“Oh my Godds! What is happening?”
He sprung up, patting me down, checking for injuries. But it was my heart that was bruised and I didn’t know what else to do about it. My whole body crushed under the weight of, well… everything. I hadn’t even really cried when Rue died. Years of bottled emotions came pouring out in a torrent of saltwater.
“Are you dying? Did you lose a limb I didn’t know about?”
Noth was trying to make me laugh and that just made me cry harder. A great gulping sob encompassed the ruined greenhouse, destroying any calm the space had regained after Brad left.
Noth wrapped his arms around me and his shadows crawled over my arms and legs for a full-body hug.
“Don’t worry, Pumpkin. It can all be rebuilt,” he said softly.
He was right. The greenhouse wasn’t completely destroyed. Some of the glass had been broken and the plants could mostly survive with an injection of his magic. He righted a small cat statue with his shadows as if to show me.
“It’s not just that,” I sobbed into his coat.
“We will get that girl back. I won’t tell anyone you have a lady crush, Pumpkin.”
I went to hit him, but his shadows didn’t allow me much movement. “Don’t call me that even if I look like a round, lumpy mess at the moment.”
He fisted a chunk of my hair, a growl coming into his voice. “I know you think I call you that just because it annoys you. But it's really because you taste like my favorite season. Rich, full earth with an undercurrent of spice and a whisper of death. Just breathing you in reminds me of blood-red leaves and firelight. It makes me a slave for you.”
My tears immediately dried up. How many times had I thought he was insulting me? Comfort flooded my whole body. He tipped my chin up, his lips slightly parted, but I was the one who wanted to pant. The pressure on my jaw sent my head backward further and further. Then all the way back until I flailed in his grip.
“Who did this to you?” Noth snarled.
He must mean the bruise on my shoulder, across mycollarbone and up my neck, starting where I hit the stair. I touched it, still sore. Somehow I forgot about it in Noth’s arms. Who would have thought the shadow-wielding Nightmare would make me feel treasured?
“I tripped,” I said.
“Don't cover for any of my people. Anyone who puts a hand on you will be erased.”
I almost laughed. Until I realized he was serious. Someone might die because I was clumsy. While I appreciated the sentiment, I didn’t need that added to my list of fuck-ups. “Are you going to fight the stairs to your palace?”
“I'll dismantle them brick by brick.” He didn’t pause for breath.
“Seriously, I tripped during your grand entrance, you maniac.”
It came out watery. His concern undid me. I shook in his arms, my fears rushing up into the back of my throat. More tears leaked out across my cheeks.
“It's okay. I have you. You can tell me later and I will repave every one of those stairs into a ramp.”
“I failed.” My usually confident voice was a hiccup. “Again.”
“To stay upright?” he teased.
I buried my face in his chest. “I'm just going to repeat my same mistake over and over in life.”
This had to be a record for me. I hadn’t cried this much asa child.
“I should have fought his army to my throne room so I could strangle him myself and be done with it. Did anyone hurt you other than the stairs?”
“No. The worst I had to do was touch Brad's underwear.”
Noth’s look turned murderous.
I balled my fists. “No. Not like that. It wasn't even a real punishment. He didn't get to the torture and I got off unpunished, per usual, in this charmed life I lead.”
An unGoddly light lit in Noth’s eyes. “You want punishment, Pumpkin?” His whole body promised something very wicked.
