Chapter 22 #2
“When you’re off my leash, you mean?” Paris rebutted. “Not happening, dickhead.”
Aidan’s lips curled into a smile. “We’ll see.”
“You’ve got that right,” Paris countered.
Aidan tilted his head. “Meaning what?”
“Oh. You shitting yourself?”
“Hardly. Silly puppets are no match for me.”
Paris rushed in a sudden burst of speed, driving the crystal dagger into his chest, twisting it, growling as he severed flesh and sinew.
Only, no blood flowed from the messy hole he’d made. The deity let it happen with a wide grin on Hal’s face.
Paris pulled back, his weapon vanishing. The bloodless wound in Hal’s chest closed.
“You’re lucky I’m in here,” Aidan said, pointing at himself. “If not, you would have killed your lover.”
Paris summoned his stakeblade. “Let him go.”
I expected Aidan to mock him. Instead, he responded with, “I was hoping you would do that.”
He disappeared, his little display concluded.
The bastard wanted us to know he was invincible. For the moment, at least.
Paris’s shoulders drooped and he fell to his knees, hitting the floor with a sickening crunch. “Damn.”
I crouched beside him, wanting to stroke his hair, to comfort him in any way I could.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I said.
An executioner screamed, voices answered, the panic so thick it almost seeped through the walls. A once delicious energy curdled in my stomach because it pained Paris to hear.
I’m changing…
Finally, the elf answered me. “I don’t know what to think anymore.
I’ve betrayed my people, my sister’s memory, and now Hal’s…
Fuck it.” He lowered himself onto his backside, the tip of his weapon clinking the floor.
“I have to get out of here. I have to fix this bullshit.” He lifted his head, those magnificent eyes stifling my response.
I could gaze into your eyes forever.
Paris sniffled, looking so exhausted. “Let’s just get through the day so we can head out to Glimmer City.” His expression went from wearied to determined. He got to his feet, a steeliness taking him over. “Can we hit the sack? Separately, obviously.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. The body’s ready.”
“What about the heart?”
An executioner roared their panic, illustrating my point.
He quivered, wrapping his arms around his body. “I…I guess…”
“I have an idea.”
I looked up to see Medusa, who was keeping her distance.
“What is it?” I inquired.
“Suspending Gas,” she answered. “Put them out for now.”
Paris pushed himself onto his knees. “Can we do that?”
I ran my tongue over my lips. It would be better than setting them free, and would buy us time.
But it would still be seen as a mercy.
“What do you think?” Paris pressed me.
Suspending Gas put a mortal into a deep coma, suspending all bodily functions, including hunger. It held them in stasis for a week, the particles in the gas pausing time.
I agreed, the hope on Paris’s face too much to refuse.
He sagged with relief. “Thanks. I…I owe you one.”
I let that fall away, not wanting him to be in my debt.
“Thanks for the idea,” he said to Medusa.
“You’re welcome, sugar,” my friend answered softly, giving me a weak smile.
What else could I say?
With that, we returned to my chambers.
Paris collapsed onto the single bed in the corner, passing out in seconds.
“He seems so peaceful, doesn’t he?” Medusa said, watching over him.
And radiant, I wanted to say. “He does.”
I liked that she seemed to care for him, although I wondered if she was just as foolish as me to feel anything for the elf.
Fatigue crept toward me. I stifled a yawn, taking a seat on my bed.
My friend sat on the floor, sticking her legs out. “What happens next?”
How was I supposed to sleep today? Surely my brain wouldn’t let me.
I explained every detail I knew so far to her.
She didn’t know what a Knife of Fractured Rapture was either.
“And I’m going to need your help,” I added. “Your portal power, to be precise.”
“No problem.”
“You don’t mind?”
“What’s the point of having a portal power if I can’t use it to help my best friend?”
The warmth of her friendship pooled in my belly. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, sugar,” she answered, wincing.
Shame on me for only noticing her injured scales. “Let me call someone to tend to your wounds.”
She shook her head vehemently. “I’ll be hunting shortly. That will fix me up. But first, I want to be here for you.”
Ah, yes. The twelve-hour healing rule.
I smiled, her companionship nothing short of wonderful. Thank goodness she was here.
“This thing about your sister,” she said. “I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling.”
“Confused, as usual,” I responded.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could help ease the pain for you.”
She was so, so kind. “And I’m sorry for everything. Because of me, you’re hurt and Gilbert died. I…” I steadied myself against the kernels of ache in the Heart of All. “The best thing for me to do is leave for a while.”
She got up, hurried over, and sat beside me. “Oh, sugar.” She threw her arms around me, crushing me in a tight embrace.
I held her as she began to sob. “Everything will be alright.” If only I believed that, if only I could promise her some sort of future. But the longer this went on, the weaker my determination became.
Maybe I just need to sleep this day away and wake up fresh at nightfall. Because no decent king would allow himself to languish in self-pity.
It was time to be strong.
I let her cry into my shoulder until her tears stopped flowing.
Once spent, she pulled back, wiping at her amber eyes. “Sorry about that, sugar. I don’t know what came over me.”
“This is always a safe space for you, my friend.”
She poked me gently on the chin. “Thank you. I should be the one letting you cry on my shoulder.”
“Not right now. But I appreciate it.”
Her brows pinched together. “When are you going to tell me more about the elf?”
Interesting change of subject. “More?”
“Yep. I’m a nosy friend.”
My eyes darted to the single bed, my body longing for him to join me on this one.
“Not now,” I retorted.
She knew my cadences well enough to leave something alone. When I was ready, maybe I would vent my feelings, dissect everything, and untangle my desires.
“Well, have a good sleep,” she said. “I’ll pick at this another day.”
Medusa shifted into the emerald python, slithering into the hatch that led to the main indoor palace gardens.
Stripping naked, I slid under my duvet, the mechanism of the bed whirring to life at my command. It lowered me into darkness, and much to my body’s relief, I soon fell asleep.