“It doesn’t matter. At least she’ll be safe.”
“Will she?” Steig asked from where he sat at the table, Lara dabbing a cloth on his split lip. “If anyone suspects foul play, especially those who support Cole, they’ll come for you. For us. For her,” he added, nodding at the bed where Ena lay.
Ty rubbed his face with his hands, smearing the blood from a cut on his cheek all over, but he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was there in that bed. And she wouldn’t fuckingwake up.
But Steig and Turner were right. Deep down, he knew they were.
If he attacked Cole now, in front of everyone, chaos would ensue. There were those who would follow him, yes, and consent to the change of power, but there were those who would riot. Those loyal to Cole. And he couldn’t take them all—not by himself.
He needed to lay the groundwork first. Needed to release the daemons from the bond so they were open to Gaia. Maybe then he could convince more people that Cole’s way wasn’t the way. Maybe then he could take him out.
But not now.
Fuck.
His eyes landed on the bed again. On the pale skin and dark hair of the woman resting in it. “Okay, you’re right,” he said, his voice sounding small and far away, even to his own ears. “I won’t go after him.”
Turner removed his arm and seemed satisfied with that response.
Lara came up to him then and placed her hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be okay, Ty,” Lara said softly. “She’s strong.”
Ty tried to nod to show that he’d heard her but wasn’t sure if he fully managed it. He walked over to the bed again, then kicked off his boots before climbing up beside her.
“We’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” Lara said, looking at Turner and Steig for affirmation. “But I’ll be back soon to check on you. Okay?”
Ty grunted in acknowledgment.
He heard them shuffle around the room for a second before opening the door to leave.
Ty lay on his side, facing Ena, watching her breathe. Her chest rose steadily, but other than that, she didn’t move.
Gently, he reached out with one hand, brushing some hair away from the uninjured side of her face, and she didn’t even flinch.
“Ena,” he whispered, his voice thick. “Please wake up. I’m so, so sorry. Please.”
He didn’t expect her to respond, but he still felt a sharp pain in his chest at her lack of response.
He laid there for hours, watching her chest rising and falling, but he didn’t close his eyes. He couldn’t. Not when his worst nightmare, the very thing he’d feared all along, had finally come to pass, and he was trapped in it. To sleep would be too easy.
No, he would stay awake until she opened her eyes and spoke to him. That was his only dream right now, and he wouldn’t sleep until it became reality.
Chapter Twenty-four
Ty
Itwasseveralhourslater, almost time for the timekeepers to come dim the darkrock lanterns, when Ty heard a gentle knock on the door.
He turned away from where Ena slept to see Lara crack it open and cautiously enter the room.
“How is she?” she asked quietly, her eyes landing on where Ena lay, unmoved from her previous position.
“No change,” Ty said, sitting up slowly. He was bone-tired and sore from the fight with Steig, but he could barely spare a thought for himself. “Is it normal for her to be sleeping this long? You said she woke up for a bit before, right? Did she say anything?”
“No, she didn’t. Her throat was…” Lara looked, haunted, at Ena’s bruised throat. “She couldn’t really talk. And then we managed to give her the potion, and she’s been sleeping ever since. I—I don’t know if it’s normal for witches to be asleep this long after taking it.”
Ty nodded. He didn’t know either. They were used to the trajectory of daemon healing, which was much shorter, and they never used potions on themselves—they wouldn’t work even if they did. The very few they even had in stock were given to the mortalimperi.
“Ty,” Lara began cautiously, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. “I didn’t just come to check on you two. I was sent with a message. Cole wants to see you.”
