Page 139 of The Heir's Bargain

Someone tried to tell me to leave.

But I wouldn't leave. I couldn’t.

I would never choose to leave Dani again. Not while I lived and breathed.

Never again.

"He'll be mad," someone whispered.

The voice was familiar, yet I couldn’t identify it. My mind was too groggy from the exhaustion that plagued my body. I tried to push through the fog, but it was too thick, too heavy.

"It does not matter," another muddled voice said. "The healers need to attend to her."

"But—"

"Do it, Terin."

My eyes sprung open, my hand tightening around Dani's.

But it was too late. My brother already had his claws in me.

Sleep wrapped its shadowed tendrils around my mind and pulled. I tried to fight it—tried to fight the sweet pull of Terin's gift blanketing me. But the more I fought it, the tighter it wrapped around me.

I promised myself I wouldn't leave.

I promised.

Yet I fell anyway.

Sleep embraced me, forcing me underneath its heavy pull. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Chapter 40

DANI

The door to my room flew open.

Helena jumped, screeching in shock, causing me to jolt. I grimaced in pain as the muscles in my body tensed.

"What—" I swallowed my words as I met the intruder's gaze.

Fynn stumbled back, hitting the doorframe. His brown eyes were wild, and the skin beneath them was a deep purple, as if he hadn't slept for days. He gripped the doorknob, his knuckles blanching as he stared, pale-faced.

"You're—you're awake," he said at last. His throat dipped. "When—when did you wake?"

As he scanned me, I shifted, pulling the blanket up. "I woke up this morning."

Standing beside the bed, Helena fell into a curtsy, mumbling, "Your Highness, Miss Ferrios needs rest. You should come back?—"

"I'm fine, Helena," I interrupted, my voice steadier this time.

My hand slid across my torso, where a wrapping covered the wound. I had been in and out of sleep for the past several hours. The last thing I remembered was falling. The healers this morning said I had not suffered any permanent damage, but a scar would indeed remain despite the best healers having been assigned to me. Theenah, the head of medicine, personally overseeing my care.

By the request of the Crown Prince.

My throat dipped.

I shifted, trying to sit up. Pain spiked through my torso at the movement, and I fell back onto the bed.

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