Chapter 43
Chapter forty-three
ARROGANT. CRUEL. DEVIANT.
Ornella
Icould not stand watching Sage struggle just to stand up long enough to get dressed and began to assess how much power I could get away with using to heal him a bit more. That was when I stumbled across the extra wells of magic that had taken root in my mind.
I had not had much opportunity immediately after the initiation into the Wild Hunt to properly explore the new bonds that I had forged.
It happened so quickly, and then we were fighting the Sylvan and I was finally bringing Sage home again.
But now I had the chance to examine myself after being reformed by the bond, and I was rather astonished by the changes.
It initially seemed like a seamless fusion with no glaring mutations of my inner sanctum.
But then I felt them. Deep wells of power that were connected to my own by what felt like roots.
And then all at once, my mind felt too crowded as if a silent door had opened somewhere and there was more. The feeling was overwhelming, terrifying, and yet…
I had never felt more connected to anything in my life. Never felt so vital, so integral, so complete.
You may take some of my magic in order to heal him, Rian’s voice prompted, infiltrating my thoughts. I flushed in embarrassment at the realization that he’d clearly been able to feel all my curious prodding at our bond.
Mine too, chimed in Darragh.
If you must, was Ciaran’s snarky reply that made me roll my eyes and smile before glancing at Sage curiously. He continued lacing up his sword belt, trying and failing to hide his winces without looking up at me.
Can he not also hear? I asked.
He would if I were not actively blocking him. Sage is detrimentally selfless, Rian reminded me.
Of course. Sage would never ask any of us to sacrifice magic to heal him whilst we were all so badly depleted. Regardless of how much pain he was in. But I knew that the others were as eager to do this for him as I was.
I was not sure how to take what I needed.
But much as Sage had once done for me, the others were able to push some of their recouped power down their bonds to me.
Not everything, they would not leave us all defenseless, but it was enough to make Sage strong enough to move around the camp without discomfort.
He looked up at me as I touched him wordlessly and let what I had been given flow into him. He inhaled with surprise and then sighed softly in relief and bent his head down to rest it against mine in appreciation.
“Where did you get that magic?” he asked knowingly once he had caught his breath.
“You should not ask questions when you know you will not like the answers,” I teased him.
“Summer—”
“It is fine, Sage. We love you. Let us help you.”
I could tell he was having words with the others in the quiet that followed. Whatever they said to him seemed to assuage his concerns because he gave a resigned sigh and wrapped his arms around me to squeeze tightly.
Thank you, he said finally to all of us.
As we walked to the mess hall to get breakfast, I filled my mate in on everything I could think of that happened since he was taken.
I told him what Nuala had learned about Aoibheal using blood magic on the Fuath, and about how Rian rejected Nuala as his mate.
That revelation confused him as much as it still confused me since he had also seen his cousin’s reactions to her.
But then he shook his head and muttered something about Rian’s stubborn nature.
It was difficult to have a conversation with him when we were constantly being interrupted by warriors wanting to welcome Sage back from assignment.
It clearly did not matter to any of them that we were obviously attempting to avoid attention at a secluded table in the corner of the mess hall.
I had also told Sage that Rian and Darragh had brought all the aes sídhe tribes to the army encampment, and we’d planned to go see them after eating.
But he was already exhausted from talking to his soldiers, so I didn’t think he could handle being fussed over by his people.
Especially since they’d had a better idea of what really happened to him.
“I wish I was here to make them bleed,” he growled after I told him how we dealt with my cousins while we walked back to the tent. We planned to collect our things, and then I would take him to the bathhouse in the city.
“Worry not! They bled aplenty,” I told him, and Sage grunted his approval. He lifted our entwined hands to kiss my knuckles with a tenderness that belied his bloodlust.
“Have you told Rian about the other tribes of dryads? That there are some who are less barbaric?” he asked.
“Not yet. He has plenty to occupy him now.”
“Your people will keep coming for you. We must deal with it soon, and it would be good to have such allies,” Sage pointed out in his gentle but firm way.
