Curse Breaker (2)

6

Reality strikes me with a jolt.

My breath comes in short, sharp gasps as I open my eyes. Lei and Killian blink into vision, hovering over me as the rest of my surroundings harden.

Killian's mouth moves, but his voice is slightly delayed. "Can you hear me?"

I can still taste tangy apples. The scent of cinnamon wafts through the air.

Killian's fingers brush my chin, tilting it upwards. "Freya?"

I nod, my head chafing against the solid surface. As the cave and my memory blurs into vision, I jolt into a sitting position. The sharp movement makes my head spin. Josul kneels a few feet away, his eyes on me. Behind him, Sanaa stands with her chin lifted, expression curious.

"What... what did you do to me?" I ask, breathless as I gaze around.

Lei kneels by my side. Killian, with a hand still on the small of my back, eyes me cautiously, as if I'm about to light on fire just as Josul did mere moments ago. I shift forward so his hand drops away.

"There's something blocking your mind," Josul says. "Something I can't delve past. What you saw... does it mean something to you? Your father, your brother and...someone else."

"Casimir," I whisper.

It had felt so real. But as I dart my eyes around the cave, the permanence of the setting sets in. My father, Casimir, Samu, the warmth of the cabin--it was all but a memory. I grasp at it, trying to hold the warmth of it close, but it slips through my fingers like sand.

"It was two nights before last years Red Moon," I say. "Before they took Samu and... and killed my father."

The pie, teasing Casimir about Samu's obsessions with him, the glimmer in my father's eye as he served us. The memory is a sacred one. I've held it close to my heart all this time, one of the last times we were together and happy. But when I think of that night, I never remember a knock on the door. I don't remember going into the forest. I don't remember... the workshop.

"Was that real?" I ask Josul. "All of it? You didn't put something in my head?"

He shakes his head. "I can't put things in your head, Freya."

"What did you see?" Sanaa asks.

"What happened that night?" Josul asks me. "I couldn't see past that house."

"That's the thing. I don't remember the knock on the door. I don't remember my father taking me into the forest."

"Did you recognise the house?"

I nod, turning to look at Killian. He kneels at my side, meeting my gaze. "He took me to Myers' workshop."

Killian's eyes narrow. Even through that guarded mask, I see his mind ticking over as he connects the dots, pathways I'm not privy to.

"Who is Myers?" Sanaa asks.

I take a deep breath before pushing to my feet, brushing off the black sand sticking to my body. "He's... he's just a crazy old man."

"There must be something more."

"There's not," I say. "Killian will tell you himself, he's met him."

They all turn to Killian for answers. He furrows his brows, looking at me and then to Sanaa. "She's right, he isn't all there. But..."

Lei nudges him when he trails off. "But?"

Killian looks at me. "But he knew about the deserters. He knew Casimir was one, and that he suspected I was too."

"Myers is a deserter?"