“Nah, I knew you would. Both of you. Neither of you are stupid. Although considering your reaction to the anti-fae symbol, maybe you are. Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were still under the influence?”
I scrubbed the back of my neck. “I was certain it would fade at any stage.”
“It won’t will it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think I’m like this for life now. I think that’s what these mean.” I pointed at my eyes, to the place that was no longer brown but instead a bright blue.
“Well, that means you can come and go here as you please. That’s not a bad thing.”
“You know you’ll always be welcome too,” I said.
“Yeah, but only when people help me get some enchantments.”
Ignoring the pain it caused me, I placed my hand on his shoulder to offer what comfort I could. I could tell it bothered him more than he was letting on. “You know Mom will give you some to take home if you wanted to.”
“At the moment, I’d rather not. I don’t want anyone in the Rain finding this place until we know who we can trust.”
“That’s true. Look, my research about Evie is in my bag. I’ve been careful to put fail-safes in place when putting it up on the Rain databases, but I think you should read it all. Share it with Mom, so that it can be documented here too, just in case anything happens. I want other people to know.”
He nodded. “I will, but you know she’ll be okay. Right?”
I was about to say something more when a fae walked into the room. Her green wings and aura gave me hope that it was news about Evie. I moved across to her quickly, ignoring Eth as there was something far more vital to know.
“You must be Clay,” the female fae said.
I nodded.
“My name is Willow. I have been looking after Lynnie.”
“How is she?”
Willow smiled, which I took as a good sign. “She should be fine, but we will keep her in an enchanted sleep for a little while longer to give her body a chance to recover a little more.”
“Can I see her?”
“Certainly.” Willow led me from the room.
“I’ll just see you later then,” Eth shouted from behind us. He chuckled when I continued to ignore him.
I followed Willow into a private bedroom in the healing wing.
Evie was tucked up in bed, sleeping. Aside from her pale skin, she looked almost normal. At least until I looked closer. Her aura was subdued, barely making it an inch beyond her body. Her breaths were so shallow it was easy to miss them, and after a minute of watching her, it was almost easy to believe that she hadn’t really been saved at all.
I moved to sit at her bedside and drew her hand into mine. Her skin was clammy, pale, and cold to the touch. I only hoped Willow and Mackenzie were right in their assessment.
“Please be okay,” I quietly begged her.
AFTER A few days, I was practically a permanent fixture in Evie’s room. The fae seemed to understand, delivering food to the room, and even changing my bandages at Evie’s bedside.
Each time I reached for her, sometimes to brush a strand of hair from her cheek and sometimes just because I needed to touch her, the lack of heat convinced me that she'd passed on without warning and I'd watch her chest closely for signs of her indrawn breath. The lack of machines and monitors—all necessary requirements of modern medicine, but deemed unnecessary by the fae healers—made her pallid appearance all the more worrying.
The last two times she'd ended up in a hospital, the machines had assured me that she was breathing and that her heart was beating. Now, despite the assurances of the two healers in charge of her care—Mackenzie and Willow—the silence in the room seemed deathly and unnatural.
Over the days that she’d been sleeping, Mackenzie and Willow had been monitoring Evie’s temperature, and they were as concerned by it as I was. It was normal—perfectly normal—for a regular, healthy human. It was far too low for Evie though. It concerned me nearly as much as her complete stillness.
“Didn’t you say you’d stopped the sleeping enchantments?” I said to Mackenzie when she came in to check on Evie. “Shouldn’t she be awake by now?”
“We have, but we have to keep up other enchantments, or her wounds might regress, so that could impact how long it takes for the stronger ones to wear off.”
I nodded because she’d told me all of that the last time she’d been in the room, but I was growing impatient.
“You know Mother really wants you to go to see her.”
“I can’t until Evie’s awake.”
“It is very important to Mother for you to go see her today. It is after all the first birthday she has been able to attend for yourself and Louise in years. Louise is already there, as is Ethan.”
“It’s the second already?” I asked, surprised how quickly the time had passed.
“It is as of about six hours ago. Will you not go down just for a little while? I promise I will let you know if anything changes here.”
“What if she wakes up and I’m not here?”
“Then she can wait for you as patiently as you have been waiting for her.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not really my point,” I said.
“Regardless, after Mother arranged a special cake for you and Louise, I think it is the least that you can do to go and thank her.”
“You’re not going to let it rest until I do, are you?”
