Fragile Eternity
Page 37
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Just a little farther.
She made it a block before the tears started to slide down her face. Without even looking at the phone, she pressed and held a button. When he answered, she didnt let him speak. I need you. Come get me.
Then she hung up and slid to the sidewalk. Her eyes werent closed, but they were near enough to it that she was worried.Its not a serious injury. She said so, and faeries dont lie.
She stared at the ravens that had settled on a ledge on the building across from her, and she pressed another button and held the phone to her ear. She smiled at hearing Seths voice, even though it was just a recording. At the tone, she said in as clear a voice as possible, Im not going to make it for dinner tonight. Somethings come upI love you.
She wanted him to come to her, but she was bleeding on the streeta target unable to defend herself against capture or further assaultand he was a mortal. Her world wasnt safe for him. It wasnt safe at all.
Mortals walked past her. They were murmurs of sound and movement against the quiet she found inside her and held on to. Down the street she heard a bus stop. The din of people coming and going grew louder for a few moments. The ravens cried out, their hoarse calls blending into the sounds of the mortal world around her. She leaned her head back against a building, not concerned with the soot and dirt, but with the fact that the cement and brick were warm against her skin. Warmth was what she needed.Warmth will fix it , she thought about that in a tumble of words that sounded like a cadence in her mind.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot, warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. He would bring those things.
She shivered. In her mind, she could see the fragments of ice that Doniad left inside her skin. Slivers of Winter were buried inside her body. A lesson, thats all it was: a lesson and a warning.Not fatal. But she wasnt sure. As she sat there in the street, she wondered if she was hurt worse than Doniad intended.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot, warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. She thought them like a prayer. He would come. He would bring heat and sunlight.
Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. I am not that injured. I am not.She was. She felt like she was dying. Being a faery was to mean living forever. It wouldnt if he didnt come for her.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. Im going to die.
Aislinn? Keenan was lifting her. His skin was solid sunlight, and she burrowed tighter into his arms. He was speaking, telling someone something or other. It didnt matter. Droplets of sunshine fell like rain on her face and soaked into her skin.
Too cold. She was shaking so hard that she thought she might fall, but he held her to him and then the world blurred.
When she woke, Aislinn was not in her bed at homeor in her bed at the loft or in Seths bed. She looked up at the snarl of vines over her head. Although shed never seen them from this angle before, shed stood in the doorway and marveled at the way they twined around Keenans bed.
What are they? She knew he was in the room; it wasnt necessary to look for him. He wouldnt be anywhere else, not now.
Ash he started.
The vines, I mean. Theyre not anywhere else in the loft. Justhere.
He came to sit on the edge of the ridiculous red-and-gold-brocade thing that covered his far-too-large bed. Theyre called Cup of Gold. I like them. Im sorry we had discord.
She couldnt look at him; it was stupid to feel embarrassed, but she did. The conversation with Donia replayed in Aislinns mind, as if reexamining it would make it somehow different. The fear came just as quickly.I couldve died. She wasnt sure if it was true, but when shed been alone and bleeding, shed wondered it. Im sorry too.
For what? You werent asking for anything I didnt expect. Keenans voice was as warm as his tears had been when he lifted her from the ground. Were going to work everything out. For now, what matters is that you are home, safe, and once I know who
Donia. Who else? Aislinn lifted her head up and held his gaze. Donia stabbed me.
Don? He paled. On purpose?
Aislinn wished she could lift one brow the way Seth did. Stabbing isnt usually anaccident , is it? She pushed ice into my stomach with her fingertips. Cold enough to make me sick She started to sit up and felt those tiny wounds resist. It wasnt a sharp pain like the stabbing was, but even the duller sensation brought tears to her eyes. She leaned back. Obviously this faery healing thing is overrated.
Its because it was Donia. Keenans tone was even, but the rumble of thunder outside belied his attempts at calm. She is our opposite, and she is a queen.
Sonow what?
Keenan blanched again. I dont want war. Its never the first choice.
Aislinn let out the breath shed been holding. War wasnt something she wanted either, especially not with her court so much weaker than the Winter Court. The thought of her faeries feeling this sort of pain filled her with terror. Thered already been enough upheaval in Faerie with the changing of power in three courts. Good.
