Page 121 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
Warmth spread in my chest.
“All we’re doing is talking today,” Elias said. “This isn’t the official council, and I don’t want to make any decisions until Donnie is well enough to attend and speak his mind.”
This man. This incredible, wonderful man.
When we stepped outside, I left Elias’s side to wind my hand through Alastor’s arm. I felt the slight weight that shifted when he leaned the tiniest bit on me, another indication of how much pain he was in.
“Have you had your tea?” I asked him, and although I didn’t say it loud, I knew both Elias and Koa heard me.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Yes.”
“It didn’t help?”
He huffed out a dry laugh. “Are you certain your magic is truly gone? I believe you can still see inside my head.”
“Why don’t you skip out on the meeting today?”
He slowed, body stiffening as if my words struck him. “Do you not want me to attend?”
When I stopped walking, he stopped with me while Elias and Koa kept their pace and walked past us.
“That’s not what I meant,” I said quietly. “I want you to stop hurting. The headaches haven’t eased up in days. You refuse to see a healer and the tea?—”
“I’ll manage.” It came out clipped.
“You’ll manage when you rest,” I said, setting one hand on my hip.
His nostrils flared and a muscle on his jaw ticked. For a moment, I thought he’d walk away. Instead, he turned to face me fully, his shadows wrapping around his shoulders like smoke.
“They didn’t just slaughter your fae or humans.” His voice was low but tight with fury. “They killed my lirio, my nyxx. My people. Mine.”
I opened my mouth but he kept talking.
“Elias asked Koa and me to attend. We will be heard, we will be counted.” The shadows pressed forward, curling around my feet. They were usually comforting, but now all I felt was cold. “I will be there. My voice will not be silenced. Not again. Not by them. Not by anyone.” His gaze locked on mine, and his final words came out like a quiet vow. “Never again will I be silenced,Theodora.”
It was my turn to flinch at his words. I wrapped my arms around my chest as if I could hold back the sting, and shook my head.
“I wasn’t trying to silence you,” I said softly. “I just want you to take care of yourself because I know you won’t.”
That got his attention, but not in the way I hoped.
He scoffed, the sound sharp and brittle. With his expression closed off, he said, “That’s where you’re mistaken.”
“About what?”
“The pain.” His voice was steady but there was something that trembled beneath it. “While my headaches come and go, that isn’t the pain that plagues me.”
I swallowed. “Then what is it?”
He studied me, quiet and unreadable, like he was cataloguing each flicker of emotion for threat or motive. Many times, he’d opened up to me about the life he’d led with Leanora.
I’d felt the warmth he kept hidden under all that steel. Now, all I saw was the version of him forged in torture and betrayals. The version who believed kindness came with consequence.
Whatever answers ran in his head, he kept it hidden behind his steady, unflinching stare.
While we waitedfor Evander to arrive so we could hold our informal meeting, George chased the girls, making their squeals bounce off our living room walls. Not wanting to be left out, Hee-haw cut George off, causing George to trip overthe donkey. With a snort, Hee-haw trotted off while George glared at him from the floor.
Jasmine wound her arms around Hee-haw’s neck while Victoria took the opportunity to climb into George’s arms before he stood.
