Bleeding Ink

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Cleo sat on the front steps of the Ayverian palace with Jai and Elys, all three of them watching the skies above them.  Jai had Lenora curled up in his lap, the three-year-old asleep against him, her hair up in a bun, lips slightly parted.  With the chaos the day before, Len hadn't left Jai's side, either holding his hand, holding onto his beltloop, or in his arms.   

Just as she did with Lyv, Cleo loved watching Jai with his daughters, too.  This powerful, handsome, and sometimes deathly scary Fae male who would do anything to protect his family, and yet was still loving and gentle with the females who held his heart completely.  Over the years she'd been a part of their family, Cleo found herself being one of those females, too. 

Now, though, it was Lenora he was concentrating on, only because keeping a tight hold on her was probably keeping him from losing it in the never-ending waiting game.  Having everyone around only made it worse.  Gideon and Thia saw it almost immediately, making Milena, Eamon, and Archer go out for the day, then making themselves scarce, too.  Not only for Jai's sake, but also Dessa.  She didn't need all of them hounding her with questions the moment her boots hit the stone.

Both Cleo and Jai watched as Elys paced the length of the front courtyard, one arm crossed over his chest, his other hand fisted against his mouth as he stared at his boots. 

Jai heaved a sigh, absentmindedly rubbing his hand up and down Len's back.  "Give it a little more time, kid.  They'll be back soon."

Elys turned to narrow his eyes at him.  "They should have been back an hour ago.  What if something happened?  What if they decided to stay a little longer in Escarral?  What if...?"

Cleo raised a brow.  "You do realize you'd be able to answer those questions yourself, right?  Including when they'll be back?"

His glare turned to her.  "Shut up, Cleo."

She grinned, holding up both hands.  "Just saying."

Even Jai was chuckling beside her, rolling his eyes.

But Elys did indeed try to look through his visions as to when Dessa and Lyv would be back.  His eyes went white as he paused, frozen on the spot, as he searched and searched for any answers he could manage as to why they weren't back yet.  The scowl on his face when they cleared once more had a knot of worry twisting in her stomach. 

"Everything all right?"

Elys ran his hands through his hair in frustration.  "Dessa's blocking me.  Just like she's been doing all godsdamn morning."  Then, realizing he'd cursed, he quickly looked to make sure Len was still sound asleep.  "I swear, if something..."

But he broke off and started pacing again. 

Cleo smiled over at Jai, who returned it with his own.  "He's not in the best of moods when it comes to handling being blind, is he?"

"Nope.  He's been like that since he was little.  Doesn't happen too often these days, though I bet with him and Dessa it will more often than not.  She likes to keep him on his toes, especially after she learned how to manipulate his visions with her own choices.  Usually it just annoys him, but this...this is like it was before.  When Lyv first went dark."

This time, it was Jai who cut himself off, his memories of what happened almost twenty years before flashing in his sapphire blue eyes.  It wasn't just him who sometimes fell into them.  Everyone else did, too, including Cleo with that final battle, the look on her mother's face just before she disappeared, the despair that consumed her as she watched Lyv take that one final breath after burning straight through her magic to save them all.