“It’s about time.You had us worried.”
“Us?”An obvious glance told me I slept alone in my bed.
Cadmus huffed.“Samantha’s in the other room catching some sleep.We had to forcibly pry her from your side.Happy?”
Cadmus had a tendency to exaggerate, but if what he said were true, I was indeed a happy man.Recalling Samantha’s deep welling of love after I’d been (embarrassingly) pummeled in the woods, I couldn’t help feeling like the luckiest man in the world—any world.
Now I just had to convince her to leave this tired realm behind and journey to bigger and better things.
Wincing, I sat up and rubbed my head.
“Arim sent us medicine.”Cadmus nodded to my temple.“He told us you suffered from a serious head injury.But one swallow of the blue juice and the injury healed.”
“Then why the headache?”
“Aftereffects from the healing potion.It’s only temporary.”
I muttered my thanks and slid my legs off the side of the bed.“I take it Marcus and Aerolus are okay?”
Cadmus frowned.“Marcus is upstairs in his room preparing for work tomorrow, if you can believe that.Once he knew you were okay, he said something about overly competitive co-workers and started grabbing files left and right.But Aerolus still hasn’t come back.”
I froze.“Still?How long was I out of it?”
“Two days.”
“And in all that time we haven’t heard from him?”That wasn’t good.
Cadmus shrugged.“Arim said Aerolus is fine.Apparently, our brother is up to some sorcery the big guy won’t mention.Not my business, according to chatty Uncle Arim.”
He sounded miffed, and I felt a smile wind its way past the pain in my head.“Relax, Cadmus.If Arim said Aerolus is fine, then he is.”At my brother’s raised brow, I added, “I don’t always agree with Arim, but I trust him.He’s never let us down.”
“How quickly you forget the Knowing Crystal.”
“It was tampered with, remember.It wasn’t Arim’s fault.I should have known it was fake.It didn’t react to Samantha until we were set on fire.”
“Odd indeed.”Cadmus smirked, and I knew I’d said too much.“So you knew as soon as you put it on she was your intended?”He batted his eyelashes.“That’ssoooooromantic.”
“Shut up, you idiot, and help me to my feet.”
Once standing free of the bed and my brother, I slowly walked around the room until I could move on my own without wincing.I needed to find Samantha, to see her with my own two eyes and in private.We had a lot to discuss, and I had neither the inclination nor the patience to wait another minute.
Cadmus muttered something about rushing things while I dressed in a pair of loose-fitting boxers and a soft tee.
“Don’t bother me for at least another hour.No, make it two.”
“Go easy, brother mine.”Cadmus opened the door for me and stood back.“You’re not a hundred percent yet.Don’t forget, Samantha’s been through a lot since she’s met you, too.Don’t go nagging her about Tanselm.Try finessing her for a change.She needs care and understanding, not orders from an ogre.”
I flipped him off, one of the earthen gestures I appreciated.
He gave me the Tanselm two-finger right back.
“I know to be gentle,” I growled.“She’s been through more than anyone in this realm should have to bear.And she did it with grace and strength.”
Cadmus smiled, seeming pleased.Not that I needed his approval, but I felt better for having it.
Walking downstairs, I felt more like myself.The headache didn’t hurt all that much, and I had to admit my body felt in fighting form—so much that thoughts of Samantha in bed had their desired effect.
Sporting a rock-hard erection, my patience thin at best, I knocked on her door and entered without waiting for permission.To my delighted surprise, she was in the midst of undressing and wore only a bra and panties.She looked tired though, her hair framing a pale face, her eyes shadowed by fatigue.Yet nothing could make her look less than beautiful in my eyes.
