Chapter 6 Darian #2
For a moment, I wonder if it might come to a fight. Darkness collects around him, as if he’s calling his erevas, before he turns, giving me his back. “This isn’t finished. We’ll see what Kaelen has to say about it.”
Eres moves around me as Nythen stalks off, undoubtedly to hunt Kaelen down and chew his ear off about us outvoting him. I head after Eres. “Wait.”
I try not to think about Kaelen’s reaction to this.
He doesn’t stop. “She’s close to hypothermic. Her body temperature is still too low.”
“What do we do?”
He ducks through the open doorway that leads into the hall. The chamber branches off into various hallways that wind through the castle, and he heads for the middle path which leads to the Council’s private chambers. “Come with me. I’ll need your help.”
“You’re not taking her to the healer's quarters?”
Eres shakes his head as we turn the corner. “Not for this. You’ll see why. And there are too many eyes there for now.”
He kicks the door open to his private rooms. Stepping in after him, I watch as he settles the Lightbringer down on his bed, ripping the cloak away and tossing it to the floor. She’s taller than she looked in his arms.
And then… I blink. Several times. “Er, Eres—”
“Help me,” he snaps without looking up. Hastily, I avert my eyes as he uses a knife to tear away what remains of her torn, sodden dress. “This is no time to be bashful, Dare. She’s freezing, and this dress is soaked through.”
“I’m not entirely sure what you want me to do—”
“Body heat,” he forces out.
I keep my eyes away from the bed as I edge closer. “Come again?”
Fucking hell. Now he’s stripping off, and I have no idea where to look. I settle for the ceiling, but not before I catch a glimpse of pale, shadow-streaked flesh as he yanks his trousers down. “Have you never heard of underwear? Wonderful invention.”
My voice sounds amused, but I feel anything but. “I should go.”
A drawer slams in the corner of my vision, and then he’s in front of me, tugging on a pair of linen pants. “She’s going to die if she doesn’t warm up.”
That captures my attention. My eyes lower. Eres studies me, and I wonder if I imagine the hint of color in his face before he turns away. “We need to keep her warm.”
Oh, no—
“I’m not having any part in this.” And yet a determined hand has me by the wrist, dragging me closer as I trip over my own feet. “Eres. Kaelen will cut my cock off if he finds me in your bed.”
“I strongly suspect that’s not true,” he mutters. “Take your damn clothes off, Dare.”
He’s yanking back the thick coverlet. Bowing down to the body heat gods, I mentally apologize in my head as I shuck off my shirt and unlace my trousers. Thankfully, some of us wear underwear on a daily basis. “What do I do?”
“Get in.” He slides his arms beneath her. “I’ll pass her to you and get in on her other side.”
Fuck. Fucking hell. “Shouldn’t we ask her first—”
“She’s not conscious, and she’s not going to be if we don’t hurry up. Darian.”
Sucking in a breath, I slide beneath the covers of his bed. Barely a second later, the Lightbringer is thrust at me with all the finesse of a tossed potato. I glance at her face to assess, but there’s no sign of flame-filled eyes. Only faint white veins littering her closed golden eyelids.
“Skin to skin. As much as you can.”
“Right.” Carefully, I roll her so her back is against my chest. The ice in her skin registers, and I choke. “Fuck. She’s cold.”
Eres stops to stare at me, incredulous.
“Hurry up,” I mutter. I wait, burying my face in her damp hair while Eres climbs in. My heart thuds against her skin in an uneven rhythm. “You’re sure this will help her?”
“Better than anything else can right now. Once she’s warm, I can treat the rest.” He doesn’t hesitate before pressing himself against her front. “Closer.”
He drags the covers over us, and we wait.
“What else?” I ask quietly. My hand hovers, not knowing where to settle before I run it gingerly down her arm. Once, and then again, repeating it as I try to heat the icy touch of her skin. “What other treatment?”
He exhales. Our eyes meet over her head, and I realize just how close we are. His leg is pressed over her hip, my left leg between hers. The three of us are impossibly tangled, and I silently beg the old gods—bastards—that she doesn’t wake up.
But she’s so still. Worry stirs. “Tell me what happened.”
“She has a stab wound in her stomach. Gut wound, twisted on entry,” he whispers. “Her hands were staked to the ground, Dare. They left her like that to die beside a burned-out encampment.”
My body locks up. “They staked her to the ground?”
But then, the Lightbringers do enjoy their stakes.
He nods. “Both palms were pierced right through. I need to see if I can heal them, or she’ll never cast again.”
Is that such a bad thing?
It would be one less Lightbringer in the world.
But as I look down, I find myself saying something entirely different. “Nythen would hurt her.”
“Yes.” He shifts, propping his arm beneath his head against the pillow and examining her face. The tension in his frame relaxes. “Her breathing is improving.”
Listening, I pick out the small huffs between the two of us. “She feels warmer now.”
But I don’t move. And neither does he. “You feel protective over her.”
Not something I ever thought I’d say. Over a Lightbringer.
Eres sighs. “It was the way she looked at me, Dare.”
“What do you mean?” I consider the eyes that latched onto mine.
Black eyes of fire and ember. Witch-eyes, after the stories we were told as children to scare us into behaving.
Go to bed now, or the witch-eyes will come for you.
As we grew up, we learned that the witches were real, and they were called lightbringers. That they were dangerous, and that they wanted us dead. The reality was worse than any nightmare whispered in the dark.
Eres loosens a breath. “Like I was the monster.”
I know exactly what he means. Leaning forward, I take in her sleeping expression. She almost looks peaceful, curled up between us. “This isn’t going to end well, Eres.”
For any of us, I would wager. But especially for her.
She’s one of them. I try to focus on that thought, to stop my chest from squeezing, but it’s hard. “She could be a spy. Or an assassin.”
“She could.” Eres is watching her face. “I’d say there’s a strong possibility.”
“But you saved her anyway.”
His gaze doesn’t shift. “I saved her anyway.”
Of course he did. I wouldn’t expect anything else. Sighing, I shift, tugging the girl closer. “Kaelen is going to lose his mind over this.”