Page 28 of Cold Hearted
The trees blurred before me, and I blinked rapidly as one of Zander’s men untied him. “The commander is secure—the bandits ran off,” the soldier called to the others.
I stumbled forward, my hands going numb as I brought them up to look at.
I gasped when I saw that they were bright red and peeling. I’d… burned myself. How ironic.
I began to laugh deeply as I fell to my knees. Then Zander was there, catching me as another wave of dizziness washed over me.
“What’s so funny, little bird?” Zander asked as he peered down at me with concern.
I think Master Duncan was right. I’d depleted my power, and with no sun right now I was drained, barely able to keep my eyes open. It felt like death was knocking at my door.
Reaching up, I traced the black blood running from a cut at Zander’s neck. “I know what you are,” I whispered, my mind feeling fuzzy.
I felt him stiffen beneath me as I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his ear. “Black bleeder, royal family.”
He frowned. “Oh, little bird. You don’t know the half of it.”
And as the darkness swallowed me whole, it felt as if I would never feel the sunlight again.
Chapter 8
When I came to my head was pounding like I’d drunk too much fae wine the night before, and brightness behind my closed lids seared my eyeballs. With a groan, I flopped over onto my stomach and buried my face in my arms, only then realizing I was sprawled out on a bed of frost-covered grass. A fire crackled beside me, lending me its warmth.
With effort, I cracked my eyelids, seeing first a patch of perfectly preserved white hellebore flowers encased in a transparent layer of frost. They were lovely, but as I lifted my gaze I spotted something far more appealing.
Seated only a few feet away, Zander regarded me with a deceptively blank expression.
“You’re awake,” he breathed, the relief in his voice at odds with his expression. “That was an impressive show of magic last night,” he added.
My mind was muddled, so I took a moment to collect myself before answering him, making a show of slowly coming to a seated position and stretching out my sore muscles.
It was never my intention to let Zander, or anyone else in Ethereum for that matter,see the full extent of my sunlight magic. In Faerie, my powers would immediately identify myself as a royal, and I assumed the same was true for Ethereum, but there was nothing to be done about it now. When Zander’s life was in the balance I hadn’t even considered the consequences. The die had been cast, and now I had to play the hand I had left.
“How long have I been out for?” I asked, stalling. My voice came out like a croaking frog.
Just then I remembered my dagger and my heart jumped into my throat. My hand went to my waist to find it safely sheathed there even though I knew I hadn’t returned it before I blacked out.
Zander’s gaze tracked my movements. He didn’t say anything about it, but his mouth downturned and he looked away.
“The rest of the night and well into the afternoon,” he answered, and then dug into a bag at his side and brought out something wrapped in cheesecloth, handing it to me. Our fingers touched when he passed me the items. It might have just been my imagination, but I thought his hand lingered on mine before he relinquished the small bounty.
Inside the cheesecloth was a mulberry muffin and a small handful of fresh berries. I took a bite of the muffin and the sweet flavors exploded on my tongue. “Mmm,” I moaned, closing my eyes to savor the taste. “This might be the best pastry I’ve ever had.” If the palace chefs heard me saying that they’d be heartbroken, but it was true.
When I opened my eyes it was to find Zander staring at me, a hungry look on his face and his gaze focused on my lips. I stopped chewing and swallowed, suddenly feeling warm despite the chill in the air.
“Thank you for the food,” I said, and Zander inclined his head. He was being uncharacteristically quiet this morning, and I was fearful it was because he was working out the truth about me.
I cleared my throat, and a knot formed in my stomach, keeping me from finishing the muffin. “Why are we here?” I asked, looking around the small clearing.
Surrounded by forest, the sunlight still shone down on us, but this wasn’t the same spot I’d found him the night before. There were no bodies, no tree that he was tied to. We were utterly alone, and I had conflicting feelings about that right now.
“Your powers are connected to the sun, so I figured you’d gain energy from the light.” A shadow fell over his face and my stomach dropped. The last thing I wanted to do right now was talk about my magic. But he was right. Putting me in the direct sun had probably saved my magic and my life.
“You were in bad shape last night. Luckily, it seems my guess was correct, and the sunlight has done you some good. For a while there I wasn’t sure you’d ever wake.”
I shrugged like it was no big deal. “I’m pretty tough.”
“You expelled a massive amount of energy last night, Dawn. Too much,” he said pointedly. “You shouldn’t have done that.” His face was hard, his disapproval clear, and that pissed me off. I’d done what I’d done to savehislife. Who was he to judge me for it?
