Chapter 832

I spend a long, long time in the stupid purifying bath that Pippa drew for me. And I spend most of that time crying.noveldrama

At first Pippa had been afraid when I had gasped, my hands slapping across my mouth, and instantly burst into tears. She had dashed to my side, desperate to help, but I had pushed her away - desperate to just concentrate on the voice echoing in my mind.

Because it had been Jackson - Jackson's voice in my head, echoing there, letting me know that he was near, somehow, by some miracle. And of course he'd wanted to barge right through these palace walls to get t to me - but it's too dangerous. My sweet, powerful mate will be instantly outmatched. Not even he can take on a whole castle, after all.

Just...the barest snatch of the conversation, and then his voice was gone as suddenly as it came. I had cried my little heart out then, sobbing into my hands. Pippa, darling that she is, simply ascribed my sadness to monthly hormonal issues and patted me on my shoulder before leaving the room, letting me have some time alone.

I let her think that I was just experiencing some weird PMS symptom, not wanting to explain. Because even as I'm coming to trust her and consider her a friend, I still think that her allegiances are to Atalaxia. And no one in Atalaxia really needs to know that my other mate is here.

But...where is here? Is Jacks...is he in the palace?

And why could I hear him, only for a moment?

Is he a part of the delegation that Moon Valley sent? I sink lower in my bath now that my tears have dried up. Idly, I blow bubbles in the cooling water, working hard to see all sides of this. But the more I think about it the more I realize that it would be ridiculous to send Jackson with a delegation of ambassadors. To begin with, he'd immediately stick out as a warrior amongst everyone else in the cohort. He's head and shoulders taller than anyone on ambassador track and he's built like someone sent to knock Atalaxian heads off their shoulders with a single blow.

And further, the Atalaxians know who he is and what he looks like. God, if they sent him disgused as an ambassador, he would be killed for certain, just as Gabriel promised he would be. Fear rushes through me but...

I mean, I think my family is clever enough to put all of that together...

Right?

God, I hope that they are.

But if not with the ambassadors...how is Jackson here? And why? Are there more troops surrounding the castle? My blood runs cold at the thought - at a mounting battle that could begin at any moment, and me here under Gabriel's spell unable to use my magic to aid anyone.

I scowl, lifting my pruney finger out

of the water and sighing as I look again at Jackson's lovely mini mark. My little piece of him that I get to carry forever. I smile a little, remembering the day he gave it to me, the feel of his sharp canine against my skin. A little shiver runs through me from head to foot.

God, I miss him so much. My sweetheart mate. All brutal and broody and wonderful. If I ever get out of here, the entire world is going to be hard pressed to pry me from his side for a single damn moment.

I sigh then, forcing my own brooding

temper aside and pushing myself up to sit higher in the water. Because the key element in that wonderful plan is to get out of here, and I'd better

er start thinking seriously about how 'm going to do that. I climb out of the tub, quickly toweling off before wrapping myself in one of the elaborate robes that Pippa keeps stocked in here, tying it in a knot around my waist.

Instead of moving to the vanity pressed against the far wall and beginning to comb my hair, though, I cross my arms over my chest and look around the room, frowning, wondering at the possibilities here. Because I've spent a great deal of time in the Land of Darkness now, encaged. And I'm starting to wonder...

Idly, I move to the far corner of the wall and press my hands against it, looking up at where walls meet the ceiling.

And then I shift, everything falling backwards in that disorienting way, before my feet hit hard in the dirt in that dark world. I grimace, a little, that I didn't think to put on a set of my slippers. But, whatever - because the results of my experiment intrigue me a great deal more than keeping my feet clean.

What is truly interesting here is that my hands aren't pressed up against the bars of the cage as they were against the walls of the room they're actually sticking through the bars. grimace a little, wondering if the bars would like...impale me, if I accidentally shifted from the other realm into this one directly where they are.