Page 51 of King of the Damned
Her eyes meet mine for a moment, and then she lowers her head. “You didn’t find him,” she says quietly, more to herself than to me.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry,” I offer, though my apology is no comfort to her. A lone tear falls down her cheek and I wipe it away with my thumb. “The Blackwood is a deadly place. Do not blame yourself for his death. I know he cared for you. I don’t think he’d want you to torture yourself with guilt.”
She wraps her delicate fingers around my wrist and leans into my hand that’s still pressed to her cheek. I run my thumb across her chapped bottom lip.
“He has a family,” she says.
I nod. “Perhaps once you’ve healed we can travel together to inform them.”
She looks at me, and I see a small sparkle of hope in her eyes. “You’d come with me to do that?”
“If it would comfort you even a bit, then yes. Maybe…maybe on the way back we could visit your mother.”
“Do you mean it?” she asks.
I nod, but I think she feels as though she won’t make it that long, and the thought brings her only more sorrow.
She sighs and lets go of my wrist. I let my hands rest in my lap. She lies back down on her side and furrows her brow.
“My head hurts,” she breathes.
“It will take a while for you to fully recover. You are…very lucky, Adelasia. More than you realize.”
“Would I truly have died if you didn’t bargain with Eternity?” she asks.
The thought alone fills me with dread, but I answer truthfully. “Yes. And before you ask, I would not hesitate to make the same bargain again. Nothing she could take from me would ruin me more than losing you.”
“Because we’remates?”
“Because…” I trail off and bite my cheek. She closes her eyes and the corner of her mouth tilts up in a smirk. “Something amusing?” I ask, somewhat irritated by her reaction.
“Is it really so hard to simply say that you care about me?”
I open my mouth to tell her just that, but I find the words getting caught in my throat. I come to the realization that I’ve always spoken in circles, or hidden my real meaning, because denial is easier that way. “There is nothing simple about the way I feel about you.”
“It’s okay,” she sleepily whispers. “You’ll stop being such a grumpy tyrant and admit it eventually.”
“Grumpy tyrant, hm?” I playfully growl as I settle on my side so I can fully face her. We’re nose to nose when she opens her eyes. They’re distant. She needs to rest now.
I gently brush a strand of hair from her face and then use my thumb to trace soft circles on her temple. “I think you’re right,” I whisper to her sleeping form. “But maybe I don’t want to be a tyrant anymore. Maybe I will take you across the Endless Sea to the land of mortal kings, where there is no magic, no Priestesses, no demons. Somewhere no one will ever find us…and then maybe I’ll finally have the courage to love you simply. Perhaps I’ll even have the courage to whisper it to you, too.”
She sighs in her heavy sleep. I kiss her hairline and stroke her cheek, carefully watching her breathe.
I suddenly sense an unwelcome presence in the palace. Chills climb up my spine and my body tenses over her protectively. The palace remains silent, but I know better than to ignore my intuition. Someone is here.
Carefully, so I don’t wake Adelasia, I slip out of the bed and seal her door with a ward before walking through the halls. Though the unwelcome presence lingers, I don’t equate it to a threat. Regardless, red magic wraps around my wrists as I prepare for a fight. I am on edge all the time now, worried that Amatisi has come for Adelasia in her weak state.
“Show yourself!” I hiss into the shadows. My voice echoes through the halls.
The only presence that makes itself known is Cassius. He slithers towards me, slowly, and I notice that some of his scales are missing. I kneel down to take a closer look. He has a gash across his body, black and festering like the one Adelasia had.
I run my hands gently over his scales and the magic of the bloodstone heals the wound. “Did you try to fight off those wolves for our precious Adelasia?” He weakly raises his head as he wraps himself around my arm. “Brave little fool,” I murmur. “You seem to always come to her aid before I do. Maybe you’d serve better as her guardian than my companion.”
At that, Cassius raises his head again with a new energy.
“Oh? You would like that I see.” He nudges against my chin. I lean in closer to whisper. “I think she would like that too. Four hundred years with you at my side, and it seems we’ve both been bewitched by her.”
Cassius’ forked tongue pokes out. I sigh and give him a small upturn in the corner of my mouth. “We’re in agreement then, to do whatever it takes to protect her life with our own?”
