“I have questions.”
“I’m sure you do,” he said with another grim smile. “But we’ll save them for tomorrow.”
That was fine with her. She was more than ready to escape to the safety of her dreams.
As sleep came for her, she could swear she felt the barest brush of fingers along her brow and down her hair.
And it didn’t burn.
Chapter 32
Cethin
He didn’t sleep.
He should have. He needed to.
After expending so much magic on thenagaskyand then drawing out the draining of the two who had touched Kailia, his magic was down to the dregs. It’d been reckless to let it get so low. Razik or Tybalt could have handled the two Elder Clan members, but that hadn’t been an option. From the moment he turned to see Kailia thrashing, saw the panic and agony clear on her face as she twisted and kicked and fought, he’d claimed those deaths. He’d enjoyed every second as he’d squeezed their life forces, feeling their hearts stuttering as if he held them in his fist. He’d debated drawing closer. Touching them so his darkness could seep into their blood and let death circulate until it touched every part of their souls and marked them for Arius when they crossed the Veil.
Then he’d seen Kailia huddled on the ground at his feet, a puddle of vomit to the side and her tiny frame trembling. The burn marks on her face. The still present panic as she rocked herself back and forth, certain she didn’t realize she was doing so.
He’d ended them far sooner than they’d deserved, but she was more important than their deaths.
He’d brought her home. They’d both cleaned up. She’d slept, and he’d watched her do so. Watched as the imprint of another’s hand that had silenced her slowly faded from a blistering red until only her warm brown skin remained.
It was fascinating to him she was so still even in her sleep. Maybe that was the response to whatever she’d experienced while being touched today though. The other two times he’d shared a bed with her, she’d at least rolled to her side or stretched her arm out. Tonight, there had been nothing but the steady rise and fall of her chest.
He was seated, propped against the headboard as he watched her. Her unbound hair was fanned across the pillow, and her long eyelashes fluttered as she dreamed. He wished he knew what she was dreaming of. Were they peaceful and calm, or were they nightmares of tonight?
The sun was rising when she stirred earlier than he’d anticipated. She peered out through bleary eyes until she saw him. Then her eyes snapped open, and she lurched upright.
“You are still here?” she rasped, sleep clinging to her voice and making it a little huskier in a way that sent a shiver down his spine.
“Avonleya still sleeps,” he answered. “The sun has barely breached the horizon.”
“I know, but you never stay,” she said, toying with the ends of her hair. “I assumed you would have left once I fell asleep.”
“Do you wish I had?”
“No. I mean…” Her hands dropped to her lap. “I’m surprised is all. I’m used to waking alone.”
He nodded, bending a knee and propping his arm atop it.
“You didn’t sleep,” she observed, peering at him a little closer. “You should have slept. You used a lot of power.”
“I’m aware,” he murmured.
“Then why didn’t you sleep?”
He shrugged before he said, “The burns on your face are gone, but I didn’t check the others…”
Cethin trailed off as she shoved the blankets back to examine her torso. She hadn’t worn one of the nightdresses last night, instead opting for loose pants and a short top that left her middle exposed. He assumed it was to not irritate the burns.
Her hands slid across her skin, and he followed their path with his gaze. A breath of relief came from her when she found her torso as healed as her cheeks.
“I’m sorry I didn’t prevent that from happening,” he said gruffly, gaze fixed on her middle where her fingers lingered. She may have healed, but the image of those burns was imprinted on his mind.
“Why are you apologizing for that? You didn’t burn me,” she said, shifting so she sat against the headboard now too.
