Sorrow Bringer: The Fire Heart Chronicles Book 3

Chapter 2

2

In a matter of seconds, Cora’s room was filled with most of the manor’s residents. We crowded around her bed, trying to wake her up from whatever terror she was fighting.

“Cora,” Nico called out. “Wake up.”

Rye rested a hand on her forehead. “Please, Cora, wake up.”

Covered in sweat, Cora’s back arched up and she screamed again.

“She’s having a nightmare,” Sheila said from the end of the bed. She had her eyes closed and her hands on her temples. She was inside Cora’s mind. “I’m trying to pull her from it, but I can’t.” She grunted and struggled a little longer. Then, she opened her eyes and dropped her hands. “She kicked me out.”

Cora screamed again, a hair-raising sound that tugged at my heart.

I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I had to try something. “Hold her down,” I told Rye.

He placed his big hands on her shoulders, while she jerked from side to side, and stabilized her a little. Channeling my magic, I laid my hands on her forehead and her chest, right above her breasts. I had better control over my magic now, but I was still afraid I would get carried away and burn her without meaning to. Carefully, I sent some of the warmth from my fire into her, to bring her comfort. The process was slow, but Cora relaxed. Her jerky movements reduced, her breathing slowed down, and her screams stopped.

When she seemed to be just sleeping, I pulled my hands away.

“Cora?” Rye asked. Anguish laced his voice. Everyone knew he loved her, and even though she denied it, Cora loved him too. It was heartbreaking to watch Rye wait for her to wake. “Cora, please, wake up.”

A sob ripped out of her mouth. Tears streamed down from her closed eyes. Cora sat up and hugged her knees, hiding her face from view.

“Cora, are you okay?” Nico asked in a low voice.

Rye ran a hand down her back. “Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head.

“I think the nightmare was about her enclave,” Sheila whispered. “There were alchemists and heart animals and fire. A lot of fire.”

Cora lifted her head and wiped at her cheeks. “It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory.” Rye’s hand stilled.

Nico sighed. “Oh, Cora.”

A little over three years ago, Cora, Rye, and Nico had moved to Bellville after their enclave had been attacked by alchemists and burned to the ground. The three of them were the sole survivors of the m******e.

“I’ll go make some chamomile tea,” Sheila said before leaving the room. Neil, Dolan, Ramon, Shay, and even Artan mumbled something about helping and followed her out.

“I’m sorry,” Cora said, her voice breaking with another sob. “I haven’t dreamed about it in such a long time. I thought I was finally over it.”

“It’s okay.” Rye wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay. It’ll always hurt. We’ll never forget any of it.”

Nico sniffed as tears filled his eyes, and Theron retreated to the window. He stared out as if there was something interesting calling to him from the streets below.

Theron hadn’t seen the destruction happen, but he had seen the aftermath. He had been the one to go back and check for survivors—and confirm there were none. After that, he helped Cora, Rye, and Nico fight the alchemists and come to Bellville.

It was a sad story. My stomach curled just imagining the horror of it all.

“You know you can always talk to us about it, right?” I rubbed her shoulder.

She pulled back from Rye’s embrace and wiped her tears once more. “There’s not much to talk about. Things are distorted and worse in my dreams, but the pain is the same.” She let out a long, calming breath. “I’m okay. I’m better. But I don’t think I can go back to sleep now.”

“It’s okay.” Nico pulled out one of the two chairs from the corner of her suite to her bedside and sat down. “We can just talk the rest of the night.”

I knew I wasn’t going to sleep anyway, so I grabbed the other chair and sat down beside Nico. “Me too.”

“Scoot over,” Rye said, settling down beside her in bed. Even though it was a queen and had plenty of space for both of them, Cora only moved a few inches, and Rye had to sit with his side pressed to hers.

The love shining from his eyes as he looked at her! Jealousy festered inside me. Oh, how I wanted someone to look at me that way, to love me for me.

Cora smiled through the tears. “Nais tuke, guys.”

Theron cleared his throat. “I’ll tell Sheila we’ll need more tea. And maybe something to eat too.”

“Good one,” Nico said. Then Theron was gone and Nico turned to me. He whispered, “I heard you landed a nice punch on his chin the other day.”

Rye nodded. “I heard that, too.”

