I could but it’s not safe.”

Jordan took my hand and tugged me towards the trail. I struggled to stay with Ronan.

“Please,” Jordan said, “You have to come with me.”

I shook my head and tried to tug my arm free. Jordan’s grip was too strong.

“Clara,” Ronan said, “I need to go. I have to defend our home. And I need to know you’re safe.”

I wavered. I would not hesitate to obey if one of the castle guards had told me to seek shelter. Was Ronan any different?

Jordan tugged on my arm again, and this time I turned to follow her. I clasped Ronan’s violin case tightly to my chest. I couldn’t fight off invaders, but I could keep Ronan’s precious instrument safe.

Jordan led me on a winding trail through the woods towards the Warren. At the point where the path would turn to lead up to the main entrance, she took a different way. We ended up walking along a narrow trail between a cliff face and a thick copse of trees.

Jordan paused and looked back at me.

“We normally don’t let people outside the scouts see this,” she said. “But Ronan vouched for you so I’m going to show you how it works.”

I nodded solemnly. Jordan showed me the hidden mechanism which revealed a tunnel extending deep into the mountainside.

“That way opens into a hidden entrance in the healer’s ward,” Jordan whispered. She pointed to a branching tunnel. “That one leads to the market. the kitchens is that one.” She led me past two more tunnels. “I’m leading you to the residential area. You’re staying with Tracy, right?”

I nodded.

“I’ll take you right to her, then,” Jordan declared.

I tugged her arm, and showed her my notebook, where I’d written, “Who is Sir Theo?”

“Oh. He serves Lord Vermillion. He’s an old blood vampire. He claims to rule the entire mountain territory. I believe your wolf king disagrees.”

I nodded. I had heard the name Vermillion whispered among the guards and fighters in the castle.

“He attacks the Warren, too?” I wrote.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure both sides would love to wipe us out,” Jordan shrugged. “Don’t worry, though. They haven’t managed it yet.”

I found the strength to smile from somewhere.

“Here we are,” Jordan said, pressing a panel in the wall to reveal that it wasn’t solid rock as it had appeared, but rather a cleverly carved and painted wooden door.

Tracy opened her door at Jordan’s knock.

“Clara! You’re all right,” Tracy cried, wrapping me in her arms. “When the alert sounded and you were still outside, I was so worried!”

“Ronan sent her with me,” Jordan said. “I need to get to the defenses. You’ll be here in case we need you?”

“I will,” Tracy promised. “Hopefully you won’t, though.”

Jordan nodded and darted off into the depths of the Warren.

“Is that Ronan’s violin?” Tracy asked.

I nodded. “I promised to keep it safe,” I wrote.

“Huh. I’ve never seen Ronan trust anyone with that thing before.” Tracy smiled. “So, how was your date?”

I smiled, and wrote. “It was good. Ronan kissed me. He played his violin for me.”

“I’m glad you had a good time,” Tracy said. “It’s a pity you were interrupted, though.”

I agreed. I’d wanted more kisses.

“What did Jordan mean, about needing you?” I wrote.

“It’s because of my vampiric ability. Most of us have one. You’ve seen Ronan use his; he can sense if someone is lying.”

I remembered that. He’d compelled Kyle to admit what he had done to Nora.

“Well, my ability lets me place a shield over an area. I can stop arrows, thrown knives, and swords. But it drains me terribly. That’s how I was caught, by the werewolves. I shielded our retreat and collapsed. They took me before the scouts could get back to me.”

“I’m sorry,” I wrote.

“It wasn’t your fault. But anyway, the healers don’t want me using the shield until they’re sure I’m recovered. If the enemy gets past our defenders, I’ll use my shield to seal off the residential areas, and the scouts will evacuate everyone through the secret paths.”

I promised myself silently that if that happened, I wouldn’t let Tracy be captured again. I would carry her out myself if I had to.

“How can I help?” I wrote.

I didn’t want to sit around, waiting for news. I wanted to do something.

“The healers can always use extra hands,” Tracy said after thinking for a moment. “Even if things go well there are bound to be injuries.”

I remembered the path to the healers. I followed the red stars until I found the healing ward. It was in a state of controlled chaos, with healers rushing in all directions. I saw Healer Naomi and hurried over to her.

“I want to help,” I wrote.

“Do you have training as a healer?” she asked.

I had to admit I did not.

“That’s fine, you have hands, you can fetch and carry. Take this basket of bandages to the healers at the door. You can find your way there?”

I nodded and took the basket. I hurried down the tunnel to the front entrance. It was easy to spot the healer. He was standing over a wounded scout, cursing under his breath while stitching a wound closed and ordering another injured scout to sit still.

The healer spotted me and took the bandages.

“You trained to heal?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Good time to learn. Take that bandage, and wrap it around this idiot’s arm until the blood stops seeping through. You got that?”

I nodded slowly.

“Not a talker. I like that. Get to work.”

I bandaged the injured scout’s arm as best I could. The result wasn’t very neat, but the scout didn’t complain.

After that, I helped a limping fighter walk to the healing wing, and carried a crate of healing salve back to the door. I rushed around so frantically trying to help the healers that I completely forgot to worry about the battle happening outside.

Hours later, Healer Naomi stopped me as I gathered another crate of bandages.

“It’s over,” she said. “The last of the wounded are being brought in.”

I slumped in relief and returned the crate to its shelf.

“Thank you for your help,” Naomi added. “You did well. Gregor was impressed with you.”

“Gregor?” I wrote.

“The healer in charge at the door,” Naomi explained.

The healer in question arrived then, carrying Jordan in his arms.

“I found this one,” he growled, “trying to pretend like she was fine with a broken ankle. Oh, the quiet one’s still here. Come over here and learn how to wrap a broken joint. It’s a useful skill. You stop squirming,” he said as he placed Jordon on the nearest bed.

I helped tend Jordan’s injury, and Gregor patted me on the shoulder once.

“Drop by the healer’s ward sometime, and I might have more for you to learn. If you’re interested.”

I nodded.

Gregor tilted his head. “Are you shy or something?”

“She can’t talk, Gregor. She’s Tracy’s niece, the one everyone’s been talking about,” Naomi said.

“Mute, huh? Well, that won’t stop you from learning how to do triage.” Gregor shrugged.

I thanked him, and returned to Tracy’s room. I was exhausted, but I didn’t want to rest until I knew that Ronan was all right. I didn’t know who to ask, though.

I curled up under the shawl Jules gave me, and thought about all the injured fighters I had tried to help. There had to be more I could do.