Page 169 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
I’d do anything to have him back. I’d do even more for him and Teddy to have each other.
If I still had my magic or my fae life span, I’d forfeit both in an instant. It’d be an easier sacrifice than when I’d agreed to do it for Donnie.
I’d give up my title and all the money the crown had collected through the years. I’d beg on my hands and knees, let fire magic engulf my entire body.
Because Javier wasn’t just some kid I’d come to care about. He was family, and I loved him.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
TEDDY
While today hadn’t exactly gonethe way I’d hoped when Elias and I first went to see Leah, having the kids and our friends around eased a lot of the fear I’d felt after hearing one of our boy’s hearts was struggling. More, I enjoyed the stories Kieren told me about the military school.
How the boys had had to wash their own clothes, and Aidas, never having done it before, turned every white item a bright pink because of a red shirt he’d washed with it. Or when they were all woken up in the middle of the night for a drill, and a newly enlisted fae kid of fourteen couldn’t find his clothes fast enough and ended up doing his drills in nothing but a shirt and his underwear. But my favorite was when Guenthrie had underestimated Javier and assumed he couldn’t shoot a bow and arrow. Guenthrie lined target after target for him, taunting him the entire time Javier set up, only for him to shoot each one dead on.
Unfortunately, it didn’t garner any favoritism, but he’d been proud of himself while his friends boasted about him the rest of the day.
I hated that he hadn’t been the one to tell me any of these stories, but I ate each one up, absorbing them as if they were the very air I needed to breathe.
“Why don’t we eat outside?” I asked the group before everyone started serving themselves.
I couldn’t help but wonder if my son’s heart complication was because of the trauma I’d endured since we found out I was pregnant. It’d been one disaster after another. The man who’d attacked me in my own home had slammed my back against the wall. And killing him . . . I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Not guilt exactly but something else I couldn’t yet name. While Alastor had done his best to shield me from the smoke that day of the explosions, I must’ve inhaled some. Pietro abducting us still gave me nightmares, especially terrifying when I repeatedly lost Elias. And Javier’s words of hatred and betrayal when we told him the truth? Yet another heartbreaking hit.
I wouldn’t be surprised if my own heart was struggling to keep up with everything, but ultimately, this wasn’t about me.How much stress can a fetus endure?
But both Leah and Dela had been able to help my baby boy, and they would continue to use their magic to help him until he was strong enough on his own.
With a quick kiss to my forehead, Elias scooped me up in his arms. I laughed nervously, patting his shoulder for him to let me go, but he only held on tighter. It was endearing how much he loved carrying me, especially since the attacks. I wondered if it was his way of reminding himself that I was safe.
Once outside, he put me on the porch swing.
“I’ll make your burger,” he said and went inside. Theothers stayed inside, presumably preparing their own food, while Kieren followed me and leaned against the post.
“You’re not hungry?”I asked him.
He scratched his neck.“I’ll get food when everyone comes out.”
“I’m fine, Kieren.”I smiled.“I appreciate you staying out here with me, but you don’t need to babysit me.”
He shook his head. “I’m not babysitting you. I know you’re upset about Javier, but something else is wrong. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone.”
“Dammit, Kieren.”I ran a finger under my eye to catch the single tear that fell.
He huffed out a nervous laugh as our front door swung open. Elias’s frantic eyes fell on me.
“Why are you crying?” he asked.
I peered back at the door, sighing in relief when no one else was behind him. “Kieren’s being sweet.”
Elias narrowed his eyes at Kieren in a way that made Kieren back away.
“Elias,” I said, my tone serious. “He stayed out here so I wouldn’t be alone. It was a sweet gesture.”
“Why are you crying, then?” He handed me a plate.
With a nervous glance in Elias’s direction, Kieren rushed into the house. I shook my head, secretly amused by Elias’s protectiveness.
