Page 66 of The Searching Songbird

She nodded against his hand, her eyes lighting with a determined glint that made his chest warm with pride.

“Now, let's get out of here, yeah?”

She gave him a small smile. “Let's.”

Click.

The sharp sound of metal striking metal had them all turning as one to face the elderly gentleman standing at the end of the hallway. The butler, if Draven had to guess based on his appearance. A butler who was somehow in possession of an Antoski firearm. Draven cursed under his breath as he took in the shiny, double barrels aimed their way. How the hell did a butler in Flores get his hands on one of Antos' best kept military secrets? The newly developed weapons had been made from plans the boss had drawn up himself, much to the delight of Antos' war-crazy king, Benedict Ascania.

“Ahem.” The butler took a few, sedate steps in their direction, looking them over with an expression almost as devoid of emotion as his voice. He kept the firearm trained on Draven as he spoke.

“If you would all kindly come with me, his lordship will see you now.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Enter.”

The baron's voice called through the door in response to Lily's soft knock. Why was she knocking on the door of a mad man's study? Because the butler had prompted her to, of course.

The butler who was, at present, aiming a very odd-looking weapon in their direction. Which was apparently quite dangerous, or so Draven had indicated when she'd asked him about it in a hushed voice during their march up the stairs. The butler had ahem-ed from behind them, keeping her from asking any follow-up questions about the strange device.

She had to admit it did look rather intimidating.

With a deep breath in to steady her nerves, she grasped the knob and pushed the door to the study open. Stepping inside, she froze in her tracks as she turned her gaze to the side and spotted Fia.

A scream split the air and it wasn't until a few moments later that she realized the noise was coming from her. She couldn't think, couldn't make sense of all the blood, so much blood... too much blood. Vaguely, she felt Draven's hand touch her shoulder, but her body convulsed under the contact, and he let it fall away. Stumbling forward, she fell to the floor in front of Fia's mutilated body, crawling the last few feet until she could wrap the still-warm woman in her arms. Sobs wracked her body and she let her head fall forward, burying her face in the woman's neck as she wept.

I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.

“Even distressed she's a thing of beauty, is she not? My sweet Lady Helena, so full of compassion.”

I'm sorry, Fia. I'm sorry.

“She isn't your lady, you disgusting piece of shit.”

Sorry... I'm...

The voices in the room rose, but their words became muffled, as if underwater. All Lily could think about was the broken body held tightly within her arms and the overwhelming desire to fix it, to make it whole. To see Fia's eyes looking back at hers with a renewed light, freed of the darkness that had been cast upon her. She's still so warm... so... so hot?

Lily gasped as she felt Fia's body heating up beneath her touch. A pulling sensation tugged at her stomach, and her pulse quickened as she felt the flow of energy moving through her body. It drew from her core, flowing through her veins until it reached her hands, where it shot out in little pulses from her palms.

Fia's body began to tremble, lightly at first, then harder, until Lily could barely keep her arms around her. The pulling sensation increased, until she would swear her stomach was turning inside-out. A phoenix can heal itself...

A soft light began to emanate from Lily's hands, spreading out and covering Fia's body until her entire figure glowed.

And I...

Fia's lips parted on a breathy gasp and her eyes fluttered open, locking on Lily's as the realization of what was happening flooded her senses.

“I healed you,” she whispered, staring down at Fia in awe. “You're alive.”

The moment was broken by a slow clapping sound. Lily pulled Fia against her chest as she glared up at the monster standing above them.

“Incredible,” he breathed, staring down at the two of them in wonder. “You. Are. Incredible!”

He burst out in joyous laughter, clapping his hands together once again. Spinning around, he called out to the others still standing near the door. “Can you believe this? First she has her bird bite my finger off, the cheeky devil, then she attempts to steal my favorite toys out from under my nose, and now look! She's used some sort of healing magic to fix the doll I had so much fun tearing apart.” He turned his fanatical grin back toward Lily. “You are twice the woman your mother ever was. You're an absolute marvel!”

He spun in a circle before sinking down onto his desk with a satisfied sigh. “I'm so going to enjoy breaking you.”“You son of a -” With a roar, Draven ran across the room and lunged at him, wrapping his hands around the baron's throat. “I'll kill you!”Bang!