Me punch Theron? Had they seen him? There was no way I could land a punch on him. Theron was a tall warrior with strong arms and wide shoulders. His dark hair down to his shoulder and piercing dark eyes added to his mysterious persona, but deep down, he was a big teddy bear. He was intense and strong and passionate. He was also crushing on my best friend, and I totally supported it.

“I wish. Well, my fist grazed his chin, but it wasn’t on purpose.” I snorted. “I tripped and fell.”

“Ah, no.” Nico frowned. “And I almost bet that you had punched him for real.”

My eyes widened. “Wait. There’s a bet?”

Nico paled. “Well …”

A small laugh came from Cora. “Some guys, mainly the warriors, are betting when or if you’re gonna be as good as Theron in fighting. But it’s all just for fun.”

I frowned, then I smiled. “Can I bet too? Because I bet I’ll never be anywhere close to as good as Theron. Or any of you.”

Rye laughed and Cora smiled. She tilted her head. “You know, I can spar with you some time. I bet it would be fun. And, like Theron always says, the more people you fight, the better warrior you will become.”

I perked up. Sparring with Cora would be a hundred times better than sparring with Artan. “Would you do that?”

“Sure,” she said.

“I can do it too,” Rye said.

“That’s great.”

“Hm, don’t even look at me,” Nico said before I had done anything. “I’m not a warrior.”

“It’s okay,” I said, feeling lighter than I had in days. I guess spending some time with friends was good enough to lift my spirits. I made a mental note to do something with them all. Since I couldn’t go out to the nightclub anymore, and they hadn’t gone because I couldn’t, I could invite them all to my house one night and we could have a party there. I liked that idea.

Minutes later, Theron and Sheila brought the tea and cookies and we talked for hours.

My schedule was pretty tight, but I needed a break from being the heart maiden, when I was just Mirella.

I jerked awake, confused about where I was and what was happening. Sitting up, I realized I was lying in Cora’s bed, a throw blanket over my legs. Bright light filtered through the dark curtains. I grabbed my cell phone from the pillow beside me and checked the time. It was almost noon!

What the hell happened?

I pushed up from the bed, stopped by the bathroom, washed my face, ran my fingers through my messy curls, then exited the suite. The corridor was eerily quiet as I walked past the several closed doors—was everyone sleeping?—and went downstairs. I heard a soft noise coming from the back of the house.

Sheila and Dolan were in the kitchen, cooking.

“Hand me that, please?” Sheila said, pointing to a pot over the island.

“Yes, daj,” Dolan said, turning to get the bowl. He saw me approaching, and his eyes widened for a moment. “Good morning, Mirella.”

Heat of embarrassment spread through my cheeks. “Morning.”

Sheila spied me over her shoulder. “Sit down and I’ll make you something to eat.”

“Hm.” I brushed my hands on my jeans. “I don’t think I have time for that. Darcy is probably already on a manhunt for me.”

Sheila smiled. “You’re fine. Don’t worry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Theron told Darcy earlier that you were taking the morning off,” Dolan said. “He also warned Risa, in case she saw your bedroom empty and became worried.” Wow, they had thought of everything. Dolan pulled up a stool from the island and gestured to it. “Now sit and eat.”

Still a little wary that Darcy would just have agreed to that, I sat down at the chair. “I’m confused, though. What happened?”

Sheila dropped the pot she was messing with and grabbed a plate from the cupboard. “Theron told me that you fell asleep in a chair. So, he put you in Cora’s bed, and they all left the room to let you sleep.” She grabbed a couple of muffins from a wicker basket and put them on the plate. “He said you haven’t been sleeping much.” She brought the plate to me.

Dolan placed a mug with tea and a glass with orange juice beside the plate. “Let me know if you want something else.”

I reached for the tea. “Thanks.”

Ramon entered the kitchen. He skidded to a stop when he saw me. His eyes wide, he shifted his gaze to his father, who met his stare, then lowered his head. Frowning, Ramon approached the island.

“Feeling better?” he asked, taking a muffin from the wicker basket.

“Hm, yes.” What the hell was that exchange between father and son? And why was Ramon asking how I was feeling? He didn’t care about anyone other than his father and brother.

He dipped his chin. “Good.” After another heated glanced at his father, Ramon walked out of the kitchen.

What was that about?

