Page 59 of The Ruthless Fae King
“Maybe I can help if there is a reaction,” Raife offered.
Kailani gave him a sweet smile but she didn’t look too confident.
“That’s why you asked about her mother or someone from Fall Court?” I said.
Kailani dipped her chin in agreement. “Next of kin is always the best. Blood closest to hers is less likely to have a reaction.”
My heart began to hammer in my chest and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was now low on blood or if I was just processing her words.
“Have you ever done this on fae?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “Humans and elves only.”
Great. “So you have no idea what a Winter fae giving blood to a Fall fae will do?”
Kailani swallowed loudly, her mouth thinning to a line. “I do not, but I know that either way you’ve bought her time. If your blood fails, we will know pretty quickly, and by then the mother and sister should be here.”
I held on to that, on to the promise that even if I couldn’t save her, maybe I’d bought her time so that her mother could.
A few minutes passed as I stared at the pulse in her throat. Was it my imagination or did it look stronger? Kailani was mumbling under her breath, counting. I assumed timing how much blood I could lose before I myself needed a donation.
After what seemed like forever, Kailani pinched the tube and then pulled the needle out of my arm and did the same to Madelynn. She then threw the tube and needles into the fire and looked up at me. “How do you feel?”
Panicked. Heartbroken. Desperate.
“Fine,” I mumbled.
Raife scanned his hand over Madelynn’s chest, then her stomach, and grinned. “Her heartbeat is stronger. I don’t sense any reaction yet.”
Yet.
“When will she wake up?” I took her cold hand into mine and realized that the house was freezing. I was horrible at keeping my emotions in check, and since my power and emotions were tied together, it made things difficult.
“She just needs rest,” was all Raife said.
“Let’s get her in a warm bed. I’ll change her into some dry clothes,” Kailani offered.
Her clothes were wet from snow and blood and so I nodded. I knew she’d rather her lady-in-waiting change her, but she needed to warm up and rest, so I allowed it.
After carrying her to her room upstairs, I sat her on the bed, holding her head up on my shoulder as I looked away from her.
Kailani made quick work of stripping her clothing and throwing it on the floor. I continued to hold her head against my chest as her limp arms were flopped around by the grunting elvin queen, until finally Kailani told me I could look.
Madelynn had been changed into a simple white dressing gown which looked dry and warm. I set her head back on the pillow and tugged the thick woolen blanket up to her chest. Then I pulled a chair up to the side of the bed.
Grasping Madelynn’s hands between mine, I rested my head on the blanket and tried not to lose hope.
“Do you need me to stay as a chaperone until her lady-in-waiting shows?” Kailani asked from the open doorway.
The fae were very proper in our culture about purity and marriage. It was why I was going to go back the first chance I got and cut Marcelle’s manhood from his dead corpse for forcing himself on my future wife. The very thought made me want to freeze the entire Summer Court realm. I looked down at Madelynn’s sleeping face and the soft rise and fall of her chest. We weren’t officially married yet, I had not bedded her, and yet she already felt like my wife.
She was my forever.
“I think we’re past that,” I told Kailani, “But you can send in my head maid to be sure.” I didn’t know what Madelynn would want. Her reputation was important to her and I didn’t want to tarnish it any more than it had been.
Kailani nodded and then moved to leave.
“Kailani,” I called out after her.