“I really will not. Besides, you said yourself that you owe me a favor. I am now calling that favor in.”
I’d learned the day after Evie’s rescue that Mackenzie had actually given up some of her energy to bring Evie back. It was the fae version of CPR, only it was more powerful than any human medicine could ever be and more dangerous to the fae healer, especially when Evie had been beyond normal healing and Mackenzie was already weakened from her lack of food while in the custody of the Rain.
“Fine,” I said. “Play dirty like that.”
She smiled at me. “Go.”
I gave Evie’s hand one last squeeze as I stood. “Yes, ma’am.”
MACKENZIE HADN’T been lying when she’d said Mom organized a cake, although it was more like an entire bakery rather than just “a cake.”
As soon as I entered the room, a chorus of “Happy Birthday” started and I smiled at my family. My heart was warmed seeing Mom sitting between my brother and sister. Knowing no one was going to try to attack Evie while I was away from her bedside helped to put my mind at ease. It was the “one day” that I’d hoped for with Evie so many times in the past, and it seemed it had actually arrived. We could conceivably live at the court forever in safety.
Lou leapt up from the couch and bounded over to me. Her smile was wider than I’d seen it in years—if ever. Her wings fluttered lazily behind her as she pulled me into her arms.
In the days I’d been at Evie’s side, she’d kept herself scarce, but we’d spoken enough for her to confirm that the images I’d seen the instant Caelan died were her memories. Neither of us knew what it meant that I’d seen them, other than it reinforcing the link we’d felt all of our life and strengthening my suspicions that my fae gifts were somehow remnants of hers.
“Happy birthday, Clay,” she said before planting a kiss on my cheek.
“You too, sis.” I rested my hand on her arm.
“You look happy,” Eth said. “Is she awake?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. But I am happy. This is . . . it just feels like a dream.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you sooner,” Lou said. “It might have saved everyone so much heartache. I’m glad you didn’t lose her. I-I know she means a lot to you.”
“I’m sorry too, for hurting you as much as I did.”
“I know. I can see things so much clearer now. You’re lucky to have found her and brave to have fought us all so hard to be with her.” She indicated toward the notes Zarita had given me so long ago—the notes I’d told Eth to share
with the court. Lou was studying them, along with all the translations Zarita had provided prior to her death. Some of the words leapt out at me and made me smile.
Then I recalled the passage that had sent me racing back to the States a little less than a year earlier—the passage about the sunbird resting.
Could that be why Evie is so cold?
Almost as soon as the thought crossed my mind and solidified, another one followed. It was a question Evie had asked when we were reunited in the warehouse, and I was showing her the truth about her nature. “What happens when the sunbird sleeps?”
My panic rose as my heart lodged firmly in my throat. If that’s what happened, then what next? What would Evie think of me? Would her feelings have changed? Would she still love me?
Would I have to endure a cold, unfeeling stare when she finally woke?
Would everything we’d battled to be together be worthless?
I glanced up and saw Mom wearing a smile so bright it probably could have lit half of the city. Trying to put the concerns out of my mind, I met her eye and nodded my greeting. There was no point worrying about how Evie would feel when she woke. There was nothing I could do until she woke and I learned what had changed.
“So I heard there was cake. Shall we, Mom?” I asked, moving over to wrap my arms around my mother’s shoulders. I could tell that, although it was my birthday, I’d just given her the best present ever.
Nearly an hour later, Mackenzie came into the room.
The instant I met her gaze, she nodded with a smile.
There was only one thing that motion could mean, and I hoped everyone would understand my need to leave immediately. I dropped everything and raced from the room without even a good-bye. I’d see them all later. In that moment, something else vitally important required my attention.
Evie was awake.
TO BE CONTINUED IN
LIVING WITH EMBERS
(SON OF RAIN #4)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Irwin has been many things in her life: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; a young girl willing to fight for the love of a vampire; and a time-travelling madman in a box. She achieved all of these feats and many more through her voracious reading habit. Eventually, so much reading had to have an effect and the cast of characters inside her mind took over and spilled out onto the page.
Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under with her surprisingly patient husband and ever-intriguing daughter, carving out precious moments of writing and reading time around her accounts-based day job. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.
Comments, questions, and suggestions for improvements are always welcome. You can reach me at [email protected] or through my website www.michelle-irwin.com. Thanks in advance for your correspondence.
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Court the Fire (Son of Rain #3) Page 28
