Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 36

The next day…

“I knewyou were too stubborn to die.” Reece was smiling broadly, something he hadn’t done in the longest time. He was that happy to see his friend alive and well.

“It’s time for your draught,” Evander said brightly from the doorway, holding up a goblet.

“Now?” Locke growled.

Evander looked down at the floor.

“Fine,” Locke sighed. “I’ll take it.”

Evander walked over to the bed, handing the goblet filled with green, gloopy liquid to Locke. “It will help with pain and will aid you in healing more quickly.” He looked at Reece. “Hello.”

“Hi,” Reece said.

Locke took a tentative sip. He groaned, grimacing. “I think you might be trying to kill me with this stuff, instead,” he muttered.

“I’m glad you made it out alive,” Evander said to Reece. “I heard that you were there when Ekon was killed.”

Reece nodded. He felt himself frown.

“You helped save the queen…our people,” Evander went on, sounding animated.

Reece nodded again. He wasn’t sure what to say. Several of his people had thanked him for his service. If anything, it made him uncomfortable. He had everything to do with the queen getting taken and very little to do with her rescue.

“I hear that his right hand Feral, Kwan – was that his name? I heard that Kwan died in battle?”

“I wasn’t there.” Reece tried not to sound irritated. “It is my understanding that your information is correct.” He nodded once.

“Of course.” Evander lifted his eyebrows. “You were protecting the queen.”

Reece held back a snort. Hardly! He nodded again.

“Leave us, Evander.” Locke sounded irritated, very unlike his normal self.

“My apologies,” Evander said to Locke. “You really should drink more of your draught while it is fresh.

Locke made a noise of irritation and took a big sip. Disgust marred his features for a moment.

“One last question,” Evander continued. “What was Ekon like?”

“He was an evil bastard.” Reece muttered.

“Did he say anything before he died? Did he—”

“He spouted a whole lot of evil shit!” Reece muttered. “Not even worth repeating.”

“Go away, healer!” Locke growled.

“Of course! Forgive me.” He gave a little bow of deference to Locke, walking backward. “It was good to see you, Reece. Thank you again for your service.” He spoke rapidly, quickly turning and leaving the room.

Locke rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dislike anyone,” Reece said.

“He’s like a buzzing fly. It’s almost like he knows when someone comes to visit. It’s buzz…buzz…buzz. Feeding me this crap.” He put the goblet down on the side table with a bang.

“You died yesterday,” Reece said. “It will take you a little while to get your strength back.” He noticed the dark smudges under his friend’s eyes. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

“Me too.” His eyes clouded, which was in contradiction with his words. “I’m sorry they took the queen. I fought with everything—”

“Stop there!” Reece looked down at his lap for a moment. He sighed. “I’m to blame for those bastards taking the queen.”

“I know why you’re blaming yourself and you’re wrong.”

“You have no idea why I feel this way,” Reece argued.

Locke smirked, looking more like his normal self. “Just because you were mounting the good doctor, does not mean that you were to blame for any of what happened.”

Reece felt his mouth drop open and his eyes bug out of his skull. He felt everything in him bristle. “How did you know? Did Hope tell you?”

“I’m not an idiot.” Locke chuckled. “You wanted to hang around so that you could apologize to Hope after your fight over Shard.”

“What’s so far-fetched about that?”

“The way you asked me so nicely to do it. I knew instantly that something was up.”

“You were off duty. I couldn’t command you to leave.” Reece sounded exasperated.

Locke snorted. “It’s never stopped you before. You were so damned nice…” He shook his head, laughing. “Please give me two hours. I need to make things right.” Locke impersonated Reece’s voice. “I need to apologize with my cock.” He laughed harder.

“You knew!”

“I suspected it when I got home to a broken lamp and a glowing, smiley Hope. If I had any doubt left, it was obliterated the following night. You guys weren’t quiet at all. I’m not deaf.”

“Why didn’t you say anything, you prick?”

Locke leveled him with a stare. “You would’ve stopped mounting her?”

“Damn straight, I would have stopped. And the queen would never have been taken.”

Locke laughed so hard that he ended up gripping his neck. “That hurts.”

“What’s so funny?” Reece snarled.

“You.” Locke took a sip of the draught and screwed up his face for a moment. “That’s vile. You’ve been really hard on yourself. Too hard. You’re so busy blaming yourself for everything that you don’t see the wood for the trees.”

“What does wood and blasted trees have to do with anything? I know it’s probably one of those stupid human sayings, but right now I want answers.”

