Of Thorn and Thread (Daughters of Eville #4) - Chanda Hahn Page 0,25

my head.” Liam sighed and looked up. “It was you. Wasn’t it?”

“I was in the field playing a game with my sisters when I heard your mental cry for help. You were too far gone to even speak, but you showed me where you were by images.” I pointed to my temple.

“I didn’t remember at first because I thought it was delirium. But it’s coming back to me. You did something else to me too. It happened again last night while you touched my side. You took away my pain. How? What are you?”

I licked my dry lips, my hands trembled as I nervously explained my power. I was truthful and vulnerable with him. “I’m an Empath. I can take on your pain as my own.”

Liam’s mind shut down like a gate. The iciness I felt emanating from him made me shudder. His eyes became cold, his nostrils flared, and his voice rose angrily. “You will never do that to me again, do you hear?”

I flinched at his tone and waited for his anger to roil through me, but he quickly tampered it down, and I felt nothing. I matched his anger with my own.

“I will do no such thing,” I argued. “If I have the power to ease someone’s pain, then I will do it. I was given this curse or gift, whatever you want to call it, and I alone will dictate how I use it. You have no say over me.”

Liam’s hands balled into twin fists. “You are in my care, and I say otherwise.”

“I can handle myself,” I snapped.

He pointed an accusatory finger at the back of the transport toward Hinsburg. “You couldn’t handle being in a small city. Even in your own hometown one man easily overwhelmed you. We’re heading into a war, and I come to a house full of mages and sorceresses looking for someone to help turn the tide and save a kingdom, and I pick the weakest one,” he snapped.

“You’re right.” I turned my head and stared at the passing countryside. The lush green land filled with sights I had never even seen before. Only once had I traveled outside of Nihill, and it was a disaster. I would not tell him that. Maeve would disappear for days on end and she flew and explored, but not me. I was always forbidden to leave our town but was the one forced to go into Nihill for supplies to test my shielding limits. I guess if I had done better handling our small town and became stronger, Mother would have let me travel farther. “There’s no denying that I’m the weakest of my sisters.” I turned back to Liam and glared at him. “But I’m the only one you’ve got. So deal with it.”

“The pale flower has thorns,” he chuckled. There may be some hope after all.

Chapter Nine

As we rode through the countryside, the land changed from hills to rolling green meadows filled with wildflowers. It was idyllic, peaceful, and I couldn’t stop staring out the window at the beauty of the landscape. Liam handed me a wrapped pastry that he had purchased in town, and I ate it slowly savoring every bite. After a few candle marks, the transport pulled over at a lake to rest and water the horses. I used the time to clean the dirt from my arms, legs, and face before finding a copse of bushes to hide behind while I changed into clean clothes.

Unbelievably the blue dress fit. It was a little loose around the shoulders, but the skirt didn’t need hemming. The new boots squeezed my toes. As I dressed, I had to pinch myself to see if this was real or not. I felt like a different person. I was turning and trying to admire myself in the reflection of the moving water.

Watching the wind ripple across the lake was soothing. The water flickered and a flash of light followed, signaling a spell. Getting to my knees, I leaned forward and touched my finger into the water to answer. When the ripple passed, Maeve’s reflection grinned up at me.

“Somebody’s in trouble,” Maeve sing-songed. “I’m so jealous of you right now. I can’t believe that you would run off like that. I mean, it’s expected of me, but not you. You’re the good one. Then you’ve ignored my calls.”

“I, uh, didn’t run away exactly,” I hedged. “The stranger that came to our house . . . kidnapped me.”

“What?” Maeve’s brows furrowed. “That man kidnapped you?