Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 32: 32: Horrific

Read chapter 32 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

Llew woke to voices outside and thumps and bumps. Gentle thumps, like people trying not to make too much noise. And the voices were mostly steady, also kept low, only now and then rising in volume and speed. Excited. One of the voices belonged to Rowan. Llew didn’t recognize the others, but she probably wouldn’t know the voices of the two Turhmos soldiers who had gone to Hinden. She had to work to remember their names. Ivor and … Hopefully she would hear the other before she needed it, otherwise she would have to ask, and she wasn’t sure if that would be insulting. Probably. By the sound of it, their supplies had arrived from Hinden. Most excellent. Already smiling, Llew felt a pressure in her belly and her smile broadened as she relived Jonas’s and her time by the river just the day before. Too soon for a baby to settle. Too soon after Raena’s home? Maybe not. Perhaps she had been carrying Jonas’s child all this time. Perhaps today was the day she would feel its presence and gain its powers. Might today be the day that it and the Ajnais outside could help set things right? Jonas’s ministrations by the river might not have resulted in the seed for this child, but they were well worth recalling. Strong or weak, Jonas’s touch was certainly magic. Supplies and a baby to break the Aenuk-Karan barrier? It was going to be a grand day. She sat up and swung her legs off the bed and felt something in her belly drop, and a dampness beneath her. Oh. Oh no. She stood, clamping her bare thighs together and inspected the sheet where she had just sat. Not so bad. A slight reddish-brown smudge on the off-white linen. She reached behind her, locating a wet patch on her chemise, and her fingertips returned with a smear of blood. A little piece of her heart broke. “Uh.” She redoubled her thigh clamp. “Help?” She said it quietly, not really wanting help – well, not wanting to need help – and Karlani brushed aside the heavy curtain and stepped into the bedroom, alert; first looking to Jonas’s form on the bed, then Llew. Jonas also rolled over, his effort speaking of exhaustion. His lazy eye shifted between Llew and Karlani, questioning. It seemed he didn’t have the energy to voice a query. “Please, don’t make a fuss, but I need …” “You need … some stuff,” Karlani agreed. “Do you mind if I ask Elka? She’ll have a place for those things.” Llew sighed. “Fine.” She dared not move while Karlani was away. Thankfully Karlani’s Syakaran speed brought her back swiftly with a belted wad of clean linen in hand. “Get—” Llew started as she accepted the awkward gift. “—Jonas out to the trees,” Karlani finished for her. “On it.” Llew fitted the belt, donned a clean shift and camouflaged herself in one of Merrid’s less shapely dresses. Only when she was seated at the base of an Ajnai and Delwynn was administering the first syringe of blood to a listless Jonas did Llew finally let herself process and accept: she did not carry Jonas’s child. There would be no miracle cure today. Her jaw ached from the effort of holding back her tears. What good would crying do? They hadn’t been counting on a baby saving the day, anyway. In fact, Llew had been doubting she could have babies after Aris’s attack, which meant this was a good thing. Her body was whole. She should be happy. But for a brief few moments, she’d thought all of this – the needle pierced her skin again – was over, that she could heal Jonas with touch alone and they could make their way to the Taither tree where they could figure out how to get that tree to help Jonas heal close to fully. If she had carried his child might she have been able to return his Syakaran powers right here on the farm? Emotionally flat, Llew let her gaze settle on watching the Turhmosian soldiers, Karlani, and Alvaro empty Ard’s low-sided cart, carrying heavy sacks into the kitchen or to the cool sheds behind the house. That was something, at least. Their supplies had arrived. It would alleviate worries about food. Llew sighed, shifted