The Binding

Chapter Fifteen

"Everything is happening too fast. I don't like it," Leif's hoarse whisper drifted through the dark room. My body felt remote and alien. I nearly sighed in relief as I felt a binding trickle across my skin. At least that was familiar and oddly pleasant. I thought I should move, sit up or stretch, but I strangely lacked the ambition.

   "The world doesn't alter its speed to suit your desires, Leif."

   Someone was pacing the room lightly. "Everything is changing. She should be dead." Leif kept his voice low.

   "And yet she isn't."

   I heard a dog dark plaintively outside. I could feel the presence of the woods around me— life beating green, brown, and red against the walls of the house. The branches and needles of the trees swayed rhythmically alongside the wind, like a heartbeat. It felt mysteriously familiar and mesmerizing. I could feel Ezra nearby. I could track his progress through the room, his energy pulsing white and hot. If I closed my eyes, I could almost see it.

   "Did you recognize her?"

   "No."

   "Why go after a child? It's meaningless?"

   Ezra scoffed almost amused. "You're still very chivalrous. It's a very modern attitude. Her goal was revenge. Age has no meaning. It was her right."

   Leif made a stunned, guttural noise. "What would you have done if she had won?"

   "I would have killed her."

   The air in the room vibrated like an animal ready to spring. Ezra wished he had killed her himself and had nowhere to channel his unspent energy. "It's astonishing. She should be half dead, but she looks no worse than if she had a bad cold."

   "No one as young as she is has killed before. We don't know the rules any more," Leif answered. "Everything is changing."

   "The girl's timing was perfect," Ezra said. "How did she know?"

   "She'd been watching you and waiting for centuries," I answered. My voice croaked dry and cracked as I spoke.

   Ezra was standing next to me the next instant. "Drink this. It will help." My fingers closed around a glass. It was heavy, and my hand shook as I tried to lift it. The juice it tasted like bliss and nirvana, and all the happiness in the world. I felt as if I was gulping it down greedily, but the glass never seemed to empty. I took a deep breath and held it against my chest. I'd never tasted anything so extraordinary.

   Ezra waited patiently for me to finish before speaking. "What did she tell you?"

   "She was a Moabite. She said you knew what she was and that you killed her family in front of her."

   Leif looked at Ezra. "Have you been to Moab?"

   Ezra nodded, "Several times."

   "So she conveniently arrives in town to stalk you at the exact moment you fall for Kaja. Very lucky for her... or rather unlucky for her." Leif eyed me critically. "She got more than she was expecting this time."

   "We all got more than we were expecting," Ezra countered.

   Leif frowned. "I don't like it. Even if someone were keeping watch on Kaja and anticipating her crossing over, no one would have predicted you marrying her. Either the girl had extraordinary timing, or she had been watching your every move for years... maybe well, more than a thousand." He looked over at Ezra with a doubtful expression. "She was staying at The Benson," Leif pulled out a small wallet with a hotel keycard. "We need to go to her room and see what she left behind."