Being engaged to a fiery world that's lost in the darkness of her memory can be dangerous. In Acklemar, Wren learns every decision has a price--even love. Can the Travelers reach her in time to uncover the hidden secrets of her past and help her fin...
WOO! A Chapter? I know...sorry all. I run events for a living and every once and a while I have to focus on my job. (Although, it kills me not to be writing.) Hope you like the latest installment. Cheers!
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My freaky real dreams, I thought. I bet half of the Traveler's Guild knew about them by now. Astra wouldn't let us leave until I told her the whole story about Jaxon and the knife. I sighed, flopped onto my bed, and grabbed the wooden box my mother had given me off the nightstand.
"Sorry about the welts," I said glancing over at Sage as she propped a pillow behind her trying to get comfortable.
"It is what it is." She shrugged. "Actually, I think you're getting the worst punishment out of the three of us."
"Oh—?" I was surprised to hear she thought scratching welts was better than retrieving a healer.
"Well, yeah." She put down the medical list Josie had given her onto the bed. "By the time you get back, both Kellan and Jax could be here."
"No way, Jax told me, we had to wait for some portal to open just before my birthday for us to complete the trip back to Acklemar."
"Way," she said like was stating a fact. "If you have money, there are always other options and last time I checked..."
"Jax has the funds."
She cringed and nodded.
"Great." I sighed and shook the box. "If there's anything in this that can help, I'd sure like to see it."
Something bounced off the inside compartment making a rattling noise. I placed my palm over the stained wood sections and felt a path warm against my skin.
"Hey, I think I might be able to open it again."
I traced the darker section of wood this time, forming three loops. When my finger closed the design, the box popped open.
"Woo! What did mama give ya this time?" Sage said clamoring onto my bed peering into the box.
"Don't you have to go administer medical attention or something?" I asked, clutching the wooden chest in my hands.
"No-one's showed me where to go yet, and I'm not about to ask." She smirked, then pulled one of my pillows into her lap. "Besides, what are they going to do? Kick me out? They're kind of desperate for the medical help."
"Don't look at me. It's not like I'm going to tell them where you are."
I dumped the box onto the bed, and a single black stone landed among the flowers on the bedspread.
Sage plucked the gem between two fingers and took a closer look. "It's a black star sapphire. See how the light reflects a six-pointed star on the stone." She pointed to where the center of the gem.
"So?"
"A sapphire like this is rare. Most people would mistake it for a black star diopside that only reflects a four-pointed star. They aren't all that special." She paused, flipped the stone over in her fingers then passed it back. "My brother, Terrill was always trying to hunt one of these down. If I remember correctly, it has protection properties or safety."
