Page 124 of The Cursed Fae

“Is she okay? Fucking do something!” Missy screamed at him.

I heard the agony in her voice, and I wanted to tell her it would be alright. I’d made peace with my fate.

Archer smacked me violently between the shoulders, hard enough to leave a bruise. I vomited seawater on Missy’s incorporeal shoes. My eyelids jerked shut, suddenly leaden. Numbness spread over my body as I accepted everything.

I would always know I had done the right thing.

“She’s dying!” Missy screamed. “They won’t make it in time.”

“I know,” Archer snapped.

“Well, don’t just stand there! What’s wrong with you?”

Muscles slack, I fell like a rag doll in his hands as he shook me. When that didn’t work, he pulled me into his lap and cradled me in his arms. Warmth enveloped me, finally. I was safe in his embrace. I knew that at my very core.

In death, maybe we could be together.

The last frayed string that held me to this world snapped, and I let myself drift away.

Archer put his mouth next to my ear and whispered something that ignited a spark. The words gave me the will to live, the desire to fight just a little longer.

“I’m not dead, Winter.”

I’m not dead. I’m not dead.

The words echoed in my mind long after the frigid beach faded around me. Archer wasn’t dead. Was I? Where was the tunnel of light? Was it time for my life—lives?—to flash before me like a cheesy horror movie? I’d ignored all the villainous signs, so it would be fitting.

None of that happened. I found myself simply alone in an empty darkness. A vacuum of emotion.

Then, something cold pressed to the back of my neck. I spun to find a transparent white wolf with blue-green eyes staring down at me. The ground slowly took shape beneath me, soft blades of grass tickling my bare legs.

“Zosia?”

The wolf nodded. Somewhere nearby, a stream gurgled. Trees materialized around me as the sun grew brighter overhead.

“Are you dead?” I asked. “Am I dead?”

“No, Nicasia. You’re not.”

I froze at the sound of Archer’s deep voice behind me.

“Neither am I,” he added.

“What are you?” I whispered, reaching up to pet Zosia. The soft fur of my eternal protector comforted me.

“A miracle of modern medicine,” he replied.

Slowly, I turned to face him. He stood with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets, squinting down at me. Even here, Archer seemed solid.

“The day of the accident, Laz nearly drained me.” He kicked at a stone on the ground and it flew forward. “My father found me, and his magic saved my life. When they got me to the hospital, I was already empty again. My body refused to keep the energy.” He filled his lungs as if needing a moment. “The doctors said it was time for my family to say goodbye. Most parents would’ve let their kid go, but not Dad.”

It surprised me to detect the bitterness in his voice. Mr. Keene clearly loved Archer if he’d kept him alive against medical advice.

“He found a fae doctor with an inventive approach. They put me in a coma—both mortal and magical. I receive transfusions weekly, just enough to keep me alive.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I existed in the void. Alone. For years.”

My grip tightened on the wolf’s fur. She sank down beside me and pressed against my leg.

“I can’t begin to describe the agony of that place, the abject loneliness,” he agreed. “I heard people talking, but I saw nothing. Sometimes I recognized the voices—my father, the doctor, my mom. Other times, it seemed like I was merely eavesdropping on the past.”

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