Page 60 of A Kiss of Embers
His father reached out and stilled his hand over Seraphina’s hair. “You are no murderer, Bastien.”
“Cranky Cricket is atyrant.I would be doing everyone a favor.”
The man sighed, shaky fingers running over his face. His body had never quite recovered from getting his legs maimed. Even his upper limbs shook when under immense stress. “How close?”
“To the border?”
His father nodded. “Do you realize how terrified I was when I learned you were captured by the Ember Queen? She would have dragged you over the border without knowing it would kill you. Does she know?”
Bastien’s gaze dropped to Seraphina, and for several long moments, he watched as her wings lifted with each inhale and dropped with every exhale. “I told her earlier today. At first, she was intent on killing me, anyway. There was no point in telling her until now.” He lightly skimmed the edge of her wing, though she didn’t stir at the touch. “We got as far as one of the three clans’ territories. I was darn close to dropping dead. A bit scary, if you ask me.”
The air whooshed from his father’s lungs, and he rubbed at the stress gathered in his forehead. “I should never have taken you back to Attleglade with me all those years ago. You should have stayed with your mother and sister.”
“Ma couldn’t feed two children on her own. You did what was best for the family, given the circumstances.”
A heavy silence pressed on his shoulders as he stared at the smooth skin on Seraphina’s back. She never should have risked herself to come to Attleglade. Now he needed to find a way to get her back out.
“So…” his father started slowly. “What happens now?”
“The only thing that can. I’m just…not ready to say goodbye.”
“Goodbyes are never easy. Especially when they’re permanent.” His father clapped him on the shoulder but said nothing more before he wheeled himself away and to his room located beneath the stairs.
“Permanent…” he murmured to himself. Unless he stained his soul black by killing Cranky Cricket and his lackeys and ran off with Seraphina to be herconcubine.
The word left an icky taste in his mouth. But if the alternative was losing her?
What could he possibly do?
And was it worth destroying the man he was just to live that kind of life?
He hated himself for feeling so conflicted. A good man would put the past behind him and move forward, wouldn’t he? But Cranky Cricket was responsible for the separation of his family, the death of his mother, his father’s maimed legs, and Bastien’s lack of freedom. His father had laid down and taken it. But how could Bastien do the same?
A pounding on the door startled both him and Seraphina upright, and his eyes widened as he glanced toward the entrance. Someone pounded on it again, and the wood creaked as if they were trying to break it down.
Hide in my room,Bastien mouthed to her, his jaw set but his pulse racing frantically beneath her hand where she clutched onto his wrist.
Seraphina enjoyed her arguments with Bastien to some degree, but this was something she would never fight with him about. She slunk toward the stairs and climbed quickly but carefully until she slipped into his room and hid behind the door. She listened earnestly, hoping with her entire being that all was well.
Below, the front door opened, followed by Emeric’s disgruntled tone. “What is all the ruckus about? I’m trying to read my book.”
Several pairs of footsteps entered the house, and her heart shot to her throat.
One of the men answered, “The village healer saw to Ashryn’s injuries when we questioned her. The stitches are Ember Fae in nature.”
She swore in her mind. She hadn’t expected anyone else to witness her handiwork. But she hadn’t known how else to stitch Ashryn up within such a short time, especially because she hadn’t studied Forest Fae healing.
“Annnd?” Bastien drawled. “All stitches are like the other, no?”
“We have reason to believe an Ember Fae is hiding within the village. Ashryn swears the only person who stitched her up was you.”
Seraphina clenched her fingers as her heart raced and her knees wobbled. From what Bastien had told her, his leaders were cruel enough to kill him on the spot. She refused to let that happen.
Another male voice joined the conversation. “Either you learned healing practices outlawed in our culture…or you are harboring a fugitive. Where is the Ember prisoner?”
The logic suddenly made sense. They believed Pri hadn’t escaped the village, and she had no other choice but to hide.
“What really happened when the Ember Queen took you prisoner?”
