Chapter 21 #2
He turns his head back to me and I motion to the left, into the forest. He shifts to stand in front of me and pauses, trying to hear what I heard for himself. Another groan comes, but this time it’s louder. I know Asmo heard this one. He grimaces, then slowly makes his way toward it.
We navigate between the trees quickly but carefully, trying not to make any sound as we approach.
There’s a break in the trees, and we finally see Marik.
He’s sitting up, his arms tied behind him and around a tree trunk.
Blood flows from his temple, and his head is tilted to the side.
I step forward to go to him, but Asmo puts an arm out and stops me.
He’s looking at me, eyes wide. I imagine him saying something snarky, and I mouth, “Sorry.”
His dark eyes roam the space, searching for any signs of the cambion.
We don’t see any, but it’s dark, and they could be hiding behind any of the trees. I perk my ears, but I don’t hear them. To be fair, the little girl moved silently through the halls of the castle, too, so that doesn’t mean they’re not here, waiting to attack.
As if on cue, a high-pitched voice whispers, “Pretty, pretty High Queen, come to rescue her High King.”
“Can she save him? Will she dare?” another voice whispers from the opposite direction.
I freeze, feeling the fear return tenfold.
Beside me, Asmo pulls me to him, wrapping an arm around me so that I’m standing in front of him, protected by his arms. He whispers softly into my ear, “There are only two. Go free Marik, and I’ll protect you.
They’ll come for you as soon as you’re away from me, but I need to see them so I can kill them. ”
I look at him, and he says, “Go. I’ve got you, Mae.”
I nod, mustering up the courage to leave his arms. Before I can change my mind, I dart away from him and run toward Marik.
The second I do, high-pitched screaming cuts through the night air.
A cambion comes running for me. This one is a little boy.
His hollowed-out eyes are locked on me, his arms outstretched.
Before he can reach me, Asmo jumps from the shadows, embedding his dagger into the boy’s temple.
I shake the panic away and run to Marik. He’s still passed out, his head lolling to one side, blood flowing down his temple.
“Marik,” I whisper. No response.
I use the knife Asmo gave me and saw through the ropes tying his hands.
Once I sever them, I focus on breaking the ropes, tying him to the tree.
I hear another high-pitched shriek and look back to Asmo.
He blasts a ball of fire toward the cambion, but it dodges it quickly.
It sees me looking at him, and he changes his course, running toward me now instead of Asmo.
“Fuck’s sake,” Asmo mutters before the cambion’s head is severed from his body by Asmo’s magic.
“You didn’t tell me not to look at it!” I whisper-shout.
He motions toward Marik, still slumped over. “Hurry up. We need to go.”
I finish cutting the rope and then look at Asmo. “He’s passed out. Can you carry him?”
He doesn’t answer as he picks Marik up and tosses him over his shoulder.
“Let’s go,” he says, leading us out of this Mother-forsaken area.
I follow him through the forest, and we hurry back to the castle.
Since my hearing is better, I take the rear, listening for any signs of anything following us.
Elle and Luca are standing at the front doors of the castle in a heated discussion.
Elle is motioning to the forest, Luca trying to calm her down, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“Elle!” I shout.
Her head whips toward us, and she breaks into a sprint, her eyes frenzied as she assesses us.
“Mae! Are you okay?” Her eyes rove over every inch of my body, snagging on the burn on my arm.
“I’m okay,” I say, trying to assure her. “What the hell happened?”
Luca walks over to us, his demeanor more serious than usual. “You’re okay?” he asks me.
“Yes. Will someone please tell me what happened?” I ask, feeling exasperated.
Luca shakes his head. “We were hoping you’d tell us.”
“Koa told us that you fell asleep in the library. He woke up and couldn’t find you. He went looking and found the front doors wide open. He found Luca and Ivan right away. He and Ivan are looking for you now on the grounds.”
“Elle, can you send for a healer? We need to get him looked at,” I say, gesturing toward Marik.
“And preferably a bed or a couch so I can lay him down,” Asmo says. “He may not look it, but he’s heavy.”
Elle runs inside and Luca leads us into the formal living room. Asmo lays Marik down on the massive cream couch. I throw a small spindle of magic toward the limestone fireplace, watching the large hearth catch and warm the living room.
“Luca, it was a cambion,” Asmo says from beside me.
