Page 57 of Lies That Blemish
I glanced back at the five bodies. Elaine was a badass fighter; she taught me everything I knew. They must have had over a dozen soldiers to overpower her.
I clutched the ring that hung from my necklace, the one Kohen had given me, and wished he were here. I needed a hug. I needed him to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay. I was spiraling out of control.
If Maxim laid a single finger on my sister, I’d burn the entire world down.
‘As will I,’Liana agreed.
Okay, breathe. Just take it one step at a time.I told myself as I fought off a panic. I wanted to blindly fly to Luska and look for my sister, but I had to take this one step at a time.
Step one: make sure Elaine was still alive.
Step two: read the letter Maxim left for me.
Step three: get my sister back at any cost.
I scanned the space frantically as we began to descend into an open clearing.
‘She said they are hidden in thick trees. We have to walk from here,’Liana told me. We were feet from the ground when Liana cocked her head to the side.
‘Onyx and Kohen are on their way, too.’
Relief rushed through me at that. I needed someone to mentally process all of this with. He must have had a vision and was now on his way to help.
The second Liana hit the ground and Zara pointed in the direction of where my sisters and Elaine were, I took off running.
“Valor!” I bellowed, pulling my sword. “Virtue!”
“Aisling!” one of my sisters sobbed. Her voice was so distorted I couldn’t tell if it was Valor or Virtue. My heart beat madly as I leaped over fallen trees and ferns to find the girls. Iskidded to a stop when I saw them. Elaine was sprawled out in Valor’s lap. Tears were streaming down her face as she held her hands over blood-encrusted wounds on Elaine’s body, plugging holes in our governess with her fingers. Virtue was beside them, hugging her knees and staring off into the forest.
“I can’t fix it,” Valor said. “I can’t see it. The picture isn’t clear, not like with Tetra… I can’t…” Valor mumbled.
She was in shock. They both were. There was so much blood. I sheathed my sword and kneeled down, placing my fingers over Elaine’s neck. She was so pale; there was a very faint pulse, and her chest was barely rising. Off to the side was a letter with bloody fingerprints and my name on the front.
“Vespa died,” Virtue sobbed. “Right in front of us.”
I felt out-of-body. I had to wall up every emotion and turn into a machine. Otherwise, nothing would get done.
“That’s okay. Elaine’s alive,” I said brightly, trying to put some life into my voice.
Virtue and Valor’s head snapped to look at me for the first time.
“She is?” Valor said. “I wasn’t sure.”
I nodded. “You did so good.”
I began ripping strips off my shirt as I triaged the situation. Some kind of bolt shooter had been used. I could tell by how big the puncture wounds were, but there were gashes, too, like that of a creature. And burn marks.
Oh stars, it was bad.
I peeled Valor’s hands one at a time, shoving balls of linen cloth in the holes to stop the bleeding and then tying tight strips over it.
“You did so good, Valor,” I praised her again.
“Don’t lie!” she screamed, still hysterical. “I’m a healer, and I can’t heal her. Elaine…” The way she said her name caused a lump to form in my throat.
Virtue said what we were all thinking: “Mom…”
To these girls, who never met the mother who birthed us,shewas their mother.
