Page 82 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

Did I?

“Squeeze my hand again if you can hear me right now,” he practically begs me. “Come on, Sweets. I’m right here. You’re safe and you are okay.”

“Open your eyes,” another person says.

I feel gentle warm hands touch my face, opening my eyes and flashing a bright light in them. Groaning, I try to close my eyes, but nothing is working in my favor.

“She just made a noise. Did you hear that, Doctor?” Kieran asks. “She is waking up, right? Please tell me she is waking up.”

“High Lord, I’m going to need you to stand on the other side of the room while I look over the High Lady,” someone says.

“Alaric, I will not step away from my mate,” Kieran declares.

I grip onto Kieran’s hand, not wanting him to go away either.

“She’s gripping my hand and I’m not going to let her go,” Kieran says. “Work around me.”

Alaric sighs and opens my eyes again, looking directly at me. “Adeline, can you hear me? Move your eye slightly if you can.”

Can I even move my eye? Why am I so incredibly weak?

“You’re okay, High Lady. Calm down and just focus on me right now,” Alaric continues to say.

I can see him, but moving anything is nearly impossible. If he wasn’t holding my eye open, then I wouldn’t be able to see him.

“It might take you a little longer to regain your strength to do anything. There is nothing to be worried about,” he says. “We are going to feed you and help you move your body so that you can slowly regain your strength. Kieran is going to stay by your side through it all to make sure that you have the support.”

“Alaric, you can’t promise that,” Elias interrupts him. “Things are going on outside that he may need to attend to.”

“We are going to make sure that it happens. She clearly needs him and he needs to be with her,” Alaric responds.

Kieran? I try to say through the bond.

But he doesn’t say anything.

What is going on? Why can’t I communicate with him or move? What did Avira do to me?

“Alaric, we need to make sure that humans and Fae are getting along and he needs to speak with them to explain things.” Elias raises his voice and my fingers flinch at the loud outburst.

“Calm your voice down,” Kieran growls. “You are scaring her.”

“I’m sorry,” Elias mumbles. “That wasn’t my intention, but you have to hear me out. I know you want to be with her, but you have to think about the kingdom as well. Things are needed and you can’t stay with her all the time.”

“I can and I will,” Kieran replies. “I will do my work from here and if I need to talk to anyone then they can either come in here or I will write down what you need to say and you can say it to them. But I will not be leaving her.”

I grip Kieran’s hand, wanting to talk to him but my mouth won’t move.

“Sweets?” His voice is gentle. “What’s wrong?”

I want everyone to stop arguing with each other. I want to tell Kieran that I’m going to be okay and he doesn’t have to worry about anything.

But I know even if I was able to tell him that… that he would still worry about me. It’s something both of us do for each other and it’s never going to end.

“Can you try talking to her through the bond to see if she can talk back?” Alaric suggests.

I’ve tried before and I wasn’t able to reach him.

“I can’t. It’s like there is a wall around her with no way in,” Kieran says.