Luca stiffens. “You’re certain?” he asks.
Asmo nods once. “Three of them.”
Luca turns to me. “Tell me what happened from the beginning.”
I quickly recount what happened, trying not to leave anything out. As I do, Asmo’s gaze doesn’t leave my arm, fixed on the burn in the shape of the cambion’s hand.
Elle walks in, followed by a young female. Her hair is disheveled, and she rubs sleep from her eyes. Elle gestures toward Marik on the couch, but Asmo blocks her path.
“Mae has a burn on her arm. Can you look at that first?”
“No, I’m okay. Look at Marik first, please,” I protest.
Asmo shoots me a look, but I return it. He doesn’t push for her to look at my arm again.
He steps out of the way, opting to come stand next to me. The healer walks to the couch and sits beside Marik. She places her hands on the center of his chest. The room is silent while she assesses him. She moves her hands to his head and silently hovers them over his temples.
“He’ll be fine. He was just knocked out. It’s better to wait until he wakes naturally, which should be soon,” the healer says softly.
“What of the cut on his forehead?” Asmo asks.
I want to scoff at his choice of words. Blood was streaming down Marik’s face.
“I would imagine he was knocked out, then taken to wherever he was kept. I’m assuming his head probably bumped against something in the process. Although it looks bad, it’s superficial. I can heal it, though, if you’d like.”
He nods and says, “Thank you.”
She doesn’t respond, instead turning to Marik and placing her hand just above the injury. She’s silent as she concentrates on healing him. When she removes her hand, the wound is gone.
“Thank you so much,” I say. “What’s your name?”
She smiles when she looks at me. “My name is Brynn, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you, Brynn.”
She nods, still smiling. “Would you like for me to take a look at your arm?”
I glance at my arm, flinching at what I see. The skin is swollen, shiny, and blistered. The adrenaline coursing through my body has dulled the pain, but now that I’m actively thinking about the burn, I can feel it.
“Yes, please.”
Asmo guides me to the nearest couch, his hand on the small of my back the entire time. I sit down on the plush sofa, and he joins me, his leg brushing against mine.
Brynn sits on my other side. I hold my arm out for her to inspect. She holds her hand above it, and I flinch, expecting her to touch it.
“Sorry,” she says. “I should have warned you. I’m not going to touch it yet.
Just getting a sense for how deep the burn goes.
” She falls silent, focusing again. “It’s a second-degree burn, but I don’t think I can heal it since it was done with dark magic.
The only thing I can do for you is dress it so that we prevent infection.
It’s going to hurt,” she says apologetically.
“But the good news is that your Fae blood should heal it relatively quickly. In humans, a second-degree burn can take weeks to heal. This should be healed in a matter of days.”
She looks at Asmo and says, “Prince, would you mind going to get a bowl of cool water? Not too cold, but not warm or hot. I have the other materials with me, but the burn needs to soak in cool water before I can dress it.”
He stands immediately and rushes out of the room.
“He’s very handsome,” Brynn says shyly.
I chuckle. “He is.”
“So is his brother.”
I sigh. “Yes, they’re both very handsome.”
“I do not envy the position you are in,” she says.
I can’t help but smile. “Me either, Brynn. Me either.”
Asmo returns with a large bowl of cool water, just as instructed. He places the bowl on the marble table in front of the couch, then sits back down beside me.
“Thank you,” she says to him. “We’re going to soak the burn in the water for about fifteen minutes. This will help it feel better. While you soak the burn, I’m going to step away and check on Prince Marik.”
I nod and say, “Got it. Leave in water until you tell me to take it out.” I place my hand and forearm into the cool water. Immediately, I feel the pain start to abate.
Asmo eyes me and says, “You okay?”
“It feels a little better. Still hurts, but not as much.” I glance at Marik on the couch. “You worried about him?”
He shakes his head and says, “Nah. He’ll be fine. It’s not the first time we’ve seen these things.”
I tilt my head. “I’ve never heard of them. I didn’t even know creatures like that existed in our world.”
“They don’t. Not really. They used to, centuries ago, but we killed them all. They’re created and controlled by witches using dark magic.”
“How did you know about them?” I ask.
“Part of my training,” is all he says. I don’t press.
“Thank you, Asmo. You came for me. I was so scared,” I say softly.
“You would have been fine,” he grumbles.