Birth Stone by Kate Kelley

Author:Kate Kelley [Kelley, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Lyra sat on a stone bench in the middle of a busy market day, people-watching, auras of different colors swirling in and out as they passed by her. Terrin would kill her if he knew she was sneaking out by herself. A gust of wind tore through, pulling dried leaves from their branches and scattering them across the cobblestone. She welcomed the breeze.

Terrin was right--she did heal quickly now. She was stronger, and faster. Terrin had her running laps, climbing hills, and lifting weights. Along with her faster healing, she had a faster strengthening too--she was becoming exceptionally fit. Her energy, physically and magically, was vibrant. If she had had a vision a month ago of her current self, she wouldn’t have believed it. She felt like herself for the first time since her parents died.

But that didn’t mean she hadn’t been suffering. Training was brutal. Bruises and aching muscles were her life now, and had been for the past two weeks, even as her healing improved. And while she relished in her newfound confidence and power, she was lonely. Every night she dreamed of Alec, calling out to her for help, screaming her name. And other voices screaming--voices she couldn’t name but that haunted her when she woke.

Terrin was cold and distant toward her again, sticking to the lessons he taught her and not engaging in other conversation. Not that she tried either. An emotional distance was good. It kept her from doing something asinine, like kiss him when he knocked her back onto the dirt and pinned her there with one arm. Her lust had only grown during the weeks, an ever-present inferno, seeing him, touching him every night hadn’t helped. But she could ignore it if he didn’t look her in the eye for longer than a second at a time.

Her loneliness also came from not seeing Oriel at all in the last two weeks, and Poppi very scarcely. She had spotted her cleaning around the palace a few times, and once when she had showed up at her door with another training outfit for her. She hadn’t said much about it, just that she thought she might need another one to wear while the other was drying. Then she had left, quick as she came, hardly allowing Lyra to say thank you. And she was thankful--for everything Poppi had done for her. She wondered if their friendship was forever severed.

Staring into the throng of people, gaze unfocused, she suddenly had a feeling someone she knew was near. Eyes snapping into focus she surveyed the group before her, their backs to her. One man, tall with curly brown hair, stuck out to her. Then his face turned--

“Oriel!” She exclaimed, rising from her bench and waving toward him. He turned to look right at her. She noticed Persimmon was with him, then, when she looped her arm through his, squinting at Lyra suspiciously. Oriel’s face cracked into a smile when he saw her, shrugging his companion off and jogging toward her.

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