Page 50 of Faint Hearted
“I can take the bedroll,” I offered and he chuckled.
“The bedroll is for enemies,” he said.
Stryker slipped into bed, patting the space beside him, and I smiled.
I was trying to be cautious of how he might feel sleeping next to me uncuffed, but also keep a proper distance for my own sake. Stryker was the kind of man I could lose myself in and as much as I cared for him, I knew we weren’t there yet. Sometimes if things burned too hot too fast, they burned out. I wanted what Stryker and I had to last.
Peeling back the covers I got into bed and faced Stryker.
We were silent a long minute, just letting the moment settle. My eyes adjusted to the light and I realized he was watching me.
“You frighten me,” he said to the dark room.
I frightened him? How? I didn’t want to ask.
“You make me happy,” I countered and felt his sharp intake of breath.
Reaching over, he threaded his fingers through mine.
“You make me happy too, Aribella.That’swhat frightens me.” He lifted onto his elbow and pecked my nose and then wished me goodnight.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face and hope for tomorrow.
Chapter 15
Stryker
A burning pain scored the side of my face and my eyes popped open to find Rosaline straddling my hips as she hovered over me, her moon-streaked hair curtaining her face. She held an onyx dagger with blood dripping from the tip and an expression of hatred I’d never seen on her face before.
I didn’t understand what was happening. We’d fallen asleep the night before wrapped in each other’s arms, whispered words of adoration lingered on our lips as we drifted off, so when she lunged for me I didn’t react fast enough and her blade scraped against my face again, carving a path through my eyebrow and narrowly missing my eye.
With a shout I shoved her off me and she fell onto the floor as I staggered from the bed. My body felt like it was walking through quicksand. Blood dripped down the side of my face so freely it half-blinded me, but through my limited vision I saw the unmistakable green swirls of a dampener rune on my chest.
Fear gripped me and I pulled for my shadow magic to no avail. The rune was blocking it.
Stumbling into the nightstand, I grasped for something to stanch the flow of blood running into my eyes, but she came at me again with a piercing shriek. I spun just in time to grab her wrist before she could impale me with her blade. I was about to twist the weapon out of her hand when she started chanting something and the cuts on my face began to burn with the intensity of a thousand suns.
With a gasp I released her and lurched away, my body refusing to obey me as I fell to the ground, clawing at my own face.
A husky chuckle sounded and my gut clenched. It was the same sound that had driven me wild with desire more than once.
“Magic activated poison,” she said. “Without a healer it will burn through your bloodstream, making it feel like blades are running through your veins.”
That was an accurate description, for even as I tipped my face up to see her standing above me through my bloodied vision, I felt the poison moving down my neck and into my chest. The pain was so intense I couldn’t move, my body spasmed as the poison continued its trek through me. And the worst part of it all. She was a healer. She could end this all now.
“Why?” I choked out, feeling the hurt of her betrayal ten times more than the poison.
“Why?” she echoed, her eyebrows shooting up. “Surely you’ve figured it out.”
When I just stared at her, twitching on the ground, she chuckled again and the sound ran over me like razor blades.
“You’ve spilled all your secrets. I know everything about your riches, all your mines and the combination to your safe. With you gone, I’ll be the wealthiest fae in all of Ethereum.”
Through the agony I looked up at her, my heart shattered into a million pieces. “You’ve betrayed me for my riches.” My traitorous voice cracked.
The look she threw me said she thought I was the most foolish fae to ever live. And maybe she was right.
“Why else would I pretend to love you?” she said matter-of-factly and then lifted the blade above her head, aiming it for my heart.
