Chapter 38
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
CILLIAN
Enzo leaves with Ophe. Niko and I follow shortly after with Nissa. Entering the castle with her tucked tightly in my arms, I’m escorted to the herbalists’ wing of the castle. Ophe is alert now, and they’re tending to a cut on the side of her head. Caspien must have hit her pretty hard.
Nissa is still bleeding from her stomach but the burn on her ankle has healed. She was awake when we found her but barely. The floor of the room she was being held in had collapsed, leaving only her and the mattress she was on supported.
As soon as she saw me, she gave into the darkness and hasn’t woken since. I gently lay her limp body down on the empty cot next to Ophe’s. Her friend immediately jumps down moving to Nissa’s side, pulling the hair out of her face.
“Ophelia” Enzo snaps at her.
She shoots a look back at him that has the vampire pressing his lips tightly together. “How about you find her a blanket, vampire?”
If the human had magic, I believe she could have incinerated Enzo on the spot.
Stroking Nissa’s face and taking in all the blood, Ophe looks up at me with her eyes full of guilt. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault—”
Before I’m able to respond, the door opens and Hazel walks into the room. Going to Nissa’s bed, she lays some clothes at her feet. “I heard she may need some clean clothes. These are her sizes.” She says as she checks my mate over.
Niko steps forward and hands Hazel the vial he found on the mattress next to Nissa. “I think she was given this. She isn’t waking up and the wound on her stomach doesn’t appear to be healing. Any idea what it is?”
As Niko briefs Hazel, I stand there, gasping Nissa’s cold hand, feeling like I’m about to come out of my own skin.
When we first went into that room, I thought she was dead.
I had never felt fear like I did in that moment.
A shiver runs through my body at the memory of all the blood that surrounded her.
The image of her head rolling to the side and her body going limp, crashes over me and sends my mind to worst case scenarios.
What if she doesn’t wake up?
Hazel takes the vial in her hand. Removing the top, she smells it, runs a finger along the rim and rubs it between two fingers. While she examines it, Enzo approaches with a blanket and some gauze. He covers my mate’s legs leaving the injury exposed for Hazel to examine.
“You are still bleeding.” He turns to Ophe with the cotton pads, his voice low and threatening, intended only for her. “You won’t do her any good if you’re dead.” He places a hand on her upper arm to pull her back to her bed.
Jerking out of his grasp, Ophe bites back, “It takes a lot more than a hit to the head to kill me.” She shoves him in the chest, and pushes him out of the way.
My eyebrows rise.
Enzo steps to the side with a slight glint in his eye as she actually does as she was told. Her eyes never leave Nissa even when she moves back to her cot for the herbalist to continue the exam. The vampire steps forward to apply pressure to the cut on her head.
The door opens again, and Aiden steps in, wearing a blood-soaked shirt. It isn’t a small room, but it is quickly becoming crowded with all of us.
“How are they?” He appears calm, but beneath it, his normal unconcerned demeanor seems rattled as he appraises Nissa.
“I think she was given a potion that immobilizes the physical body,’ Hazel says to the room, without looking up at anyone in particular. “Her mind would stay lucid but not be able to move—or fight.”
A chill runs down my spine.
“I suspect he gave her more than this though,” she adds, “if her powers were restricted.”
“Why do you think her powers were restricted? She was fighting back.” Ophe questions.
“With the level of power the queen possesses, there’s no way he could have held her without binding her magic.”
It matches my knowledge of Nissa’s powers. “My guess,” the witch continues, “he didn’t anticipate how strong she was and didn’t give her enough. Of either.”
“Is that why she isn’t waking up then?” My voice shakes. There’s no hiding my fear, and I don’t care.
“My concern is her stab wound. The knife was probably coated in something and that could also explain why she isn’t waking”—she is leaning over inspecting the opening in Nissa’s abdomen.
“I’ve seen this once before.” A look passes between her and Aiden before she turns to the herbalist, instructing them to gather a list of materials for her.
Straightening, she faces me. “Or maybe her body is protecting her and has shut down temporarily. Without knowing what else he drugged her with, I can’t know for sure.
I’ll run some additional tests. Either way, I would guess she’ll be okay in a day or two once I take care of this.
” She says looking down at Nissa’s stomach.
Some of the anxiety dissipates and I turn to Aiden. “Caspien?” I grit out.
He goes rigid at hearing the name. His cold eyes turn to me. “We will track him.”
By the time we reached the room, the earth element had torn it apart. Stone lay in jagged shards, roots jutting through the wreckage, vines strangling the walls in a frenzy of green. Half the floor was missing and so was my brother.
The next morning, Hazel confirms that Nissa and Ophe are stable enough to travel even though she still has not woken. We return to Solevara with a hand written list of instructions for the royal herbalist to follow. Aiden asked me to send updates on how they are recovering.
For two days, there is nothing to send and I am going out of my mind. Like the eye of the storm I am motionless, never leaving Nissa’s side. But within, I am chaos tearing myself apart.
I cling to the confidence that the witch gave me. She will walk up. Just give her time.
I hear a rustling fabric and lift my head from my hands. Ophe has kicked the sheets off again. She too hasn’t left Nissa’s side since we returned, but the girl is not peaceful when she sleeps.
I stand, pulling the sheets up over her body, tucking them between Nissa and a sleeping Cyndr who is curled into her side.
Settling back into my spot next to the bed, I look up and find her amethyst eyes blinking awake.