Page 15 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

Utter relief washed over her that Cally was here. “We lifted her from the same bathroom we found you in. She’s banged up, but she wasn’t affected by the demon magic like you. She’s okay.”

Cally was not only here alive, but she wasn’t badly hurt. Emara’s legs gave out and she braced herself for the impact of her knees hitting the floor.

Gideon moved faster than lightning and appeared at her side from the other end of the room in a second. He swept her up into his arms before she could crash to the ground.

At first she felt dazed, as if she couldn’t quite comprehend how quickly he had moved. But overwhelming emotion took over her, pushing out any curiosity about how he’d done it.

Cally was alive and she was here. A lightness in this dark. Her heart burst with relief and delight and Emara covered her face to shield her tears from Gideon, her stomach contracting as she cried. She couldn’t control it anymore. Emara let her sobs take over as everything raced through her mind like flash cards, pinning all the broken pieces together.

The demon. Her grandmother’s words as she took her last breath. Cally’s limp body lying beside the bathtub. The darkness. The blood. The pain.

She cried harder than she ever had.

Shockingly, Gideon didn’t put her down. Instead he held her, pulling her into his chest. Before she could stop herself, she realised she was holding him back, tucking her face into the nape of his neck. She hadn’t known she needed to be held. It wasn’t something she was used to, but she needed the support. She needed the comfort, even if he was a stranger…

Minutes passed by; as her weeping slowed, Gideon ran a hand through her hair, calming her. She let out a huff of embarrassment and the emotion sunk into her cheeks, a rose-pink colour. Exhausted, Emara wiped both sides of her face with one hand.

What am I doing? she thought as the emotional breakdown passed. I don’teven know this guy.

Weirdly, her thoughts turned to Taymir; she realized that she had been dating him for over a yearbut she had never been consoled by him like this. She had never even opened up to him emotionally.

Had he survived the demon attack?

Her breathing hitched as dread coiled up into a tight knot in her stomach again. She stole a quick look at Gideon, who was still looking at her, patiently.

Instead of rose-pink, her cheeks flushed bright red; she was certain now that he wasn’t going to hurt her after crying into his ear for the last ten minutes. As if reading her mind or embarrassment, Gideon slowly lowered her onto her feet—so smoothly. He placed his strong hands around her shoulders to steady her and a muscle contracted in his jaw as he let her go.

Is he scared to hurt me?

He examined her again as she stood in front of him—she assumed it was to make sure she wasn’t going to collapse into a big mess on the floor.

“You good?” he said, his eyebrows rising in concern.

Emara gathered herself, unable to really look at him, and said, “Take me to Cally.” Her request was authoritative but came out sharper than she had intended. “Please,” she added.

Gideon gave a single nod and faced the door. “I’ll bring her to you if she is awake, but it’s still extremely early.” He turned to face her again. “Please, for my own peace of mind, stay in bed until she comes in to see you. I am currently responsible for ensuring that you are okay, and we don’t need you to contract anymore injuries. Stay in bed.”

Emara forced a small, gracious smile. “Thank you.”

Gideon nodded and left the room politely, leaving Emara to sift through her darkest thoughts.

Gideon left the infirmary room, took two steps down the corridor, and paused.

She’s awake.

He ran a hand over his face and shook his fluffy hair. He needed a shower. He hadn’t left her infirmary room until now. The healer had confirmed that she would survive in the early hours of the morning after abstracting all the poison from her wound, but he had waited to see it for himself. And the sun had come up, granting her a new day to live.

To see another sunrise at dawn is to count another blessing. His mother would tell her boys that every morning as they got up for a gruelling training session.

As he’d waited for her to wake up, dusky beams of light had pushed through the window onto the bed where she lay, highlighting her face and the dark threads of her hair. Her face had been still, her lips parted in a way that made them pout.He could see where the tears of the night’s terrors had marked her face, leaving tracks on her skin. Her high cheekbones had been swollen with the impact of a fist—or worse.

He stiffened in the corridor, rage running through his veins.

Demon scum!

He crossed his arms to hide the fact that anger had crept into his hands and he balled his fists. Just then he saw the healer returning to Emara’s room, coming down the corridor. She paused as if sensing something was wrong.

He was just standing there in the middle of a corridor, after all, probably looking like he could punch something.

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