Chapter Eighteen:

*~*~Adrian~*~*

He needed to stop thinking that the worst had happened. His jaw clenched as he slid down another hill. She was probably out here investigating without him. He wanted to believe that she was fine but something in the back of his mind told him that wasn’t the case. Dammit! Where could she be?

Leon mentioned that he’d spotted her not too long ago but with her teleportation, she could be anywhere. Adrian stopped and ran a hand through his hair. Why was she moving around so much? He exhaled as she teleported again. Dammit. Should he even go that way? What if she teleported again? He tried to talk to her several times. There was no response but since she hadn’t used her magic recently, there was no way for her to talk back to him.

[Stay there. I’m coming.] He tried one more time. Hopefully, she wouldn’t ignore him again. He waited a few minutes. This time she stayed in the same spot. He rushed forward again. Adrian wanted to get there before she changed her mind and teleported again.

He slid down a hill and stopped. He was nowhere near her but he smelled blood. There were several spots he was smelling blood on. Several branches had blood on them and there were spots of blood on the ground here and there. Adrian kicked dirt over the spots on the ground. The biggest amount of blood was over by some rocks. He knelt beside the rocks and found blood. Even though it was the most amount of blood he’d seen, it was still small. Just an inch in diameter. Some dirt was kicked on it before he decided to flip the rock over.

Adrian wasn’t sure if the sorcerer could still use the blood like this but it was better to be safe. He didn’t need to fight Marie on top of a bunch of wolves. Adrian frowned. His bad feeling increased. What happened while he was sleeping?

He continued to follow the link. His nose picked up the scent of blood. Dammit. The closer he got, the stronger the smell became. He sped up, as he scanned the area. Adrian slid to a stop as he spotted a figure sitting in the dark.

Marie was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, with her eyes closed. He walked over to her and knelt down. She opened her eyes and glanced around before she looked at him. Marie frowned and looked away.

“Why didn’t you stay in one spot?” His voice was sharper than he intended. She flinched and pressed her lips together as she tensed. His eyes narrowed. That wasn’t like her. He knelt down beside her and checked her injuries. Based on the smell of blood, there was a wound on the back of her head and several cuts all over her body. He reached out to check her head but she moved away. Marie tensed again as she put her hand up to her mouth and breathed slowly. Nausea. Based on her symptoms, it was clear she had a concussion.

“I want to check your injuries.”

“I’m fine.”

“You have a concussion and, from what I understand, that messes with your ability to cast magic.” Magic required concentration. Anything that messed with the ability to think hindered a magic user’s ability to cast magic. It was the only weakness that he knew of besides running out of magic. But then how was she teleporting? She pressed her lips together but said nothing. Marie leaned forward and waited as he gently moved her hair so he could look. There was a small cut on the back of her head that had some swelling.

"What's your name?"

"You know my name."

"This is to check how alert you are. I can always just call Leon."

"Marie." He wondered why she refused to mention her last name but it wasn’t important right now.

"Age?"

"Nineteen." He asked her several more questions about the current month and day. She answered them correctly.

"Do you remember how you got here?"

“Is this a part of your questions?” He could feel himself smiling. This actually was part of the questions he was supposed to ask. It just so happened that he also wanted to know.

“It is. I need to check whether or not you remember how you got your head injury.” She stayed silent and he wasn’t sure whether or not it was due to her not wanting to answer his questions.

“I walked here.”

“How did you get your injury?” Again the silence. “Marie?” She pressed her lips together and looked away. It looked like she didn’t remember. "I'm going to call Leon and get him over here." Adrian stood up and pulled out his cell phone. She stood up and swayed for a moment.

“I don’t need his help.” He steadied her as she glared at him. Irritability and anxiety were also symptoms if he remembered correctly.

“You would rather fight the sorcerer with no magic?” She didn’t say anything to that. Adrian picked her up and gently put her back down on the ground. Marie tensed briefly but didn’t try to get up again. Adrian called Leon and got him up to speed before he gave him directions to their location. Once his call was done, he took off his jacket and placed it on her. Marie had started to shiver in the middle of his call. She thanked him but still wasn’t looking at him.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“Was I supposed to?” Her brow furrowed as her confusion increased.

“What do you remember?”

“I was chasing a magic signal.” Her words weren’t sure.

“After that?”

“I took care of it.” Her words sounded a little more sure this time.

“Took care of what?” During the wedding reception, when Marie had left to take care of something, he had gone outside for some air. A man had come out of the forest and explained what was going on between Marie and some of the wolves. Adrian had listened but he’d decided to take what he heard with a grain of salt. It was possible that the man had been trying to make trouble among the wolves but now he was starting to think differently.

“Was it werewolves?” He felt her surprise before she quickly shoved it down.

“Why would it be werewolves?”

“I talked to Jesse.” More surprise before her emotions turned wary.

“I took care of it.” So it was true then. She’d gotten attacked and those three were the cause of it. He would need to thank Jesse the next time he saw him. Adrian looked her over again. Based on her injuries, it didn’t look like they had managed to hurt her even in this state. Another secret for him to figure out.

Adrian turned towards the sounds of someone approaching. He peered into the darkness and waited. A person came into view. Leon carefully made his way over a log before continuing to make his way towards them. Dragons didn’t have night vision but the man probably used magic to find them. He glanced back at Marie. She definitely wouldn’t answer his questions with someone else here. Better to wait until they were alone.

“I almost walked past." Leon smiled at him before he knelt down on her other side. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Marie.” He held out his hand as he spoke. “I’d like to touch you so I can heal you.” He waited for her to nod before putting his hand lightly on her shoulder. After about five minutes, Leon stood up. “All healed.” She thanked him as she took off the jacket and stood up. The dragon addressed his next question to Adrian. “Will you be needing my help with anything else?” Adrian looked towards Marie. He knew she would want to handle this affair without any extra help. Then again even though Leon would be a big help, he would also be in danger. A dragon would fetch a high price, dead or alive. It would be better not to chance it.

“No, thank you for the offer.” Marie glanced at him before looking at Leon.

“What do I owe you?” Leon shook his head as he smiled at her.

“You don’t owe me anything. Well, since you don’t need me for anything more, I’ll be heading back now.” Leon bid farewell before he started walking back home. Adrian turned to find Marie offering his jacket back. He took it and put it back on her shoulders.

“I brought it for you to use.” She thanked him again but she didn’t look happy.

“We should head back already. We don’t have much time left.” He held out his hand and she took it. Between one blink and the next, Adrian found himself in Marie’s room. She walked over to the counter and picked something up before heading his way. Marie held out a pouch of herbs. It looked like the one he’d picked up at the house. Or maybe not. He tilted his head as he compared it to the smell he remembered.

“What’s this?”

“Extra protection.” Adrian stared at it for a moment before putting it in his pocket. Marie looked at her watch. He could see that they only had ten more minutes. They were as ready as they were going to be. Hopefully, it would be enough.