Chapter 22
Pale.
My face is pale as I stare at it through the mirror. Everything spins around me as I grip onto the counter, looking away from my pathetic image.
“Let’s get some food in your body,” Mother says. “I’ll help you to the table where you can rest.”
And she does exactly that, my whole world spinning even more as I sit down. I limp the whole way down, pain shooting up and down my leg with each step I take on it.
“You are going to need to be careful with your leg,” Mother reminds me. “You don’t want to pop the stitches.”
“Okay,” I mumble.
Sweets, talk to me. What happened back there? Did Avira visit you in the middle of the night? Kieran asks.
It was a dream. I manage to fight the black dots threatening to pull me under. I never thought she could do so much damage through a dream.
Fear courses through me, and a sense of calm washes over my body, but it does nothing to take the fear away.
Kieran is trying to comfort me.
I knew I should have never taken the herbs or fallen asleep to begin with. What I was so worried about actually came true.
What did she do to you in your dream? he asks. What did she say?
So many things, I whisper as I lean my head on the table, not having the energy to keep it up any longer.
I’m never going to be able to go back into my room and fall asleep again. I don’t think I ever want to step foot back in there when everything is replaying in my head so vividly.
“Come on, let’s get you fed and then you can go lie down,” Mother says.
“I don't know if I can stomach any food,” I manage to get out. “Everything is so weak and I don’t have the energy.”
“Then let me be your energy. All you have to do is swallow,” she replies as she sits right next to me. “I’ll feed you.”
She places the bowl on the table before helping me sit up.
Can you tell me more? Kieran asks. Maybe there is something we can do to make sure that she can never reach you again, but I need to know everything that happened.
Can you just read my mind? I ask. Look back into my memories and see what happened? I don’t want to relive it.
But I’m constantly reliving it right now. Flashes of the dream keep appearing in my vision.
I can only do that if I see you in person. I don’t want you walking right now. I can feel how weak you are. Eat and get some rest. I’m here if you need anything.
Tears shimmer in my eyes and I blink them away before turning my focus to Mother.
“I know, Adeline, but everything is going to be okay. You are going to rest and get better, I promise,” she whispers.
Then what was Avira talking about when she said the people around me would notice too late? She couldn’t have possibly meant that I would die from blood loss, could she?
“I’m sorry.” I choke on my words.
“Hush. You have nothing to be sorry for. I just want you to eat something and get some rest. Your sole focus should be on healing right now,” Mother replies.
She slowly feeds me the porridge and I force myself to swallow every spoonful she gives me.
“How about you go rest in my room,” Mother says as she gets up and places the bowl in the sink. “Just rest in there while I do things around the house.”
While she cleans up the bloody mess in my room.
“I don’t know if I can fall asleep in this house again,” I say honestly. “This is exactly what I was worried about.”
Mother cups my face with her warm hands. It’s not the same as when Kieran does it, and I deeply miss it.
“You are going to make it through this no matter what. And if we need to move houses then we can.”
I shake my head. “There is no way we would be able to afford moving houses.”
Not when this house has been in my mother’s family for generations. She grew up here, lost her husband, and had two kids. I can’t drag her away from this, no matter how much it pains me to be here.
“If it is going to help you move on and be able to sleep, then we will. I have no doubt that there is someone else who wants to trade houses,” Mother explains.
“She can still reach me if we go to another house. It won’t matter. We won’t be able to move houses every single time she comes in my dreams or sees me in person. It will be impossible and it will slow down our business.”
Mother sighs.
“I want to go to the forest,” I whisper.
She looks at me shocked. “I don’t know if you have the strength to get to the forest. How about you wait until later. Maybe tomorrow or the day after that when your body has fully recovered from the blood loss.”
“I need to see him and explain what happened. He can feel everything,” I tell her. “He is worried and I need to ease him before he tries to do something dumb.”
“I don’t know,” she mumbles and looks down at my thigh, something flashing in her eyes. “Adeline, what happened last night? Nothing is making any sense.”
The horror shows in her eyes as she continues to stare at my thigh. The same horror I am feeling every single time I’m thinking about the dream and the pain that still lingers in my leg.
“I’m trying to figure that out as well, but I need to see him,” I repeat. “He knows way more about this than I do.”
Mother runs her hands across her face, taking in a deep breath. “You are far too weak to go to the forest and I won’t be able to help you. Not unless you want it to look suspicious and be put on everyone’s radar.”
“Then I’ll walk there with Henry like I did before,” I declare. “I know I’m going to get attention for how I look but he may be able to help me.”
He has to help me. I don’t know what else to do or how I’m going to survive this if she can come into my dreams and harm me.
“I don’t like this,” Mother mumbles.
“I don’t either but he may be able to help, and I have to try. I won’t be able to rest until I talk to him and try to come up with some type of solution,” I say.