Locke sighed. “You’re so busy blaming yourself that you’re not thinking logically. Let’s just imagine that you had been with Zaire at the castle. Hope would’ve come back with me. Those Fallen fucks would have overthrown you and Zaire. They might’ve injured or killed Magnar and the king. They would’ve taken Claire.”

“You don’t know that—”

“I do! We weren’t expecting them. We were unprepared. Ekon was clever to feed our spies misinformation. It left us vulnerable—”

“I left us vulnerable!” Reece hit his fist against his chest.

“You are strong, but you are one male. You would have been overthrown. If you had not been there yesterday, it could have ended badly for Hope and the queen.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Reece muttered.

“You are too modest. You stopped those two Fallen males from taking the queen.”

“Magnar and Leukos were there moments later…I didn’t stop them.” He shook his head. “I need to tell Leukos—"

“You did save the queen!” Locke took his wrist in a feeble grip. The male was far weaker than he let on. “You saved her…and Hope, too. You bought them valuable time. None of us are perfect. We all make mistakes. Don’t throw everything away. You could not have stopped those Fallen from taking the queen, even if you were in the right place. You fought hard. You did save her in the end, and you should be proud.”

“I don’t feel proud. I feel like I need to tell—”

“No! It won’t solve anything. You’ll try to appease your guilt and you’ll fail. You may end up losing the head guard position over nothing. Over a moment’s weakness. A mistake.”

“Hope isn’t a mistake!” Reece blurted.

Locke grinned, his eyes brightening up even though he was ghostly pale. “You’re in love. Holy shit!” He choked out a laugh.

“Love is a strong word.” He shook his head. “No, it’s not love. It’s too soon—”

“You’re in love. Just admit it already.”

“I have strong feelings.”

“Okay, fine…strong feelings. What are you going to do about it?”

Reece shrugged, feeling miserable. “I don’t know.”

He looked at the cardboard box he had left by the door.

“What is that?” Locke asked.

“I need to deliver those to Hope. It’s medical supplies she ordered…recently.” She’d ordered them the previous day as soon as she got back home. They included that pill she had talked about. The one that stopped pregnancy.

“Oh,” Locke said. “You’re going to take them to her so that you can tell her your feelings.”

Reece shook his head.

“You must!” Locke insisted.

“I will scare her. Hope isn’t ready for a relationship.” Reece shook his head.

“You don’t know that. Play it cool. Don’t dive straight in and tell her you love her. Take it slow. Maybe ask her on a date.”

A date?

No!

It was a terrible idea. “I’ll figure it out.”

“You’re going to talk to her, though?” Locke lifted his brows. Then he yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth.

“Yes,” Reece stood. “I’m going to talk to her. Then I’m going to see Leukos.”

“I told you not to tell him about—”

“I’m not planning to tell him about mounting Hope during my shift. Although I might still change my mind about that.”

“Don’t you dare change your mind.”

Reece sat back down. “I need to talk to him about Shard.”

“What about the male?” Locke yawned again.

“You need your rest.” He started to stand.

“What about Shard?” Locke insisted.

“I think that Shard is…was a spy for Ekon. In fact, I’m sure of it. There were a handful of Feral who knew about Claire being in that abandoned tower. I trust you, Andy, and Zaire with my life. Magnar and Leukos would never have divulged that kind of information to anyone…that leaves Shard. I’ve thought it through. It has to be him.”

“I don’t think so.” Leukos shook his head.

“I know it!”

“You should speak with the males. Delise too. Someone might have said something. It may have been an oversight. I don’t think it was Shard.”

“You don’t even know that asshole. You don’t know him as I do,” Reece snarled.

“Your opinion of the male is biased. You see the young, stupid Shard who stole your female out from under you. That’s all you see. You’ve let the anger and the hurt cloud your judgment where he is concerned.”

“Where the fuck is this coming from?” Reece stood up.

“It’s not coming from anywhere,” Locke said, sounding frustrated. “Perhaps you are right about him.”

“I am!” Reece snarled.

“Think carefully before you approach Leukos with this. Gather evidence.”

“Where the hell do I get evidence from?” Reece knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t help it. Shard still had the ability to make him rage inside.

“Keep the possibility in the back of your mind that you might be wrong about Shard. The real spy could end up getting away with it.”

“I trust every person who knew. Everyone but him. It had to have been him.”

“You need evidence.”

By feather!Something that Hope had told him about her ex came back to him. “You’re right, Locke. You’re absolutely right. Why didn’t any of us think about it sooner? We could’ve weeded out the spies long ago.” He started towards the door.

“What are you going to do?”

“You rest up,” he said over his shoulder as he walked away.

“Tell me!” Locke shouted after him.

Reece smiled. He was finally going to prove to his flock just what kind of male Shard was.