Chapter 26 #2
At least Kole and I had used a looking glass.
If mistakes were made over the seasons, by myself or my parents, they would forget everything, so it was possible Kole would have to show them time and time again what’d occurred at Arnel’s estate.
Essentially, without the looking glass, we wouldn’t be able to prove anything to anyone.
But while all of that should have made me feel relieved, all I could think about was Kole’s open cut. That droplet of vamfeer blood.
Alone, I paced in my chambers and twisted my fingers together.
I tried to focus on Arnel’s demise and my future moving forward.
I still didn’t know how my parents and I would co-exist, not with them knowing about my uncle and possibly figuring out that Arnel had turned me into a vampire . . . if Kole didn’t tell them outright.
Focusing on that, I clung to the hope that if I didn’t know for certain what Kole was telling them or revealing, it theoretically would keep my uncle’s command from swaying me to manipulate them.
But I still had to live with the manipulations that I’d already placed on powerful fae around me. I’d confessed to Kole the shameful thing I’d done to my father at Arnel’s instruction, and Kole already knew about Lordling Torleaf. And King Riverling was still scheduled to arrive next week.
I let out a frustrated sigh and continued pacing, forcing myself to concentrate on those problems. Anything to keep my mind off of Kole becoming infected.
But as much as I tried not to think of Kole’s potential infection, I couldn’t help but remember the beginning stages that my uncle had dealt with. Initially, it’d started with indigestion, then a fever, fatigue, then weakness.
Each day it’d grown progressively worse.
I knew at the moment Kole felt fine, but I would have to stay alert for any signs or symptoms of vamfeer infection.
The minutes ticked steadily by. Betsee came by, and since I’d used magic to whisk away the grime that’d covered me at my uncle’s, she was none the wiser that I’d spent the night hacking and slaying vamfeers hundreds of miles away, and only hours ago had their ash coating me.
But my fake smile began to dim as the most arduous battle of my future awaited me. Because my uncle’s commands still held. For the rest of my life, I would be forced to hide my new nature, which meant it was inevitable that eventually, I would hurt every fairy that I loved.
But if Kole turned into a vamfeer, if he became one of those things, none of that would matter anymore, because my soul would be shattered that my decisions had led to Kole’s fae death.
Two hours passed with no sign of Kole. I had no idea if he was still talking to my parents, or had perhaps returned to the Imperial Council headquarters, or if something had gone drastically wrong, and my parents had banished him. Or maybe, already, he’d begun showing signs of infection.
The waiting was beginning to drive me crazy, and I was tempted to contact him mentally to get an update, but if he was in the midst of discussing something important with my parents or the Council, or even seeing a healer and trying to find a way to eradicate any traces of vamfeer infection that was already inside him, I didn’t want to distract him.
So instead, to pass the time, I reached out to Ree.
She answered immediately, the usual snark in her voice. Morning, stranger. I’ve been wondering when I’d hear from you. Have you been searching the libraries without me?
I laughed lightly at her wry tone. No, not at all.
We haven’t been to the libraries again since dropping you home, but something important happened, although at the moment, I can’t tell you about it.
I wrung my hands. I so wanted to confess everything.
Desperately wanted that, but my uncle’s permanent command sealed my lips and mind.
A long pause came from her end. Should I be worried?
Despite trying to stop them, tears of frustration and fear welled in my eyes. In some ways, yes, in other ways, no. With Arnel dead, that was the truth, but as for Kole . . . I shuddered. I could really use a distraction right now. Do you have a minute? Or are you busy at work?
It’s slow right now. I’ve got time, so let me distract away.
Ree launched into telling me about Siam and the latest sale she’d made at Valehill Market, where the stand she worked at was located.
Following that, she told me about Gwen and Timith.
She’d stopped by to see them last night, and even though she breezed over how they’d been wondering about me too, my chest still tightened.
It’d been over a week since I’d visited them, and I knew I needed to fix that.
Following that, she told me about our mutual friends and how she’d seen a friend of ours the other day for tea.
Her ramblings were all so normal. So comforting.
I finally sat down on my sofa and managed to relax slightly as Ree continued chatting away about the upcoming winter festivities that Whiteolf held at the beginning of each new full season.
