Page 37 of The Gargoyle's Glade
Once inside, he set me carefully on the plush chair in the living room. He knelt down, a warm palm on either side of my face, his dark eyes rounded with concern. I realized then that my gaze wasn’t following him when he moved, though my eyes blinked at regular intervals. I was truly trapped inside myself, not in control at all. It should have worried me, but I was floating somewhere above such inconvenient emotions.
“You’re still in there, aren’t you, Merry?”
I tried to signal to my body that my head should nod or that my eyes should blink—anythingto show that I’d heard his question. But nothing happened.
“Not dead, but not alive either. Useless, cursed gift.” It sounded almost like an accusation, but it didn’t feel like it was aimed at me.
Coltor stuffed pillows around me so I couldn’t slouch or tip out of the seat, then crossed the handful of steps into his tiny kitchen. Cabinet doors opened and closed as his muttering devolved into colorful swearing.
“I need you to drink this. I got it from Greta, so it’s as safe as any magical elixir can be. It should help.” I couldn’t do any kind of assisting, so Coltor tilted my head back, parted my lips and poured some of the contents from a vial of pink, shimmery liquid into my mouth. His thumb massaged my throat so that it would go down properly.
It struck me then how truly precarious my situation was. If such a thing had happened anywhere else, I’d have been in serious trouble.
He frowned but rose to dispose of the dishes. I could only stare at the wall as he moved around me, grumbling.
“What do I do? Take her with me to the demons? Go to Lovette?” I could hear the splash of water, the clank of dishes in a sink. “The elixir should work soon, and resting is probably safe.” He returned to my side. “Tell me what to do, Merry. Yell at me. Cry. Anything.”
I didn’t feel particularly unwell, disconnection between my mind and body aside. I didn’t know what a healer could do that whatever was in that elixir couldn’t. Not that I could tell him so.
“I can’t leave you like this. You need to be seen by someone.” He stood, took two steps, then stopped again. “But I’m not sure it’s best for you to portal right now.” He growled. “What do Ido?”
After a moment’s hesitation, he bent and scooped me into his arms, and there was sky above me again. I watched over his shoulder as his wings deployed, and he carried us quickly to Seir and Hailon’s cabin.
“Coltor?” Seir’s tone held a note of urgency.
“I need your help.” The desperation in Coltor’s voice broke my heart. I couldn’t even hold onto him as he carried me.
“Of course, come in.”
Hailon’s voice came from the other side of the cabin. “What’s happened?”
“I found her by the pools. The animals, they were all around her. She was curled up, like she was protecting herself.” He set me on their sofa, and Hailon came to kneel in front of me, her eyes full of concern. She snapped her fingers, waved her hand. I blinked, but not because I was intentionally responding.
I could hear the animals still, quiet now, worried and apologetic. But there was no way for me to tell them that the creatures hadn’t intentionally harmed me.
“Seir? Can you?—”
“I’ll get the mirror.”
My body started to feel warm, tingly. It wasn’t unlike how I’d felt one Yule after enjoying far too much spiced cider the Mullvaney twins had spiked with their father’s corn liquor. I lay there on the plush sofa, melting into the cushions as the elixir began to work, their voices blending together into a soft, familiar noise.
I floated back into consciousness over several brief intervals, never long enough to truly grasp onto how much time might have passed. Once, there’d been a very concerned blonde woman staring into my face and gently prodding at my limbs. Another time, I could hear both Rylan and Vassago, but I got the impression they were not actually in the room. Then, I heard Greta, but the same odd distant echo was there. Nobody seemed overly panicked, and that was oddly reassuring. I still controlled no part of myself, but it was warm and cozy in the little cocoon I was in, so I didn’t care.
The next time I woke, it was to the sound of furniture scraping the floor. The woodsy smell of Coltor was heavy in the air.
“We’ll fix it,” he promised on a whisper. “You’re going to be alright.” He picked me up as though I weighed nothing and carried me a few steps, then laid me on a bed.
Coltor maneuvered me under the blankets and tucked me in tight before settling in behind me. I was immersed in the scent of woodsmoke and warm earth, his essence all around me.
I begged my eyes to open, if only for a moment, and was granted a couple of seconds to orient myself. I was next to and facing a wall, and I suspected that the bed was the furniture I’d heard being shifted around. It was thoughtful, honestly. While I wasn’t normally one to roll off the side of a bed, as I had no control to speak of, I supposed it was a possibility.
His palm wrapped around my neck, his fingertips resting over where he could feel my heartbeat. Normally, someone’s hand on my throat might have made me feel either murderous or like an overheated puddle in their hands. This, however, was a sweet gesture of concern.
My eyes slid closed, and I settled in, comfortable as the darkness took me again.
Chapter 16
Coltor
