Chapter 17

It took a week in a deep healing sleep to repair the damage from my ride down the canyon. Three broken ribs, a shattered knee and ankle, ruptured spleen, torn ligaments - I hadn't been much better off than the Demon I'd landed on. But I was still alive.

The second week, I was too weak to get out of bed and did nothing but eat and sleep to recover. The third and fourth weeks I spent trying to regain the weight and strength I'd lost while keeping everyone from guessing my motivation.

Thanksgiving had passed and Christmas saw me almost fully recovered physically. I still got tired easily, so the big day was held at my aunts' instead of us returning to Shamrock like we normally did.

I gave Marcus a huge white chef's hat, which he thought was very funny, and a pound of mixed gummy candies. To my aunts, I gave them a variety of knickknacks that I'd collected while Marcus and I had been touring the country.

Marcus and my aunts decided to be funny and made me a giant scratching post so that I'd quit tearing up the furniture. I decided to exact revenge come their birthdays.

For Talon, though, I had a college friend of mine take some portraits. There were the usual facial shots but also some tastefully nude photos that managed to de-emphasize my scars, which bothered him some days. He'd talked a few times about wanting some pictures of me, so I thought he'd like them.

Talon's gift to me was a gift card to a book store inside a generic Christmas card. It made me really upset, though I'd tried not to show it. It would have been one thing if I'd been talking about a whole slew of books I wanted but couldn't afford, but this felt like a last minute, I-don't-really-care type of gift. And that hurt me, a lot.

Talon had stayed with me the first two weeks, hardly leaving my side while they treated him, too, though he still hadn't removed the block in our bond. He told me he wanted to give me time to fully heal first. It wasn't quite a lie, but it was close. Something was wrong but he wouldn't tell me what and I was positive he thought I could find out if he opened himself to me again. But after his Christmas gift, I began to wonder if he just didn't want me anymore.

It didn't take long before Anasia's followers tried to break her out. They failed only because they'd made the attempt too soon, when everyone was still vigilant. But where they failed, I would succeed and justice would truly be served.

"We'll take the prisoner from here," the woman beside me stated, grabbing one arm of the bound person while I grabbed the other. The guards who'd been escorting the prisoner back to her cell exchanged glances but said nothing, releasing her to us and walking off.

"About time," the prisoner, Anasia, grumped. "What took your lazy carcasses so long? I've been here for weeks!"