Free Blue Moon Shadows (Shadow Bound Series Book 1) by April Wood

I finished my morning routine as the sun crested the horizon. Tomlin was still in bed. When I came into the kitchen mother was sitting beside the table. She was watching Carolyn like a hawk.
    “I’m not sure, Iníon. I’ve never seen someone so tortured. He did things to her I have never seen.”
    “Really,” I said, pulling out a chair and taking Carolyn’s hand.
    “The worst thing is he took her maidenhood. I’m afraid he took it just at the right time to plant his seed.”
    “How?”
    “You know how.”
    “Yes, but I mean how could he have done that?”
    “She was unconscious. She may not even know yet. He waited for her to slip away and then he took her forcefully. She will be bruised there for a while.”
    “What will she do if his seed did take hold?” I asked. I knew how she felt about giving birth to Aidan’s children.
    “There are medicine’s she can take. It’s all up to her,” mother replied.
    “I just feel so bad for her.”
    “Don’t worry about me, deirfiúr.” Carolyn’s voice was weak, but she grabbed my hand with plenty of strength. She hadn’t opened her eyes, but her body was moving around.
    “How are you feeling?” It felt stupid to ask, but I couldn’t stop myself.
    “I have had better days. How am I healing, Deheune?”
    Mother got up and removed some of the rags. “Looks very good.”
    “Good. What’s this I hear about needing medicines?”
    “It appears your husband took your virtue,” mother said delicately. It was almost a whisper.
    “He did what?” she said with as much force as she could manage.
    “I got there just in time to see him doing it. There was nothing I could do to stop it. My apologies,” mother stated.
    “You need not apologize. This wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry you had to see it. That horrible…well there are no words for men like him.”
    “Scoundrel?” I offered.
    “Worse.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said.
    “There are worse things that could have happened. We will see what comes out of this if anything.”
    She closed her eyes again. As I watched her I saw tears flowing down like a river. My heart broke for her. It was the one thing she had held from him for so long. She wanted nothing to do with him or his seed. I wasn’t sure how she could possibly keep going.
    “There is nothing more we can do for her right now. Shall we go sit on the porch?” Mother put out her hand for me. I took it and followed. We sat down on the rocking chairs. The morning dew was still collected on all the grass. The air actually had a great deal of moisture in it. I felt it on my skin and in my lungs.
    “You know he is coming for her?” It wasn’t really a question. This was a fact in my world.
    “He will come later this day.”
    “How do you do that? I mean I knew he was coming, but not exactly.”
    “I have been a high priestess for many, many generations. It takes time to build up the power.” She smiled and conjured a cup of tea. I followed suit. We sat there sipping and rocking for nearly an hour before we were joined by Tomlin. I could see he had been crying. His sister was the only family he had here, other than me. He had always fought to keep her safe.
    “Good morning, grá geal,” he said, bending to kiss my cheek. He pulled a rocking chair over and sat beside me.
    “How did you sleep?” I asked.
    “Not well.”
    “That is to be expected,” Deheune replied.
    “Will she recover?” he asked.
    “In time she will physically recover. I can’t say that she will recover mentally. That is something I can not heal. It’s up to her,” Deheune replied.
    “I will,” Carolyn said, walking out of the house. Her steps were slow and her back wasn’t straight. I wasn’t expecting her to get up from the table at all, so I was amazed.
    “Good,” Tomlin said.
    We all just sat there watching the sky and the earth revolve around us. It was time to store up our energy. No more practicing was required. I couldn’t agree less with that, but there