Page 74 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown

“Yes, you may. As long as you finish your chores,” she says.

“I just finished now. Can I go on my walk today before the snow starts to come down again?” I ask.

Mother sighs. “Don’t be out too long. I know you have been well for a while, but I don’t want you getting sick again.”

I smile. “I know. I’ll get the bucket and fill it with ice again. That way I’ll be productive while I’m out. It may take me a little while if I have to break the ice.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “Just be careful. If it’s too hard to get, don’t worry about it. We’ll manage with what we have.”

Nodding, I grab the bucket and my coat before heading outside. I take a deep breath of the icy, clear air, letting it shock my lungs. After spending hours in the house with the blazing fire, it’s a relief to step outside and inhale the fresh air. My lungs crave the feeling.

As I walk through the quiet town and into the forest, I wrap my arms around my waist, holding the bucket close to my side. I should’ve grabbed my mother’s jacket as well, but I wanted to get out fast, needed to get out fast.

I walk further into the forest, straight toward the frozen stream. I still haven’t figured out how to break the ice since Kieran has always been there to help. I can’t use the bucket in fear of it breaking so maybe I can use the heel of my foot to break it up. I might ruin my shoes a little, but we do need this and there are no sticks sturdy enough to break the ice.

I place the bucket on the ground and start to stomp the heel of my foot onto the ice. It flies everywhere as I crack the surface. Bending down after several hits, I grab a piece of thick ice, trying to pry it away from the surface, but I slice my finger instead.

Hissing, I hold my finger up and watch as blood lines the cut. Without thinking, I quickly place the side of my finger in my mouth, trying to stop the bleeding. My nose wrinkles as the metallic warmth flows in my mouth, but I don’t pull it away.

“Let me see your hand,” Kieran says from behind me.

I fall flat on my ass, looking at him with wide eyes. I didn’t hear him approach. How out of it was I? Or does his magic allow him to move silently?

But that doesn’t make sense because I’ve heard him walk before when we were together.

“Trust me,” he gently encourages. “I’m not going to harm you.”

I pull my finger out of my mouth and look down at it. Blood starts to pool again. How badly have I cut it?

“Let me see your hand.” He holds his own out. “I want to see if it still works.”

My eyebrows knit together. “See if what still works? I’m not going to give you my hand if I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I tell him and shake my head. “No. No, I won’t do it.”

“I haven’t harmed you yet, and I’m not going to. You mean too much to me,” he declares. “You mean the world to me, and I would cut off my own hand before harming you.”

I hold my bloody hand close to my chest, unsure of what to do. I’ve trusted him previously, but I’m scared right now. He hasn’t told me what he is going to do with my finger.

“Come on,” he soothingly says. “I want to see if I can heal you.”

“Heal me?” I whisper, pulling my hand away from my chest. “You can heal people?”

“Not people, my mate,” Kieran explains. “Now, let me see your hand.”

Hesitantly, I offer him my hand, red coats my finger and trails down my arm. He gingerly holds my wrist and brings my finger to his mouth, gently licking the blood away. I scrunch my nose up, pulling my head back slightly as I look at him.

“What are you doing?” I ask and pull my hand away from him.

“Look,” he urges me.

Looking down at my finger, my eyebrows rise as the wound starts to close up.

“Wh-what?” I continue to look at my finger.

The cut is completely healed, and I stare at it in amazement.

“How did you do that?” I whisper, looking up at him. “What was that? I’ve never seen anything like it. What was it?”

Kieran chuckles. “Mates can do that, or well, Fae mates can. But we can heal our mates if something is wrong. Only smaller cuts so if you had a huge gash in your side or on your thigh, I could heal some of it, but we would need to go to a healer since I don’t have my full magic. If the curse is ever broken, and I have all of my magic, then I could help heal you almost completely.”