Page 104 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Pale, stark horror stretches his sharp features, making them look gaunt. Pain creases between his brows as he forces a swallow down his throat, eases himself onto the very edge of my bed, and tightens his fists in his lap, next to the baby monitor he has hooked to a belt loop. “It’s okay,” he whispers, each word taut, on the verge of snapping. “You’re awake. You’re safe. I’m not going…” His voice trembles. “I’m not going tohurtyou.” His eyes close, briefly, suffering. When they open again, he offers me a shaking smile. “Can you sit up some for me, angel? I’ll make you lemon honey tea, check your fever, see if we can’t get you breathing easier, okay?”

Reality crashes into me, splintering the fragmented hold I have on my senses. What…just happened? Where was I? What did I do? Did I say something horrible? “Xios?” I croak, pulling myself from the cold puddle of sweat I’m lying in. I start shaking before I get the damp covers off me. A weak whimper escapes as I wipe tears from my cheeks. “What’s…going on?”

“Shh.” He inches in, letting his glove dissipate as he cups my cheek. A soft swear leaves him, and he stands. “I’m going to start the tea and get a damp rag.” He marches to my dresser, and I don’t know how exactly I’m supposed to feel about the fact he knows where I keep my pajamas as he gets a fresh set out, makes an about-face, and places them beside me on my nightstand. “Do you think you can change and move to the other side of the bed for me?”

Glancing sidelong at the fresh clothes, including underwear, which Ireallydon’t know how to feel about, I skate my fingers over the cropped half of my head, grounding myself in the soft prickle. “I…think so.” I sneeze, and Alexios is handing me a tissue before I realize I need it.

“When I came into existence,” he says, without prompting, “I was completely naked. Pila wrapped me in a blanket of woven grass, and I had my first existential crisis in Cael’s throne room. Flopped over. Fetal position. In the corner. The world wasreallyloud, and there were so many scents. Even right now. There is so much going on. If you listen closely, you can hear all sorts of things. For instance, there’s an owl outside.” He turns abruptly. “I will be back soon.”

I blink blearily at his retreating form, then I spend the next five minutes trying to hear the owl he mentioned while I transition into dry clothes on the dry half of my bed.

When he returns with my biggest coffee mug of lemon honey tea, I mumble, “Is the owl still here?”

Handing me the mug, he lets his brows rise. “I never did specify that there was an owlhere, in our vicinity, did I?”

Confusion boggles my poor fever-ridden brain. My hands shake around my mug as I shiver. “Wha…”

Before I can gather my thoughts, he plows into my on-suite bathroom and dampens a washcloth.

“Xios, are you trying to be a pain?”

“No.” Returning, he hooks a finger beneath my chin and dabs my face with the cloth. “Not at all. The lesser unseelie fae can continue to sprout under these sorts of conditions. Since you are a garden of seeds and I had to leave you unsupervised for a moment, I gave you something menial to water in my absence.”

He distracted me with the possibility of hearing an owl.

How dare he know that such a thing would work…

“I am excellent at misdirection,” he murmurs while I’m debating whether or not I am too tired to smack him.

On the one hand, I’m very tired and might spill my tea.

On the other…

Nope. As it turns out I amextremelytired. And I really don’t want to spill my tea now that I’ve just gotten dry.

Frowning into the mug, I let the steam flood my sinuses. My head is swimming. This sucks. I’m so glad I had the sense this afternoon to cancel the Saturday night stream that was supposed to happen earlier.

I can’t even remember how swiftly I declined once the sun started to set.

Everything for several hours has been a blur.

Gently, Alexios pulls my long hair away from my neck. Slick with sweat, the strands stick to my skin. Despite how horribly gross and pitiful I am right now, he lingers. “Zahra…”

The cautious tone of his voice pricks something in my chest, so I stop nursing my tea to meet his eyes.

He says, “May I have your soul?”

My brow furrows. “Nice try, silly man. I don’t think I can be ill enough to fall for that one.”

“I’m not trying to make you fall for anything… I just…” His eyes close, and his fingers fall away from the curtain of my hair. “I hate to see you hurting. Knowing I can help make it better, knowing it would be meaningless to force you… You deserve so much better than this.” Agony sweeps through his gaze when itfinds me again. “I canhelp. Please,pleaselet me help.”

Having someone willing tohelp mesounds so nice right now, while I’m worn out, shivering, and might have hallucinated evaporating into stardust before I passed out earlier. For the first time in my life, someone istaking care of me.

No one has ever taken care of me like this before.

It soothes something crying inside my soul.

I think, probably, I’ve always wanted to feel safe enough to rely on someone. Fully. No fears or worries connected to giving up control.

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