Page 172 of A Touch of Poison
Not at first, but as oblivion had rolled in, yes.
I bowed my head. “I still can’t control it. I’m a danger to everyone. That’s why you have Rose guard me all the time, really, isn’t it?”
His silence was enough of an answer.
No one in the city was likely to harm me. Not while I lived under his protection. But I was a danger to them.
“Not… solely,” he said at last. “I want to keep you safe, whether that’s from attack or from how much it would harm you if you inadvertently hurt someone.”
“Then you understand why I need iron.”
“It will make you sick. It nullifies your ring and fae charm itself, but it blocksallincoming magic, including healing. It’s not the solution it seems to be. Maybe you didn’t feel too bad just now, but you were only wearing it for half an hour. Over time…”
“But I’m not fae.”
“No, but you heard the Lady of the Lake, and Elthea, too.” His face tightened at her name. “You’re not entirely human—not anymore. Iron makes gifted humans sick after a while. Who knows what it would do to you in the long term?”
“And what about the constant fear of poisoning someone? Isn’t that enough to make me ill?”
His hands fisted as he huffed. “Iron is a punishment, not something you do to someone you love.”
My next argument died on my lips.Love? No, he… he just cared about me. But my chest was doing something strange, like my heart danced, forgetting entirely about its normal beat.
“We’ll find another way.” Jaw muscle twitching, he backed off and turned away. “I’m running you a bath.”
I swallowed, searching for my voice as he threw open the bathroom door. “That isn’t going to fix me.”
“No.” With me following, he stalked into a bathroom with no ceiling. Above, the evening sky lit up with the first stars. “But it will get rid of the stink of whoever’s shirt that is.”
I sniffed the shirt. “Are you saying I smell?”
“Of another man.”
I sat on the edge of the large bath as steaming water ran into it. He glowered, looking between two bottles of bubble bath.
“You know I don’t need your permission to do this, don’t you?”
“You don’t need my permission for anything. But I hope you’ll reconsider.” He showed me the labels, and I chose the hyacinth and amber scent over the lilac one. “You’ve been making progress,” he muttered as he poured a generous dose into the bath. “IfIhelp you, you’ll be able to use it. I felt you drain the trees—your magic is unseelie, like mine.”
Use it? I’d done enough with this power. Nausea rose in me, and I distracted myself by asking, “So… I didn’t poison the trees, I… drained the life from them?”
“Sort of. Their magic, not their life. But they’re connected—all living things have some link to the power that runs through the universe.”
“Ariadne said something like that. She feels it when she uses her magic—threads connecting everything.”
He made a soft sound of amusement. “Of course a threadwitch would see it that way. But I’m sorry. I sent you to all the wrong people for help and… it’s taken me embarrassingly long to realise.”
“Well, youwereavoiding me a good portion of that time.” I arched an eyebrow at him and grinned when he looked up from frothing the bubbles.
“I was a coward, I confess, afraid of being alone with you too much.” His gaze drifted away, following the scented steam. “What a waste of time.” He seemed distant for a beat before shaking it off. “Butyouavoided me, too.”
“Fair point.”
We chuckled, and he left me to bathe. The water was hot and wonderful, the sunset beautiful, and there was no scar on my chest. I could almost persuade myself that although we were captives, this space was a haven from the outside world rather than a prison.
Overhead, the sky darkened to night, and when I emerged, I found Bastian already sprawled across the bed, asleep. I wasn’t surprised after the battle and the iron.
He thought he could help me, but it was better if I had no magic and couldn’t hurt anyone. I would get hold of iron. Somehow.