“Tell me about not sleeping at all,” Sheila prompted as she brought more food to the island: fruit, toast, cheese spread, honey, and syrup.

During our magic practice, we talked a lot and I had already told her about not sleeping well, but I didn’t tell her how bad it really was so I wouldn’t worry her.

But, if there was one person I could talk to about this, then Sheila was the best person. “I just … can’t sleep. I lie in bed and my mind races, nonstop. My body feels restless, like I need to walk, or run, or dance.” I could go on. I could tell her about it all. About the images that flashed in my mind at unexpected times and the dull ache in the back of my skull. But for some reason, I didn’t want to tell her about that. Perhaps because mentioning it made it real? Perhaps it was because I liked when she looked at me with a worried glint in her eyes, and I didn’t want to risk having that changed into wariness. Suspicion. Fear. I shrugged. “I don’t know why.”

Sheila glanced at Dolan, then back at me. What? Did they know something I didn’t? She leaned over the island. “Have you been stressed out about being the heart maiden?”

I almost laughed at that. “I thought that had been established months ago!”

“Yes, I remember how you resisted becoming the heart maiden, but I thought that had changed.”

“It changed. I’ve fully accepted it now.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Have you?”

I stared at her, not sure what she meant by that. “Yes. I have.”

With a heavy sigh, Sheila pushed away from the table. “All right. I’ll add some meditation time during our practices to try to calm your mind. Hopefully, that will help you sleep better.”

That actually sounded like a good plan. “Thank you.”

“Now eat up!” She pointed to the food on the island before turning her back to me and going back to whatever she was cooking before I came into the kitchen.

Even though I had barely touched my tea, Dolan refilled my mug. Then he mumbled something about having to talk to Neil and left. If I had to bet, I would say Neil was with the elder council at the moment. As the rom baro of Bellville, he had been invited to assist the elder council, something which probably irritated Darcy to no end. Sheila and Dolan had been invited too, but both of them said they wanted no part in whatever the elder council did. Although it didn’t seem like he was excited about it, Neil participated because Bellville should be represented somehow.

I hadn’t even finished eating when Sheila mentioned serving lunch soon. She invited me to stay and eat with the others, but I had to get going. I had already skipped my responsibilities for the morning. I shouldn’t bail on the entire day.

After helping clean up and thanking Sheila for the brunch and her care, I left. As expected, the moment my feet touched the stone pavement of the street, two warriors fell into formation behind me.

I sighed and adjusted my coat. The sun was high in the sky, but the air was too chilly for my taste.

I took five steps before I halted again.

A young woman with light brown curls strolled toward me. “Mirella! It’s so good to see you.”

My stomach twisted in knots. “Hi, Kizzy.”

Artan’s fiancée stopped in front of me, her smile easy and true. “You’ve been so busy lately, I’ve barely seen you around the enclave.”

I nodded. “Thus the life of a heart maiden.”

“I’m so glad we have a new heart maiden,” she said. Everything about this girl looked pure and innocent. “And you haven’t been sleeping much. I hope that’s not messing with your tight schedule.”

I frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Oh.” She let out a chuckle. “Artan told me. He talks a lot about you.”

I swallowed a gasp. He did? Why? By now, Kizzy probably knew he was one of my fighting instructors and the one in charge of my security—he set up who would follow me around and when. But … there was more? Why would he talk to her about me?

Nervous about this entire situation, I looked down at my hands. “Don’t believe everything he says. When I mess up during training, he gets mad at me and starts spouting lies.” That was the only thing, the only lie, I could think of saying.

“Oh, no, he adores you.” I blinked. What had she said? And what was with that smile and warmth in her eyes. She wasn’t kidding. “I mean, the entire enclave adores you. You’re our heart maiden after all.”

“O-of course,” I muttered. Holy crap. This was too awkward. “I need to get going. I have a lot of things to do.”

“Sure.” She stepped to the side, allowing me to pass.

“Thank you.” I glanced at her once more as I walked past her.

I was about to say bye when she said instead, “Oh, and Mirella, please take good care of my man.”

I almost tripped on my feet. “W-what?”

She chuckled again. “Training with him, you’re bound to become a great warrior. Just don’t hurt him too much when you do. I don’t like to see him suffering.”

My man …

My heart squeezed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”