When he’d first beheld Aycayia with the Caduceus in her arms, Maddock had felt a twinge of jealousy as violent and immediate as an electric shock. The Caduceus was his. He was the Herald. The visceral reaction had passed just as quickly, replaced by a deep shame as Bones’ gasped statement about her injuries finally reached his conscious mind.
Aycayia had been wounded; he could see the gaping hole in her leg, the smear of blood on the floor all around her. Who had done this? Was the danger still extant? And where was Corey?
But before he could voice any of these questions, Aycayia had risen to her feet and stepped through the doorway.
Bones thrust a hand out to stop her. “Aycayia!”
She was already gone, vanishing into the pool’s turbulent waters, taking the Caduceus with her into its un
