Page 73 of Blood and Roses

"Nobody move, or I will rip her head off her fat body," Pearl threatened, jerking Rosa's head around.

"Pearl, please, please stop this," Lily begged. "Come on, honey, this isn't like you. Let her go."

"No. I have tried for nearly a hundred years to get you horrible people to like me, and she is here for five minutes, and you are all fawning over her. You are meant to be a queen, Lily! Everything I have ever done has all been for you," Pearl cried hysterically.

"You say that you love my daughter, but all you have ever done is cause her pain," Eli said, his eyes changing in his fury. "I saw what kind of shallow, treacherous creature you were the moment I met you. I knew you would cause Lily heartache. That is why I denied you immortality. Still, she had to have you, and how have you repaid her for giving you a new life? You have plotted and threatened and whored yourself behind her back. I know you are behind the Riverclear's mutiny, and I know that you have been feeding off Cecily Wylt."

"What? Pearl, tell me this isn't true," Lily wept. "Why?"

"I wanted us to rule! I wanted to make you happy, Lily. Balthasar came back, and you were forced to go back to being ignored. It isn't fair! It isn't right! I fed off Cecily because I justwanted to defy him and his stupid rules. They are only humans, ourfood. They are nothing! I hate you and all the stupid Wylts. Rosa is the last, and I intend to release you from your promise, Eli."

Balthasar shouted in fear as Pearl's sharp teeth and nails tore into Rosa's throat. All the fight went out of her as blood spilled down her arms and onto the snow.

Pearl screamed and let her go. Rosa slumped to the ground and saw the blood around Pearl's mouth burn through her face like acid. She tore at her own arms and chest as the blood ate through her. Pearl wailed with her ruined face before she fell into a pile of burning bones and corrupted flesh.

Rosa felt warm and dreamy as Balthasar's face hovered above her. She could see concerned faces all around her and one that she hadn't seen in many nights. Jane's ghost was staring hard and accusingly at Lily.

"Jane...Jane...I'm sorry," Rosa whispered, her hand trying to reach up to touch her. Balthasar was holding her neck, trying desperately to stop the blood.

"What is she saying?" Lily demanded looking around her in fear. "Jane? Where is Jane?"

"Killed her," Rosa whispered, her eyes starting to close. "Killed her."

Balthasar shook Rosa."Rosa, don't go to sleep. Open your eyes, please." Eli took her, pressing his long hand over her wounds. Saul was holding onto a hysterical Lily, who was screaming and thrashing at the empty air.

"Please, Father, help her!" Balthasar begged.

Eli whispered words he couldn't hear over her. "Her wounds are deep, and with the queen's magic inside of her, I don't know if my power or my blood will heal it. I'm sorry, I don't..." Balthasar picked up Rosa's sword and held it to Eli's throat.

"You will save her," he demanded, Eli flinching as the blade nicked his skin. "I have done everything you have ever asked of me. I have never complained, and I believed you when you said you didn't kill my Jane. You locked me up as if I was some criminal. You took my free will from me for your own selfish fear! I went into the very depths of Faerie Hell for her, and I'll not let her die now. You will save her, or I will kill you."

"My healing skills are great, but she is still human! You have no idea what this girl means to me," Eli said as he looked down at her, his face racked with grief.

"If you cannot heal her, then turn her," Balthasar said firmly despite the tears running down his face. "Father...Bleddyn, please, I love her. She loves me. If any of us have proved themselves to you, who is worthy of your gift, it is her. She is a Wylt, the family you love almost more than your own children. Please change her. You always told me a king takes what is his and that he protects his own. She killed your greatest enemy when you could not. We escaped the Aos Si just as you did. She is worthy. Please, please try."

A small smile appeared on Eli's face before it changed into his full faerie aspect. "Put the sword down, Balthasar. I will try, though you might not like the wrath that turning a Wylt may bring down upon us."

Rosa feltEli's strong arms about her as he carried her through the mansion to his wing of the house. Distantly, she heardBalthasar's voice saying her name, but she couldn't form the words to respond.

"Stay with me now, Rosa," Eli said, looking down with his piercing Unseelie eyes.

"Bleed..." she mumbled.

"Hush now. Save your strength," he insisted as he laid her out on a stretcher. "You have lost so much blood. I'm going to try to save you, but I need you to focus on Balthasar and all the reasons you want to live." His hand brushed the hair back from her face. "I'm so sorry for what you have had to endure. I did not think that traveling into Faerie would be possible. Forgive me for doubting Balthasar. I'm so sorry."

Rosa drifted in and out of consciousness as Eli healed the damage done to her throat, making her drink something from a clay bowl that tasted herbal with an iron flavor of something she couldn't identify.

He sang softly to her, soothing her as her body spasmed in pain. Then Eli was lifting her, carrying her through a tunnel. Stone gave way to earth, and the air grew warm. Eli spoke a word, and the room lit up with candles. The chamber was filled with herbs and tables covered with clutter. In the far corner, there was a bed close to a fire pit, and Eli placed her down gently.

"Where are we?" she asked groggily.

"This is my sacred place where I do much of my magic," he said, his voice changing to his fae lilt. "The Unseelie are born in the earth, and so will you be as you complete your transformation. When it's finished, the light and noise of the world will not bother you, but during the process, it could be excruciating."

"How long must I be down here?"

"As long as it takes. Balthasar took the longest, nearly a full month, but he was far closer to death than you are. I did not think that the queen's magic in you would allow mine to healyou, but everything seems to be working. You have already gone through your first transition."

"Eli? How angry do you think the queen is going to be that I escaped and killed Ryn?" she asked with a wheezing laugh.

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