Page 139 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

Which was just how I preferred his mental shields to be when he was with a female.

Carrick nodded, still concerned about his son, but that was understandable with Fuath sweeping across the land and infiltrating all the deep places of the Autumn Court.

“Nuala, I would like to speak with you,” I informed the fire witch and held out my hand to her.

Carrick remained seated as the witch rose and limped to my side to accept my hand before we walked into my bedchamber where I erected a silencing ward.

“I have been thinking a lot about your condition and Ornella’s ability to heal you. It is unlikely that she will be able to restore your body wholly with her usual magic.”

I watched Nuala’s reaction carefully, noting the way her mouth tightened and her nostrils flared with emotion.

“I knew what they did would impact me for the rest of my life,” she assured me, her eyes duller than before.

“That need not be the case. There is something else we can ask her to do, but it is a harsher magic. One that is more akin to blood magic than to the elemental power that our kind inherently possesses,” I told her.

“You would permit her to use this kind of magic?” Nuala verified in surprise. “Is it not harmful?”

“I am not willing to allow you to carry the scars from those monsters. Erasing them will not erase the past or unburden your heart from the pain, but it will allow you to reclaim mobility and health.”

“Are you asking me?” she asked, and I considered how to respond given her desire for subjugation.

“No. I am not,” I admitted, but I watched her carefully to ensure that she did not find this command too taxing.

I knew Nuala didn’t wish to be responsible for herself, and she would never ask me to utilize this kind of magic to restore her. I was willing to shoulder the burden of the decision for her, but I also knew it could impact her deeply to have all physical evidence of her abuse erased from her body. So while I wanted to maintain the illusion of security that she craved, I also did not want to make the wrong choice for her.

Luckily, Nuala released a sigh of relief, and I knew I’d made the right call.

“I do not want to share my body with those monsters anymore. I do not want to have them etched into my skin. So if you can remove these defacements, then do it.”

“Good girl,” I praised her advocacy of her own wishes, but it still pleased me when she dipped her head in a sort of acquiescence.

“But will it not be harmful to use this kind of magic?” she asked again.

She had said that she wanted me to tell her not to have any worries. But considering my mission to protect the Tithriallfrom just such magical corruption, I wanted her to know this information.

“It is harmful when witches draw from the Tithriall and twist it to do this kind of magic, and then allow that tainted and infected power to bleed back into its source. But Ornella is a Summer fey, and her magic is inherently healing which allows her to use this kind of magic and cleanse it before she returns it to the Tithriall.”

Nuala was thoughtful as she nodded.

“Impossible for fire witches.”

“Or fire fey,” I pointed out with a smile and a shrug. “We all have our gifts and our limitations.”

“Will she do it?”

“I think so. This kind of magic is practised often by her people, it will not be foreign to her, and she has probably had to use it before,” I reassured her before hesitating. “We require a sacrifice for it.”

“A sacrifice?” she asked and tilted her head curiously.

“In order to restore your body, we must take essence from someone else. Their blood, flesh, and bones.”

Nuala’s eye widened briefly before she nodded at me with thoughtful interest.

“And you want to know who I will choose.”

“I will make the choice if you wish. I have committed their scents and magical signatures to memory,” I told her. This further shocked and awed her.

“You will always be able to find them?”

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