Ravv
I tied the end of Laeli’s long, thick braid before brushing a kiss to her forehead and slipping out of bed.
The fury coursing through me was thicker and fiercer than anything I’d ever experienced before.
The bastard had cut her throat.
He had poisoned her.
He had nearly killed her.
After I had been sitting in a damn meeting with him through the entire night.
I had trusted him… and it nearly cost me everything.
My gaze lingered on her small, fragile form. She was strong of will, but soft of mind and body. My female would never be a warrior, and I would never ask her to become one.
But veil, I needed her safe.
I needed her healthy and fiery, challenging me at every turn and grinning as she did.
She deserved a male who could protect her better than I had in the time since I’d found her, but there was no one better suited for it.
And the veil knew I couldn’t let her go.
She was mine.
I began to pace the room as I thought over the possible ways to keep her safe. Staying with her at all times was the best idea, if not an entirely reasonable one. She was independent enough to need her space, and would never agree to a constant guard, especially if I was that guard.
Of all the possibilities, one lingered at the front of my thoughts.
Sealing our bond.
If we sealed it, I would have more complete access to her mind. She would be able to use my magic as her own if she needed to, which could help protect her as well.
Most importantly, she would heal like a fae. She would have our senses and speed, rather than the ones of a human, which would enable her to watch her own back more closely.
And perhaps at the very pinnacle of the reasoning, she would have our immortality.
My immortality.
My magic would make her mine, for as many years as we could manage to stay in Evare. It would bind her to me and me to her in a connection that would stretch far beyond the bounds of a lifetime.
She would be mine to love, protect, and care for through our eternities together.
I wanted that with her.
I didn’t just want her to be mine, I wanted her to be my mine permanently.
Laeli cried out in her sleep, pulling me from my thoughts as I crossed the room to her. A moment later, I was holding her upright as she emptied her stomach into the toilet. Nothing came up except bile, but I had been drugged with the same herb on two different occasions, so I knew the pain and misery of the illness.
“I’m here,” I murmured into her ear, as I lowered her back to the bed. Gleam cuddled up beside her immediately, nuzzling her cheek to comfort her. I’d need to get water into her system within an hour or two, assuming she worked the same as a fae. It would all come back up, but the alternative was dehydration.
Then again, humans were weaker than fae. What if she could get dehydrated more easily?
I couldn’t risk that, so I filled a glass of water in the sink and brought it back to Laeli.
I brushed a hand lightly over her forehead as I sat down beside her. She was clammy, but not cold. “Lae, I need you to take a small drink.”