Another hour passed, and I managed to forget everything that’d happened during the night, but when Ree said, Did you hear about the group that went into Silventine Wood last weekend?
They were a group of young fae from the Creofill District, and I guess they went up there looking for a goldling branch.
I frowned. No, I didn’t. What happened to them?
According to the Whiteolf Tribune, they never emerged. Their parents are devastated, obviously. She made a noise in her throat. If Siam ever does something that stupid, I’ll kill him myself.
I nodded sympathetically. Yeah, that forest is no joke. Diredan lives in the soil. I shuddered, remembering my own near-death experience with the vengeful god.
Diredan? Are you serious? How do you know that?
With a start, I realized so much had happened since the fateful day I’d found and claimed the Wishing Stone in Silventine Wood that there were still so many details I hadn’t told Ree.
I’d filled her in on everything after I’d returned to Whiteolf, but not what’d occurred within that fateful Wood.
I met him, I said simply. He almost killed me.
I went on to tell her of the harrowing experience and how it was only the lock of Goddess Nuleef’s hair that had saved me.
When I finished, I could practically feel Ree’s shudder through our connection. So that’s how you ultimately found the Wishing Stone. She shuddered again. That’s awfully frightening, and that definitely sounds like a vengeful god.
Indeed. He got his name and classification for a reason.
We spoke for a bit longer, but Ree eventually had to leave and actually focus on her job. When our connection ended, I stayed on the couch and gazed at the sky through the window. Pastel-colored clouds trailed lazily by.
I ran a hand idly over my arm, and my cool skin greeted me. My chest tightened anew, and I curled my fingers into my palm.
What if Kole’s skin turns cold? What if fangs emerge from his mouth, and he grows black claws and becomes a true vamfeer? Will he even remember me? Will he know who I am?
I turned on my side and squeezed my eyes shut. If only I could go back in time and pinpoint when that cut happened and stop it.
But such a thing wasn’t possible. Nothing could undo what Kole had been exposed to, and if he turned into a vamfeer, if he became one of those things, nothing could undo that either, not unless Nicholas or Master Fistideeous found something in the archives to help us, or not unless I had another Wishing Stone, a relic from the stars, blessed by a god or goddess.
My heart squeezed, and I desperately wished I had another Stone. If anything had enough power to cure Kole, it would be that.
My eyes cracked open, and I sat upright. Power from the stars. Blessed by a god or goddess.
My eyebrows slammed together as something occurred to me, but my door opened, and Kole strode in.
I shot to standing.
He closed the door behind him, not saying a word. His huge sword stood up from his back, and his face was its usual telltale blank mask. He still looked healthy and whole, but he’d also just been exposed.
If he’d truly been infected, I had no idea how long it would take for symptoms to show. After all, a vamfeer had infected Kole directly, and he hadn’t drunk a potion to become a vampire as Timith had.
“You look worried,” he said by way of greeting. He came up to me and cupped my cheeks. “I feel fine, my love. I’m okay.”
I wanted to believe him, desperately wanted to. Anxiously, I nodded. Maybe he was right. Maybe he would be fine.
I covered his hands with mine. “How did it go?”
“They’re still processing.”
“But they believe that Arnel is as evil as we know him to be?” I asked cautiously.
His nostrils flared slightly, and he dipped his head.
“It took your father watching everything on the looking glass three times, and me explaining it just as many, for him to accept that his twin brother betrayed him so deeply.” He ran a finger down my cheek, not flinching at my cool skin.
“But your family believed me. Your father is angry, very angry, although that’s probably the understatement of the century. ”
“Thank the gods, but please don’t say anything more. I don’t want to know what they know. I can’t know.” My shoulders slumped in relief that they’d believed Kole about Arnel, but the impossibility of what I faced hit me all over again.
I peered upward at my fearsome, brutal, and devastatingly beautiful mate. “How will I ever see them again?” I didn’t dare clarify my fear more.
Kole’s eyes softened. “I think it’s okay for you to see them.”
“You do?”
“Come, my love. It’ll be all right.”
I was too afraid to ask more. Too afraid about everything.