Free The Ring Bearer by Felicia Jedlicka

and continued to walk away. The baby wailed as she tromped past them.  
    “It’s her leg,” Nevia said as Leona passed. Leona whipped her head around to face her as she stopped. “The baby’s leg is broken, that’s why she won’t stop crying.”
    “What?” Leona hissed. “How do you know that?”
    “She smells of pain, her left leg is hanging limp, and she cries more after she is moved or tousled.”
    “You think I hurt my child?”
    “I’m not saying that. Babies are fragile. It happens. I am merely suggesting that you stop by the infirmary to see your sister and have the doctor check it.”
    “I will not be told how to care for my child,” she fumed.
    “ I don’t tell people how to care for their children. That’s the council’s territory isn’t it?” Leona shuffled off, though with slightly less speed, since she seemed to sense the change in the child’s pitch as she started moving again.
    Heaton and Daniel exchanged looks and brought their attention to Nevia. A dozen or so questions leapt to his mind. Before Daniel could ask them Heaton and Nevia turned quizzical faces back on him. A dozen or so questions were on their minds as well. Before anyone could riposte, Callin cleared his throat.
    “I don’t suppose anyone is interested in taking me to the infirmary.” Callin looked pale as he held of his bloody finger to them. He still had hope that it might be reattached. Fortunately, Frederique did not swallow it. Thankfully raw flesh was not nearly as appealing to werewolves while they were in human form.
    It took a moment for Daniel to get the hint from Heaton and Nevia’s dead stare that they expected him to do something about this. “This power is starting to suck,” he grumbled before trying to save Callin’s dismembered digit.
     
     
     
    10
    Somewhere amidst the tears, Cori had drifted off to sleep in Ethan’s arms. She was surprised to find him still holding her when she woke up. She had apologized to him for everything, but none of that seemed to matter to him. All he wanted was to see her. That should have been a good thing, but she had a feeling it only meant that the issues from this new betrayal would come back to haunt her later.
    She was about to force the issue when she heard a metallic tap on the door. They both looked over and saw Belus slip into the still unlocked door with a pile of papers in his hands. The guards had either given up on keeping people out, or Belus didn’t offer enough risk for them to bother. If they knew him better they might still have let him in, but for different reasons.
    He also closed it behind him to offer the appearance of privacy even if there was none to be had. Cori removed herself from Ethan’s arms and sat beside him on the bed. She was relieved and ecstatic to see Belus. She wanted to hug him, but as per his instructions, not to mention his abhorrence for her feminine zeal, she didn’t. She however, did give him a smile which she hadn’t been able to muster for anyone else. “Please tell me you have good news.”
    “I have information. I’ve already shared it with Danato. He’s asked me to fill Ethan in, and since you’re here…” Belus trailed off as he flipped through his papers.
    “Seriously, I am the one sitting in jail here, don’t you think I have a right to know what’s going on.”
    Belus’s eyes snapped back to her, and she sensed that she had said the wrong thing at the wrong time. “Right to know? You be serious Cori. You aren’t sitting in this jail cell for no reason. You let out three prisoners. This isn’t something that was done to you. You chose this by not telling us about it first. Don’t ask me to be honest and upfront with my information when you haven’t been with yours.”
    Cori felt herself flush under Belus’s reprimand. “I didn’t think Danato would understand or agree with my urgency.”
    “Then you call me!” Belus yelled. It was a rare event, and even though it wasn’t comparable to