“Alexei said he’d take us around Hoar Hollow to check out more sights if we wanted,” Oliver said. He sounded eager, and I caught the hopeful glance he shot toward Alexei. I almost hated to spoil his fun.
“I think I’d rather go back to the castle.”
Especially when the general wanted absolutely nothing to do with me unless the king required him. Aspen’s first love was dead, in Hell, and working with a gentle smile in the bar. And we were no closer to our goals.
What the hell did I do with any of that?
Chapter
Eighteen
LUCILLE
That night, the same three nightmares tormented me, but unlike every other time when Oliver or Rune woke me, this time, a swath of shadows soothed and gentled my pain, easing me into a blissful, deep sleep. Sleep I hadn’t had in a while.
Finally.
When I woke up to Alexei’s trumpet, I groaned, crushing my pillow to my ears. Though I was thankful my sheets weren’t soaked through with sweat and Oliver wasn’t hovering over me with that helpless expression, I could do without the headache.
Speaking of Oliver, why didn’t I hear his groaning? I peeked over at his spot in bed, finding the blankets made, and sat up. Neither Rune nor Oliver was next to me.
Was this another hallucination?
“Oliver?” I called out, half expecting to hear him choking on his blood.
He walked into the room, dressed in warm clothing, with a coffee in his hand. I blinked a few times, not sure if this was a different tactic the king was trying out.
Oliver laughed. “I’ve only been up for like five minutes. Don’t have a coronary.”
I rolled my eyes and flopped back in bed, my head throbbing. “Did the king show up this morning? We were supposed to have our lesson today.”
“Not unless he showed up in the two minutes I left to change. But Rune almost broke down the door to be let out, then raced away, so maybe the king and the general have something more pressing to deal with.”
Weird. But I couldn’t say I was all too upset by the fact I wouldn’t have him prying into my mind while it slammed against my skull.
Alexei blared his trumpet again, longer than usual, like he was determined to make my head split open.
“Make it stop,” I whined, burrowing under the covers.
“Enjoying that hangover, Luce?” Oliver asked with a smile in his voice.
I sank into my Infernus, pulling on my power to form an icicle to chuck at him, but the moment I felt the itches, my stomach revolted. Shoving away my blankets, I sprang out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom, making it just in time to puke in the toilet.
Oliver leaned against the doorframe, grimacing. “That good, huh?”
“Think Alexei will let me stay back?” I moaned, resting my cheek on the toilet seat.
He snorted and handed me a towel. “If death isn’t off the table during training, then I’m pretty sure puking because someone can’t handle her alcohol isn’t either.”
“Death seems like a better option right now,” I mumbled, staring at my hair, now a casualty of the puke’s path.
Unfortunately, Alexei didn’t care about my hangover and threatened to carry me out of my room if I didn’t dress in the next five minutes.
The day only got worse from there.
Like the last two weeks of training, we started in the bathrooms. Carrot-top blasted us with his water during our drenching hour while some of our group watched. My head pounded, and I gagged back bile, having nothing left to puke up after this morning.
Although I almost wished I did, just to see the look on Theon’s face.
