The Heir of Moon-Fire

Chapter 47

Emily's POV

Days had passed since we had returned to Orynth, more or less safe and sound. Something has definitely changed between Elentiya and Ladon since then. I had my suspicions, of course, but no way of proving anything. And then there was Mal. He still slept.

And yet, Vincent still lived.

I sighed. At least, Mal was healing. At least, he was beside me once more. At least, we were all still alive. Things could've gone much, worse.

"How is he?" Elentiya asked from behind me.

"Still asleep."

She plopped down in a chair beside me. "I'll stay by him, you go eat."

I opened my mouth to protest only to be met with her hard gaze. "Fine," I grumbled, pushing myself to my feet.

I stopped at the door. "Ashleigh will be by soon," I told Elentiya as I turned to face her.

"Why?"

"Because I invited her to stop by, and she took me up on the offer."

She rolled her eyes. "And why did you invite her?"

"Because he would've wanted her to know that he was safe."

"Look. I don't-"

"Tiya," I snapped impatiently. "She called him her father, okay? And I know that he's grown very attached to her, too. Now," I fixed a glare at her, "I'm going to get some much needed food and sleep."

I whirled around before stalking out of the door while grumbling to myself. While I could never honestly say that I wished that I had never met— or fallen in love with— Mal, I wished that we weren't constantly having to watch our backs. It'd be nice to be able to walk around without a care... But I would never feel that safe again. Not after Vincent had taken Mal right from under our noses. Not after I had lost our child.

My mood dropped drastically. Even if had happened over a century ago, I still grieved. It also made me fear what we could lose. What I could lose. He wanted a child so badly... and it wasn't as if I didn't either... But-

"Emily?" Came a deep baritone voice from behind me.

"Hey, Cal," I greeted with a forced smile as I spun around to face him. "What's up?"

"I- How are you holding up?"

I shrugged. "I'm fine."

He crossed his arms, almost making me cave. "Really, I'm fine, Cal. I just need to eat something and get a bit of sleep."

He ran a hand through his hair as he continued to frown at me. "Are you sure, Em? Cause you've-"

"Oh! I think someone's calling me, gotta go!"

As I sprinted away from him, I heard him say, "yes. I definitely believe that."

I sighed. I was not in the mood to deal with his overly caring attitude towards me. Obviously, I understood where he was coming from... but at the same time, right now, I just needed to work all of... this... out for myself.

My shoulders sagged as I stared at the door to the kitchens. Food was the last thing on my mind right now... Maybe some old fashioned tactics would be able to relieve my stress...

Elentiya's POV

"What do you want?" I demanded as Cal dragged me away from my brother. I glanced back, hoping to catch his gaze, but no luck. I sighed, it'd be fine if I stepped away for a couple of minutes.

"Ladon is acting strange lately."

I rolled my eyes. "Strange, how exactly?"

He dragged a hand through his hair awkwardly. "I don't know! He's acting strange! He's been hanging around you a lot and he's been looking at you like every two seconds!"

I pursed my lips as I tried to contain my laughter. "That's what this is about?"

"He's being suspicious, you should investigate him!"

I had to hold onto the wall as I burst out laughing. "Investigate, Ladon," I muttered to myself after I had composed myself, a smile still playing on my lips.

I met Cal's disapproving glare as he frowned deeply. "I wasn't joking," he grumbled.

"Wait. You actually want me to investigate him?"

"He could be really dangerous, 'Tiya. Neither of us know what he wants or what he's even doing here."

I rolled my eyes. "He's Luna's brother, dumbass."

"Oh, yes, because all siblings of your friends turn out to be good."

"I thought we weren't going to bring that up again," I snapped back with an icy glare.

He crossed his arms as he lifted his chin upwards. "You seem to have forgotten the lesson."

"Look, she was a bitch. Ladon is a perfectly nice-"

"How do you know?" Cal snapped. His composure completely fell as he stared at me with wild eyes. "How do you know that he won't betray you the first chance he gets?"

"He's not like-"

He gripped my shoulders tightly, giving me a small shake. "Wake up! He's not like that! What's happened to you? What spell has he put you under? Because the Elentiya I know-"

I shoved him backwards. "He's not like that! He's the kindest and nicest guy that I know, Cal! And he's my mate! So, if you insult him one more time, I'll make you regret it!"

Cal's eyes widened slightly, but I was ahead turning away. "I'm going to-"

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Get Emily," I murmured, my eyes fixed on Mal, who was lying still as he stared blankly at me. "Get her, now." I swallowed thickly, already knowing that we were too late in getting him back as I rushed to find a healer.

A/N

OMG! I actually finished this chapter! Go me! I'm so sorry for the wait guys! And thank you for being patient! Also, I will be publishing every other week now. Sorry about that, but with my current schedule, that seems to be what will work best for me, even if it's a bit inconvenient for everyone else.

Luna (August 9), 216

Elentiya & Cal (May 1), 201

Lyria (September 9), 186

Malatyr (March 20), 170

Emily (July 15), 169

Sam (February 27), 74

Connall (December 2), 72

Ladon (September 13), 20