Page 20 of Forgiving a Fae Warrior

At some point, his eyes had slid closed as he savored her healing touch. When he opened them, Leigh still knelt before him, her arm folded across her knee instead of clasping his shoulder.

“I fixed the worst of it, but I have to save some magic in case—” She gestured around them.

Galen nodded. Things could still come to blows at any moment, and then she’d have others to tend. “Thank you for healing me after I—”

She shook her head. “I don’t know all of what happened, but we saw you fight the Unseelie and help the human.” She gave him a light poke. “I think I’ll see you again soon.”

Leigh helped him to his feet. “Until then, rest, and use this.” She passed him one of the small leather bags that had been tied to her waist. “And get away from here. You’re in no shape to fight anymore today.”

And go where?He kept the bitter retort to himself. He could stumble back to the rocky outcropping and retrieve the pack of supplies. Maybe shift back to the little hovel he’d rested in the other night. Galen picked up his sword and sheathed it, its weight somehow a comforting presence.

“I’ll take him somewhere to rest.”

Galen’s heart lurched against his ribs at Sylvie’s proclamation.

“Switch with me,” she said to Leigh.

Heart in his throat, Galen watched as Leigh took Sylvie’s place, keeping a tight hold on the still scowling Katiya, though the Unseelie woman’s focus was glued to the trio of kings.

“Take her to the others and keep a hold of her until Rivenean decides what’s to be done. She can shift,” Sylvie added.

“I’ll see it done,” Leigh promised with a sharp nod of her dark head.

“I can’t go back to the Forest.”Yet. That unspoken word was too much of a hope, too uncertain to speak aloud.

“Youfreed Wren,” Sylvie stopped directly in front of him. “Without you, she may still be in their clutches. They would still have leverage to use against us and our king.”

Galen shook his head, swallowing the lump of emotion that formed at her words. “She freed herself. I just got her away and gave her the chance to run.” His gaze drifted over to the trio of kings, where Wren stood beside a bound and bleeding Sigurd. She had the chance to flee, but she chose not to use it. Even so, she should be safe now. Whatever happened with the kings, Riven had the upper hand, and he wouldn’t let her come to harm. Deep within him, he knew that to be true.

“Let’s get you somewhere to rest.”

Before he could protest, Sylvie grabbed his hand and shifted them both. Galen wobbled, his injured leg still stinging as they appeared near the rocky outcropping. Sylvie released him just long enough to grab the bag of supplies and their cast-aside blanket before taking his hand once more. Galen sent out his magic to touch hers, planning to aid in the shift, but she snapped her hand away.

“Don’t you dare,” Sylvie snapped, scowling at him. “Save your strength. That’s an order.”

“Giving me commands now?” Galen asked. A hint of mirth crept into his tone as he took her in. For some reason, he loved it when she scowled or ordered him around. Sylvie was never one to guard her emotions, showing everything on her face and speaking her thoughts as soon as they came. It didn’t matter that he’d nearly died or that war might still break out at any moment. Alone, just the two of them, even for a moment, brought him joy, especially when she acted so much like the woman he’d known for years despite all that had just occurred.

“And you better listen to them.” She wagged a finger at him before gripping the wrist of his uninjured arm, her fingers digging in hard enough to cause him to wince.

“As you wish,” he replied.

She huffed, and then they were slipping in a blink from one place to another. The walls of the half-crumbling shelter he’d discovered took shape around them, the ceiling so Galen could touch it if he lifted his hands above his head. Little bits of muted sunlight flowed in from the cracked walls and open doorway, their sudden appearance stirring up bits of dust and dirt that drifted through the air.

Sylvie dropped his hand as if it burned her and turned her back on him. The sudden cold shoulder had Galen standing a little straighter. If she turned and left without a word, it would gut him, even if he couldn’t fault her for spending as little time with a traitor as possible. Others saw her shift him away. They would expect her to return immediately, not linger with the likes of him.

But before she could leave, he had to tell her the words bouncing on the tip of his tongue. “Thank you for—”

“How dare you!” She whirled on him, eyes blazing with a green glow.

Galen held his hands up in front of him and stepped back. “What—”

“You almost got yourself killed!” she screeched, uncaring if anyone or anything lingered nearby to hear her. “If I’d been a second later, she could have killed you! That close, and poof—” She snapped her fingers. “You’d have been gone. Just like that. Right in front of me!”

It was then he noticed the sheen of tears in her eyes. One little droplet fell free to drip down her face as she pinched her eyes closed.

Shit.Now he’d gone and made this strong woman cry. She hadn’t known he meant to shift away, or at least try to. Would she have stepped in to help him if she did?Yes.He knew that to be true the moment the doubt slipped into his mind. Of course she would. She always did.

“I planned to shift—” he began.

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