Page 12 of The Healer

Briggs shook his head, more tears tracking down his face. “I’m so tired,” he rasped.

She could help with that.

Nyx spun on her heel and dug through her pots of herbal remedies before uncorking the little purple bottle and generously pouring some sleeping oil into her hands. This would help him.

She bustled to his side, rubbing her hands together and reached for Briggs. He caught her left wrist in the palm of hismassive hand, and she paused, staring down at him.How’d he escape his bindings? She’d not done a good enough job.

“No drugs.” His whole body was tense.

She frowned. “It’s just herbs.”

“What’s in it?”

“Lavender, tart cherry extract and wolgave.”

“No Mimikia? Or mushrooms?”

She glared at him. “None. I know how you feel about such things. I have not put anything extra in this.”

The tension in his body fled and he released her. Nyx stepped around him, so his back pressed against her legs. She reached down and began rubbing the base of his neck and skull with smooth motions. “I thought you trusted me.”

“I do. It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Silence.

Not surprising, but still disappointing. They were beyond close as friends and sometimes it felt like more, but he opened all the way up. Briggs kept some parts of himself from her and it cut deep. She wanted to share his burdens.

This is not about you.

She set aside her feelings and continued rubbing down his neck to strong wide shoulders that seemed to bear the weight of the world. At least he’d let Nyx do this much.

Carefully, she edged around him until she stood before him, and he knelt in front of her. Nyx brushed his braids back from his cheeks and massaged his temples, humming softly.

More tears squeezed out of his closed eyes, and she felt her own well. Why was life so unfair to someone so kind and gentle? It wasn’t fair.

Briggs tipped forward, pressing his forehead into her soft stomach just beneath her breasts and wrapped his arms around her tightly, his whole body shuddering. Nyx hugged him back,combing her fingers through his hair, humming while he cried into her skirts, releasing all the pain from his nightmares.

She cried silently with him, hating all the cruelty he had suffered and made a promise to herself that she’d try to only bring good into his life. While she wanted a life with him, being his friend and giving him this much peace was enough. It had to be.

His shaking stopped and Briggs turned his face to the side, his arms never letting her go.

“You know,” he rasped, “that’s the only thing I remember from the first time I spoke to you.”

“What?” she murmured, stilling her hands over his braids.

“The lullaby you hum for me.” He pulled back to look up at her, his dark eyes shining in the dying firelight. “The night I almost killed you. My mind was muddled but what brought me through was your song.”

Her heart clenched. “I’ll always sing it for you whenever you need reminding of where you are.”

He swallowed hard. “I don’t deserve such friendship.”

Nyx pushed his shoulders, so he released her, and she leaned down until they were nose to nose. “Don’t you dare say that. You are kind, smart, generous, thoughtful, and understanding to everyone around you. You deserve friends better than me.”And it was the truth.

She heaved in a deep breath and his eyes dropped to her lips. Her pulse skittered when a low growl rumbled in his chest and his fingers curled into the fabric of her skirts. He pulled, tumbling her into his lap. She grasped at his loose shirt, her knees falling on either side of his thighs. Nyx trembled as she gazed up at Briggs who seemed to be shaking as hard as she was.

“Briggs?” she whispered. Was he still dreaming? Was she dreaming?

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