Page 81 of Kings and Monsters

"I don't answer to you, Bleddyn Seren Du," Gwyn said, and he walked from the dungeons.

"Leave it. It's done," Eirianwen said, blocking his path. She rested her hands on his chest. "Look at me. Your son needs you more than you need to yell at the God of the Hunt."

Bleddyn turned back to where Balthasar was huddling in the corner of his cell, shaking and bleeding.

"It's going to be okay, Bal," he whispered gently as he wrapped a blanket around his son's broken and emaciated body. Balthasar looked up with wide, frightened eyes before he collapsed sobbing into Bleddyn's arms.

There was muffledlight and heat. The noise of far away voices mumbled through the floors beneath him. Balthasar put his hands over his ears, holding them tight as he turned over, burying his head under his pillow. His body kept reaching for senses he no longer had, a phantom tail itching, the weight of antlers on his head.

Bleddyn had insisted that Balthasar return to his attic to recover. Balthasar, in turn, had insisted on them locking the door from the outside. It had been two days, and he still didn't trust his body's reactions. His memories were scattered, half filled with human thoughts and those of the creature he had become. All of them were of blood, screaming, and death.

Balthasar rolled over, pressing his face into the mattress, inhaling the scent of Rosa's perfume still on his sheets. His body cramped with want, heartache, and need. Bleddyn and Saul wanted to send for her, but Balthasar had refused. No matter how much he longed for her, he wouldn't trust himself near her until he knew it was safe. Saul had woken him up to eat that morning, and Balthasar had nearly ripped his throat out. He couldn't bear the thought of accidentally doing that to Rosa.

"Knock, knock," Saul said from the doorway. He was carrying a tray of food, and Balthasar's stomach recoiled.

"What," he murmured.

"You have to eat, Bal." Saul placed the food on his bedside table. "You have a real Christian Bale inThe Machinistvibe going on that isn't very sexy. You have to regain your weight if you don't want Rosa to change her mind about which Vane brother she wants to be smooching. Mind you, she might skip the both of us and go for Arthur Pendragon. God knows I would. He's a mythical beast all right."

Balthasar growled. "I will kill you, Saul."

"Not in your current state you won't. Leiddiad my ass. You couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag right now."

Even though Balthasar knew Saul was provoking him, it still worked. He sat up slowly and looked at the bowl of stew and the tumbler of blended green juice.

"It's not as good as Rosa's," he mumbled after a few mouthfuls.

"Nothing is. You know if you stopped being so stubborn, Rosa could be here right now." Saul's smile turned devious. "She could put on a cute little nurse's outfit for you, take your temperature the fun way…"

"No," Balthasar said firmly.

"Have it your way, big brother. Just don't come crying to me when she kicks you in the nuts for not telling her that you were okay and recovering."

Balthasar forced himself to swallow another mouthful of stew. "She'll understand. She's better off in France."

"They aren't staying in France for much longer. Merlin is shipping them off to New Orleans tomorrow."

"She's leaving Europe?"

"Yep. She's stopped trying to murder him now that she's had sleep and calmed down. Merlin has people in New Orleans hewants to see, and they have a restaurant Rosa can work in. She wants to be a chef, so they are making it happen."

"She'll like that," Balthasar said quietly.

"She'd like you even more." Bleddyn appeared and sat down at the end of his bed. "Saul, can you give us a minute?"

"Sure. Eirianwen has asked me to escort her to the Unseelie settlement, and there is nothing I like better than a winter stroll with a beautiful woman who could kill me in one move," Saul said cheerily.

"How are you feeling?" Bleddyn asked once they were alone.

"Confused and angry," Balthasar replied. "The things she made me do…"

"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to," Bleddyn insisted. "Rosa made sure the Autumn Queen could never hurt anyone again."

"My sweet Rosa, what have we turned her into? How could we have let this happen?" Balthasar shook his head. "I never wanted her to end up dark and twisted like us."

"She did it for love, not enjoyment." Bleddyn folded his arms. "To be honest, Bal, I think she was always like us. Our time in the Aos Si was very illuminating. Gods above, she summoned Gwynn ap Nudd when she was seven years old on a whim."

"Only Rosa." Balthasar shook his head. "The Wylt Witchy Woo streak must've been strong in her even before the magic."

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