Kieran has to know something about what happened to me and how we can prevent it from happening again.
But what if he doesn’t?
“Okay.” Mother pulls me out of my thoughts. “Take a bag with you with some food and water so if you get light headed you can eat something.”
I watch her as she quickly gets a bag and fills it with some food and water.
“It’s not heavy. And please be careful when you are walking there.” Mother hands me the bag and helps me stand up.
We slowly make our way to the door and Henry stares right at me, his mouth hanging open.
“What happened to you?” he asks.
“You will need to help her walk,” Mother says. “She can’t put much pressure on her right leg and you need to watch out in case she passes out.”
Henry shakes his head. “You shouldn’t be out walking in this condition. Please, go back inside.”
“Henry, no,” I say firmly. “I need to see him.”
He searches my face and sighs. “Okay, but if you get worse it’s not on me. I told you to go back inside.”
I glare at him. “I know that. You don’t have to remind me.”
Henry holds his arm out and I grip onto it.
“Be safe,” Mother says.
“Sit and he’ll be here soon,” Henry says as he helps me down.
The skin around my eyes crinkles as my leg protests with the movement. It’s on fire from all the walking.
Henry leaves and I see Kieran run toward me in the corner of my eye.
“Sweets, are you okay?” he asks as he kneels beside me. “What happened? Why were you in so much pain today? Why did you scream? Talk to me.”
“I’m okay,” I whisper as I place my hand on top of his.
Lie.
“Don’t lie to me.” Kieran gives me a glare. “I know you aren’t alright. I can feel how much pain you are in right now. What happened last night?”
“I don’t know if I can say it. I don’t know if I can relive everything that I went through.” I close my eyes. “Can you just look at my memories?”
He nods. “You won’t see anything.”
I keep my eyes closed as he places his hands on the sides of my head.
“Adeline,” he mumbles.
“I don’t know how she got into my dreams,” I whisper as I look up at him. “How?”
“First off, are you okay?” he asks. “How is your thigh? How are you feeling? You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“I feel weak and in pain,” I reply. “You saw that Mother stitched me up, but I haven’t been able to look at my thigh since then.”
Kieran sits on the ground and pulls me into his lap, holding me close to him.
“Could you hear me in my dream?” I ask.
“Yes.” His voice sounds so broken.
“Why didn’t you reply?” I look up at him.
“I wasn’t able to. I tried so many times.” Kieran slowly rocks us back and forth. “To be able to hear you begging me to get you out from wherever you were and not being able to do anything is my worst nightmare.”
“You could hear me?” I ask, shocked.
“I could hear every word you said. I could hear you begging me and the fear you felt as you went through everything,” he says. “But when I asked some Fae if you had left, they said no. Then I heard your scream but I wasn’t able to do anything.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I felt so helpless as I watched from afar, wondering if you were okay and alive. I couldn’t get through to you until after you screamed.” His voice holds no emotion as he talks.
“When I woke up,” I whisper.
“What happened?” he asks.
“I—” I stop myself and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.
“I don’t know. I went to sleep after you hummed to me and then all of a sudden Avira was talking to me and everything was black.
I couldn’t find anyone or get out. Then she appeared in front of me and I couldn’t move,” I ramble.
“I thought it was a nightmare but it felt way too real.”
“Did you eat or drink anything when you got back to the house?” he asks.
“I don’t remember,” I mumble. “Everything inside of my head is all jumbled up and it’s hard for me to recall things.”
Kieran tightens his arms around me. “Everything is going to be okay. She isn’t going to get to you again.”
“I can’t fall asleep in the house. I can’t fall asleep ever again. Not until she is dead. What if she comes to me again? She could slit my throat in the dream and no one would know until the morning,” I say in one breath.
The terror running through me with these thoughts is overwhelming. If she can reach me in my dreams then she can do anything and I won’t be able to stop her.
How is anyone safe?
“Sweets, I want you to listen to me,” Kieran says sternly. “Look into my eyes and listen to my words, and only my words.”
I lock gazes with him and it’s just like before where everything disappears around me and I only focus on his cobalt blue eyes.
“While she is a witch, there are limitations in this realm to what she can do. She must have given you something without you knowing so she could penetrate your dreams. It’s not going to happen again,” he states.
“How do you know it won’t?” I whisper. “She managed to do it this time without us knowing and hurt me. The next time I don’t think she is going to go easy on me.”
Kieran kisses my forehead. “You have to trust me.”
“I do,” I mumble and lean my forehead on his chest.
“I’m going to talk to one of the healers and see if they can come up with something to keep you safe from this happening again.”
“Thanks,” I say weakly.
My body is absolutely exhausted from everything, and being near Kieran isn’t helping either.
“Now will you allow me to take care of you?” he asks.
“What can you do?” I pull back slightly and look up at him.
“Give you some of my blood.”