Read Online The Blaze Ignites by Nichelle Rae - Free Book Online Page B

able to see the baby smile up at me and say, “Am I
all better now?”
    I smiled. “You sure are.” I looked up at
Nekinda. She was staring at her son with big tear-filled eyes and
was covering her mouth with both of her hands. “You’re right, he is
a good talker.”
    Cairikson turned his head to look at her.
“Hi, Mama.”
    Nekinda smiled and her tears spilled over
when her eyes crinkled with the smile. “Hi, baby,” she squeaked,
her voice cracking.
    Cairikson looked up at me again. “Can I go
see my mama?”
    “Of course you can,” I said, still trying to
fight off fatigue.
    I leaned towards Nekinda to hand her back her
son. “No wait, please,” she said, stopping me. “Please just hold
onto him for a moment.”
    Confused, I sat back again as she crawled
over and caressed his face. “My son, do you know how much I love
you?”
    “I love you too, Mama.”
    Nekinda sobbed softly, then swallowed
heavily. “I know you do, sweetie. Now listen to me very carefully,
okay? This is the White Warrior. You’ve heard me tell you of the
great deeds the White Warrior has done. Do you remember those
stories?” Cairikson nodded. “She is a very, very good, brave,
powerful person.”
    “I know it, Mama. She made me all better. I
don’t feel sick anymore.”
    Nekinda’s tears were falling like rain. “I
know she did, sweetheart. Now listen, I want you to listen to her
and do as she says, just like you do with me. She’ll look out for
you until she gets you home to Galad Kas. She always knows what’s
best. Do you understand me, honey?”
    “I do, but why are you talking like this,
Mama? I’m scared.” His eyes filled with tears as I wondered the
same thing.
    “I know you’re scared, but the White Warrior
will never let harm come to you, or those that are good. There’s
nothing to be afraid of while you’re with her, okay?”
    “Yes Mama, but why are you talking funny
still?”
    Nekinda leaned down and kissed her son’s
forehead several times. “Because sweetie, she saved your life, and
now Mama has to save hers in return. She’ll explain things to you
when she feels she should. Now I want you to close your eyes and
count to twenty. Remember how to count?”
    “I do,” he said hesitantly, then closed his
eyes and began counting.
    I leaned forward. “Nekinda, what are you
doing?” I whispered.
    “I can’t let you be discovered. It would mean
more lives than my son’s…or my own.”
    My brows dropped, “What do you…”
    “Thank you, White Warrior, for saving my
son,” she interrupted. With that she reached down and yanked my
Salynn blade from my holster. Before I could stop her, she plunged
it into her heart.
    “NO!” I screamed, and the small room exploded
with voices and movement.
    As I watched in horror, the air grew thick
and everything seemed to slow down before my eyes. Nekinda was
falling backward with my knife protruding out of her chest and
Cairikson’s eyes were opening. I gasped and pulled the blanket over
his face so he wouldn’t see his mother’s dead body. I forced myself
to my feet and practically threw the boy into Ortheldo’s arms. “Get
him out of here!” Without question, Ortheldo quickly carried the
screaming boy outside.
    I ran back to Nekinda and fell to my knees at
her side, but I was too late. Her fair face was shrouded in a grey
cloud of death, her lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling and a
blood pool expanding around her. I covered my face with both my
hands and silently begged for an answer to this.
    I looked at her again a moment later,
completely confused and hurt. “Why?” I whispered looking into her
dead eyes. “You had a son to live for.”
    I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I
was slowly pulled back against my brother’s chest as he kneeled
behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “Azrel,” Rabryn said,
“she was linked to Hathum by Jonoic.”
    My head snapped around to look at him, which
only made the fierce pounding in my head worse