Page 64 of Shadows of Light
“I don’t think it’s that, at least not completely. These plants were never dead, at least not fully. They were more in a state of dormancy.”
“And she reawakened them?”
“Yes. I think we’ve discovered another arach talent.”
“What’s that? They’re plant whisperers?”
“She definitely has a way with them. Lexi was always good with animals and loved being outside. She has an affinity with all living things.”
“Interesting. Where is our little plant whisperer?”
Sahira thrust her chin forward, and through some ivy draped over a wall and spilling toward a bench, Lexi strode into view. Del and Maverick sat on the bench. Del sat forward with his elbows on his knees while Maverick stretched out his long legs and had his arm over the back of the seat.
Lexi stretched up and touched the brown limbs of a tree towering over the others. As her fingers stroked the branch, color seeped into it.
Orin blinked as he tried to process everything he was seeing. Seeing the garden had been a shock, but watching her reawaken these plants was…
Well, it was miraculous, and he wasn’t one for miracles.
“Shit,” he whispered.
From behind Lexi and in between some trees, Varo and Kaylia emerged. They stood in the shade of a tree with leaves so purple they rivaled the purest amethyst.
Orin resisted the sudden urge to sit down and watch as the rest of this unfolded, but he couldn’t do that. Lexi had discovered some peace in the garden; her tranquil face and the small smile tugging at her mouth said as much. This garden had given the immortals of this realm a large measure of hope, and theyallrequired it.
He gave her a hard time, but he admired his sister-in-law. She was strong, stubborn, and handling all she was thrown into amazingly well, considering everything she’d endured.
He didn’t want to take Lexi from this, but she had to know, and if he had any chance of saving his brother, he needed her. And he wanted his brother back.
“We know where Cole is,” Orin murmured.
His words didn’t travel past Sahira, and they took some time to sink in as the witch remained staring at her niece with that radiant smile back on her face. Then, it vanished, and her head swiveled toward him.
“What? Where?” she demanded.
“In the mountains. Brokk and I tracked him there after a rather… eh… bloody night. Brokk remained at the cave to ensure we don’t lose him if Cole emerges again.”
Sahira paled while he spoke, and her arms fell limply to her sides. “Now what?”
Orin looked to Lexi as she moved on to a bush. “Now, I’ll bring her to him to see if she can save him. If she can bring this place back to life, maybe she can do the same for him.”
“And what if he doesn’t want to be saved? What if we’re offering her up for slaughter?”
“He’d never hurt her.”
“Are you so sure?”
Orin recalled those shadows and how his brother muttered and fought with himself before vanishing into the cave. And then his bellow shook the earth.
Cole was completely out of control; every day, he spiraled further and further into madness, but if he knew one thing for sure in his life, it was that his brother cherished Lexi. He’d die before he ever harmed her.
“Yes.”
The clink of a battle-ax against stone drew his attention as Skog rounded a big tree with heart-shaped, yellow leaves. At his side was the female dwarf who accompanied Brokk into the outer realm, where they discovered Cole.
The dwarves stared around the garden with their mouths ajar as they drank in the splendor of everything surrounding them. They were so focused on the garden that Skog nearly walked into him.
Orin sidestepped to avoid being plowed into by the dwarf. When his chest brushed Sahira’s arm, she recoiled and edged away.
