Page 23 of Crowned By the Fae King

I wet my lips. "They're dead."

"You're certain?" Cass asked, none of that controlled power easing. One of his ears cocked towards me before flicking back to its pinned position. "Because if not, I believe I know what I'll be doing while you're resting."

"Um." I swallowed. "I, um. Melted them? Pretty sure people don't un-melt."

He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then frowned, lowering his arms. "Melted," he said, with a great deal of concern. "You melted people."

"They'd just stabbed me," I said, my cheeks growing hot. "I didn't really mean to do it. I don't think," I added, hunching my shoulders. "I put their bones in a little cave. I couldn't think of what else to do."

"It's alright," Cass said gently. He got down on one knee in front of me, looking up into my face. "Killing in self-defense is understandable."

My mouth flattened, all the sharpness of those moments slicing into the forefront of my mind again. "It wasn't self-defense. They were running away," I said in a harsh voice, my throat going so tight it hurt. "I had a butcher knife going all the way through me and I was fine, and they ran away and I asked the Court to take care of them and it did."

"Oh, Quyen." Compassion showed on his face, the sort of kindness I'd never deserved. "You are, in many ways, like a new mage. The Court answers you with unfamiliar power, and it will take time and practice to learn how to direct it. Don't let yourself be consumed by guilt for things you can't control."

I shook my head in automatic rejection. "Not good enough. Not when people die for it."

"Hmm." One corner of his mouth twitched back into a wry smile. "I suppose I can't argue with that, though I still think guilt can be far more of a punishment than a goad. But I've spent far too much of my life dealing with exactly how not-good-enough my control is to claim that it doesn't matter." Cass looked away, one ear turning like a stressed cat. "You ought to sleep. If you don't mind the contact, I can undo your laces, or—"

I pivoted and presented my back to him. "I'm wet, and not keen on waiting. Go ahead."

"Very well." He started undoing my laces carefully, keeping his fingers from touching more than the laces. Cass moved with far less confidence than Danica had used to tie them up. It made me think that, despite what I suspected about him and his Archangels, he didn't have a lot of experience undressing women.

There was an under-bodice beneath the dress, not quite a corset, and he unlaced that, too, careful not to touch my skin. I could feel him behind me, though, the warmth of his body radiating against me and his breath stirring my hair. He was so big, tall and powerful, his head level with my shoulders even while he was kneeling.

His fingers brushed through the fine hair at the nape of my neck as he undid my necklace. The gentle contact made me shiver, tingling pleasure running down my spine.

"I know how unpleasant being awake for days is, because it's unpleasant for me, too. I've been staying awake to help those working to extract people who are trapped in mines and quarries," he said quietly, the words laden with guilt. "When I sleep, I heal the Court. If I'm awake, and I focus, I can keep from doing that, and the breakers can crack open the stone. That surely doesn't make the experience of it better, but perhaps it helps to know why." Cass stood with a sigh and stepped away, taking the necklace with him. "If you give me your earrings, I can return them to Vad for you."

I touched the spot where the necklace had rested, running my fingers over my bare skin. "I was at an off-the-books mine almost directly south of here." After a moment, I started taking off my earrings. "There's people there, too. Underground. One of the men has his hand sticking out of the rock, so if you didn't already know about that, it would be good to figure out where I was and help him before something digs through the rocks I stacked and eats his hand off."

Tension settled into my spine. "I can try to find them," Cass said. "It might be easier if you help."

"Then I'll help." I turned and held out my hand; when Cass offered his, I dropped the earrings into his palm without touching him. "After I sleep, though, okay?"

His fingers closed around the gleaming stones. "Of course," he said in that quiet voice. He paused for a moment, then set his hand over his heart and offered me a bow. "Sleep well."

Girl Talk

Iscrubbed myself dry with some towels from the attached bathroom and passed out the second my head hit the pillow, dressed in Danica's borrowed underwear and nothing else. Not only had I been up for days, but I hadn't been near a bed since the opal mine, and for the seven months I'd been stuck there I'd been sleeping on a shitty cot. The huge featherbed might as well have been enchanted. The hour didn't matter.

Voices roused me in the early evening. A spectacular sunset still painted the sky, the orange light spilling across the bare stone floor. I didn't move, willing the people to leave, too worn to want to get up and face whatever the rest of the day held.

"…and she's your soulmate," Danica said, her voice low and insistent. "I can't play go-between forever."

A sharp exhale—Cass. "It's been six weeks, mageling. Six weeks of walking, and surviving, and dealing with me." He sounded exhausted; bitter, almost. I could see him in my mind's eye, gesturing down his body with disgust. "I had no idea, and I should have. I don't want to trespass into her personal space more than I already have." His wings sighed as he resettled them. "You know what it's like to be blood-linked to me, and I suspect that's merely a taste of what Quyen's been facing. Can you imagine what that was like for her? For weeks?"

Danica sighed. I heard fabric rustling, and the door to the massive bedroom cracking open. "Just this once, Cass," she said quietly, leaning into the word. "You're the one who told me I had to face things down, so don't be a hypocrite. You can't run from a soulmate."

My jaw clenched as his body went tense. "I'm not running," he gritted out. "I'm trying to give her any amount of consideration after spending five weeks fucking sexually assaulting her—"

"I'm awake," I said in a muzzy voice. "Stop arguing about me."

All my skin went hot, then cold, and then every sensation I was getting from Cass reverted to what had to be purposeful calm. Steady heartbeat, relaxed shoulders, mild wakefulness, a complete lack of adrenaline… all things I was fairly sure weren't natural emotions on his part, and which definitely weren't on mine.

I shoved myself up in time to see Cass' dark shape turn and stride away. So much for not running, I thought, mentally rolling my eyes.

"I'm fine, by the way!" I called at his retreating shadow. "It's really not a big deal!"

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