The Black King (Book 7) Read Online Free PDF Page B

desperation in her voice that he had never heard, not even when he spoke of coming to Blue Isle and she had done everything she could to stop it. She had Seen his death here, she said, and she had Seen herself having a child by a blond man, a man who somehow broke her heart.
    “What happened?” he asked again. “Did someone hurt you?”
    “No.”
    “Then what?”
    “I just don’t like it here. Please, Daddy. Let’s go home.”
    He wished Lyndred was still a little girl so that he could pick her up and hold her. She was in such distress he didn’t know how to take care of her now. So he did as he would with any woman who was upset. He put his arm around her, led her to one of the chairs, moved some clothes off of it, and helped her sit. Then he took the nearest footstool and sat on it, pulling it close.
    “Tell me what you’ve Seen.”
    She bowed her head. “You sound like her. She makes me tell her all I See.”
    “That’s normal, honey. Visionaries compare Visions.”
    “She’s never told me what she Sees.”
    “That’s her right.”
    Lyndred raised her head. “You don’t understand, Daddy. I don’t think she Sees anything. I think her Vision is gone.”
    Bridge took a deep breath. That made sense. The headaches, the long sleep, the lack of memory. He’d seen that happen to some of his older friends. Sometimes they lost the power of speech too, or the use of an arm. Perhaps something had ruptured inside Arianna’s mind. And while she seemed awfully young for that to happen, she had an unusual heritage. And the Fey had never seen a cross that had resulted in a Shifter and a Visionary in the same person. Perhaps that dual magick had taken a toll of its own.
    “Why does that frighten you, that her Vision is gone?”
    “She can’t lead with no Vision. And she can’t continue to use mine.”
    Now they were getting to it. “Why not?”
    “Because it’s not right. I See my Visions, not hers.”
    That was technically true, but in those words there was a desperation that had nothing to do with ruling the Fey Empire and everything to do with Lyndred.
    “And what did you see in your Vision?” he asked. “What don’t you want Arianna to know?”
    “Oh, Daddy.” Lyndred bowed her head, but not before he saw the familiar look of surprise in her eyes. She was still his little girl, amazed that he could see through her.
    “I won’t tell her,” Bridge said. “That’s entirely your decision.”
    Lyndred rubbed her eyes with her forefinger and thumb, then shook her head.
    “You should discuss it,” he said. “I am a Visionary, even if I’m a small one. A shared Vision—”
    “I know.” She sounded irritated, but it was mostly reflex.
    He waited. She gave a shuddery sigh, then said, “I watched her die.”
    His breath caught. “We all die, Lyndred. Sometimes we see that Vision.”
    She nodded. She knew that. He had made certain she was educated about her abilities. “She...crumbled, like sand does in someone’s fingers.”
    He frowned but kept his hands on her shoulders, careful not to change the pressure. “Was she old?”
    “She looked the same as she does now. Only grayer.”
    “Like stone?”
    “I guess.”
    He didn’t say anything for a moment, and neither did she. There was already one Golem on this Isle. He had heard of it long before he came. It was named Sebastian and it had been formed by Gift, but it had a life greater than Gift’s. Like the Golems of old, the ones that were said to house the souls of dead Black Kings—
    He shuddered, and Lyndred felt it.
    “What is it?” He could hear the concern in her voice. “What did I say wrong?”
    “Have you ever touched Arianna?” he asked.
    “All the time. She puts her hand on my arm, or pulls me forward. It’s strange, really. I mean, it’s like she feels we’re sisters or something.”
    He wasn’t going to be sidetracked by that observation. He’d seen Arianna’s attachment to Lyndred too, and had been unable to fathom