I sighed with a reluctant nod and looked down at our interlaced fingers. I watched as our hands swung between us with a carefree comfort I would have never imagined for myself. And in spite of all the dark uncertainty ahead, the thought of our future made my heart sing.
Until I heard a voice that set my teeth on edge.
We both turned toward Orlaith who was racing toward us with tears streaming over her cheeks and both her arms outstretched. I was not sure how she knew he was back, whether she had just happened to see us out walking or if Shay had let it slip, but her intrusion irritated me.
Especially when she launched herself at my mate.
I knew she had every right to be relieved that he was home safe.
She also probably had no idea that he was still injured when she jumped at him with every expectation of him catching her.
But after what I’d overheard her saying to her friends at the meeting with the Sua, I was finding it difficult to be patient.
But I refrained from violence and caught her midair in a tangle of vines that sprung from the earth just before she clamped onto Sage. Orlaith was confused, and it would have been comical to see her suspended there if her knees were not parted in preparation to wrap around my mate.
“Sage?” she spoke his name, making my teeth clench again in resentment.
I debated using the vines to constrict her until she had no more air left with which to soil his name on her lips, but Sage squeezed my hand. He wrapped his other arm around me to draw me against him and kissed my head in reassurance, which helped me breathe through the rage.
“I am alright, but I am in great pain,” Sage explained, making Orlaith blanch as she assumed this was the reason for my interference.
“I am so sorry!” she exclaimed as I grudgingly put her back down on the ground. And I regretted it immediately when she stepped toward him with intention.
I was still learning to find balance between restraint and protecting my boundaries.
I couldn’t always trust my first reaction, but I’d assumed this might be one of those times when I should try to be patient.
I knew Orlaith had also lost someone she loved, and sometimes that kind of pain could make people react in strange ways.
But I knew before she’d even put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his jaw that I was about to regret choosing restraint this time.
Thankfully, Sage was just as offended as I was because he pushed her away from him before I could even react. He must have been quite shocked because he shoved her hard enough that she nearly tripped and fell over.
“What are you—” she began blurting.
“Me? What are you doing?” Sage snapped back at her, and his lip curled in warning when she tried to touch his arm in reassurance. Then he used the back of his hand to wipe his skin as if he could erase where she kissed him.
“I was just trying—”
“No, not just anything,” Sage interrupted her, and my brows rose at his unexpected temper even as his reaction filled me with vindication. “I know you must have been scared when I was taken, Orlaith, but that is no excuse to disrespect my mate or yours!” he chastised her.
And even though I’d trusted Sage to defend our bond against anyone trying to undermine it, there was still a foolish part of me that was relieved by his reaction.
As long as you know you are a fool. Sage’s devotion to you is all that should matter, Ciaran intruded completely uninvited in my mind. And I nearly bit off my own damn tongue with indignation at the realization that the asshole was fucking listening to me at that moment.
I felt your temper spike, little doe. I wanted to ensure everything was alright, he explained in exasperation.
Fuck off, and stay out of my head! I snarled furiously, but he merely laughed and closed the link again.
I refocused on Orlaith blinking at us in confusion.
“But you said there was nothing—” she began to blurt before composing herself. “So I cannot even hug you?” she verified much more softly. And I had to scoff at her obvious attempts to manipulate him as tears began to fall prettily down her cheeks.
“No one else felt the need to hug him with their legs or to slobber all over him,” I interjected with an eye roll.
“I did not—He is not… It was not like that,” she tried to lie to Sage. “I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable! That was not my intention. I was just… scared. I must not have been thinking,” she attempted to explain herself.
I was pretty sure she might have been testing him in the hopes of getting a very different reaction.
Maybe she had expected his brush with death to make him regret her as much as she clearly regretted him.
Or maybe she was just looking to validate whatever delusions she’d told her friends about what could have been if she fought harder.
Whatever the objective, I was just glad that Sage had not been fooled.
“Then I trust you’ll remember yourself in the future,” my mate maintained firmly.