Page 131 of Crowned By the Fae King

I closed my eyes, all the pain and terror of it flooding back into me. I could hear Liyn and Cass murmuring in the other room, Liyn asking questions and Cass replying in an exhausted voice.

"Assassination attempt," I whispered. "Something cut off his access to the Court's magic. He took seven arrows, a spear, a sword… he was bleeding to death." The tears started to threaten again. "Mercy likes my mortality," I whispered, fisting my hands so they wouldn't shake. "It lets me turn time forward. I…" I lifted my blood-soaked shirt to show him the ugly scar across my side. "I put his blood in my injury to bind him to me again, and turned the clock to save his life. I don't know how far," I finished, my voice almost inaudible.

He let out a shaky breath. "Black night."

"It gets worse," I said, dropping my shirt again and looking up at him. "There was a flicker-bird. Maybe a signal. Someone got Tarra involved, too. She was nothing but a target—waited until Cass was berserk and got between the two of us so he'd attack her, and the Court itself would kill him for it. He answers to Mercy. No escape from that."

All the blood drained out of his face, his pale skin going chalky. "But he's alive," he said, eyes darting to look at Cass through the doorway, as if to verify that his memory was true.

"I got between them in time," I whispered, my hands starting to shake. "He couldn't pull the blow. Not all the way. Didn't cut me in half, but…" I swallowed, hard, trying not to cry. "Tarra tried to finish the job. To skewer me. Cass… he got in the way. She's… she's dead. Ashed."

Vad leaned back against the wall, dropping his head back in what looked like relief. "Fae go… we can go feral, if we get hurt badly enough, or if someone we love is in grave danger," he said quietly. "It's generally assumed that nothing will stop a fae in that state until whatever they're fighting is gone. Gods. He should be dead." He put his hands over his face. "He should be dead."

I hesitated, but Vaduin was a tactile man. He was always touching Dani, me, and even Cass. I'd gotten at least a half-dozen forehead kisses from him, little tokens of comfort and the sort of easy closeness he offered without hesitation. So, I hooked my arm around his waist and leaned my head against him, rubbing my temple against his upper arm like a cat. "Don't borrow trouble, snake-eyes," I told him, using one of Cass' nicknames for him the same way he'd used one for me. "We've got plenty to go around."

His tail loosely coiled around my ankles. A moment later, he put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me against his side, dropping his face to my scalp and breathing carefully. "He's my best friend," he said, the words roughened by emotion.

"I know," I said, keeping my own voice soft. "He's still alive, Vad. We haven't lost him yet."

Vaduin nodded against my hair. I heard him swallow, and then he disentangled himself from me and met my eyes with stern determination. "I'll go see if I can help your guards investigate. My sense of smell might be of use." He looked back towards Cass, his expression dropping into one of sorrow. "You'll stay with him?"

"They'd have to drag me out by the hair," I told him.

A smile kicked up one corner of his mouth. "That's my girl," he said, ruffling my hair.

I raised my brows at the possessive phrasing. "Since when am I yours, too?"

Vad gave me another half-smile. "Since the moment you became his. Basilisks are possessive creatures. You're stuck with me." He flicked his tail against my ankle. "Go. He needs you."

I didn't need to be told twice. I went back into my bedroom and clambered onto the bed, getting up by the headboard so I could pet Cass' hair while Liyn worked on him. He made a soft sound of relief the moment my hands touched him, leaning into the contact.

There was still blood on my hands, dried in the half-moons of my nails and flaking off my skin. It had nothing on the rest of the blood: gluing my shirt to my side, darkening Cass' clothing, smeared in ugly brown streaks across his beautiful wings. We needed a shower—the shower we hadn't gotten to have, the shower we might never get to have, laughing and happy and as much each other as ourselves.

I had to turn my mind away from the contemplation of it and focus on the strands of his hair sliding through my fingers. If this was all we got to have, it would be enough. I would make it be enough. He was still Cass. I was still his soulmate. It had to be enough.

We sat there for probably another twenty minutes in silence before Liyn sat back, his eyes closed and head tilted back.

Cass shuddered, his head lolling to the side. "How bad?" he asked, his voice rough. "Gods, just tell me, Liyn. How bad is it?"

A line appeared between the other healer's thin brows. "You're burned out, Xarcassah." He swallowed. "Completely. You don't have a source anymore."

Cass exhaled sharply, almost a sob, and covered his mouth with one hand. I took it in mine, desperate to offer him any amount of comfort. His fingers closed down as he started trembling, every breath shaking.

"What does that mean for him?" I asked, when Cass didn't say anything.

Liyn swallowed again, then looked at me. There was pity in his eyes. "It probably happened when he ascended the throne. That much power, all at once…" He exhaled and looked away. "Mages have an internal source of magic. Marys was…"

"I was middling," Cass said hoarsely. "Without my channeling, I wouldn't be anything impressive. Standard-issue healer." Pain tore at his expression. "Now I'm not even that."

"I know it surely doesn't feel like it, but this might be a blessing," Liyn started.

"Fuck you," Cass snarled, shoving himself up on one elbow with his feathers slicking down. "What the fuck do you know about losing fucking everything?"

To my surprise, Liyn didn't flinch away. He leaned forward, his expression hardening. "You think I had it so easy, don't you?" he said with poisonous softness. "It's been nearly two hundred years. Issara made a spectacle out of both of us. Threw you out on your ear and expected you to come crawling back. Used me as the tool." The healer laughed bitterly. "Then you fucking cut her out of your life like she'd never existed. What do you imagine it was like, living in the shadow you cast? The best fuck she'd ever had. The one man who wouldn't change his mind. The powerful, incomparable Xarcassah Marys—"

"That's enough," I said, my voice cold.

Cass' hand tightened painfully on mine, new claws digging into my skin. Liyn's jaw snapped closed so hard I heard his teeth clack together.

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