If it were anyone but Donia, Id gladly kill over this. He brushed back Aislinns hair, letting a little extra sunlight into the gesture. Seeing you thereshes attacking my queen and therefore my court.
Aislinn didnt object to his comfort, not now. The feel of that cold inside her body was too recent. For a brief moment, she wished they were close enough that she could ask him to lie down and hold her. It wasnt sexual, or even romantic; it was the idea of having sunlight spill over her.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. She blushed guiltily as she thought it, though. It would mean something else to him, and she wasnt going there.
She made it a block before the tears started to slide down her face. Without even looking at the phone, she pressed and held a button. When he answered, she didnt let him speak. I need you. Come get me.
Then she hung up and slid to the sidewalk. Her eyes werent closed, but they were near enough to it that she was worried.Its not a serious injury. She said so, and faeries dont lie.
She stared at the ravens that had settled on a ledge on the building across from her, and she pressed another button and held the phone to her ear. She smiled at hearing Seths voice, even though it was just a recording. At the tone, she said in as clear a voice as possible, Im not going to make it for dinner tonight. Somethings come upI love you.
She wanted him to come to her, but she was bleeding on the streeta target unable to defend herself against capture or further assaultand he was a mortal. Her world wasnt safe for him. It wasnt safe at all.
Mortals walked past her. They were murmurs of sound and movement against the quiet she found inside her and held on to. Down the street she heard a bus stop. The din of people coming and going grew louder for a few moments. The ravens cried out, their hoarse calls blending into the sounds of the mortal world around her. She leaned her head back against a building, not concerned with the soot and dirt, but with the fact that the cement and brick were warm against her skin. Warmth was what she needed.Warmth will fix it , she thought about that in a tumble of words that sounded like a cadence in her mind.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot, warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. He would bring those things.
She shivered. In her mind, she could see the fragments of ice that Doniad left inside her skin. Slivers of Winter were buried inside her body. A lesson, thats all it was: a lesson and a warning.Not fatal. But she wasnt sure. As she sat there in the street, she wondered if she was hurt worse than Doniad intended.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot, warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. She thought them like a prayer. He would come. He would bring heat and sunlight.
Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. I am not that injured. I am not.She was. She felt like she was dying. Being a faery was to mean living forever. It wouldnt if he didnt come for her.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. Im going to die.
Aislinn? Keenan was lifting her. His skin was solid sunlight, and she burrowed tighter into his arms. He was speaking, telling someone something or other. It didnt matter. Droplets of sunshine fell like rain on her face and soaked into her skin.
Too cold. She was shaking so hard that she thought she might fall, but he held her to him and then the world blurred.
When she woke, Aislinn was not in her bed at homeor in her bed at the loft or in Seths bed. She looked up at the snarl of vines over her head. Although shed never seen them from this angle before, shed stood in the doorway and marveled at the way they twined around Keenans bed.
What are they? She knew he was in the room; it wasnt necessary to look for him. He wouldnt be anywhere else, not now.
Ash he started.
The vines, I mean. Theyre not anywhere else in the loft. Justhere.
He came to sit on the edge of the ridiculous red-and-gold-brocade thing that covered his far-too-large bed. Theyre called Cup of Gold. I like them. Im sorry we had discord.
She couldnt look at him; it was stupid to feel embarrassed, but she did. The conversation with Donia replayed in Aislinns mind, as if reexamining it would make it somehow different. The fear came just as quickly.I couldve died. She wasnt sure if it was true, but when shed been alone and bleeding, shed wondered it. Im sorry too.
For what? You werent asking for anything I didnt expect. Keenans voice was as warm as his tears had been when he lifted her from the ground. Were going to work everything out. For now, what matters is that you are home, safe, and once I know who
Donia. Who else? Aislinn lifted her head up and held his gaze. Donia stabbed me.
Don? He paled. On purpose?
Aislinn wished she could lift one brow the way Seth did. Stabbing isnt usually anaccident , is it? She pushed ice into my stomach with her fingertips. Cold enough to make me sick She started to sit up and felt those tiny wounds resist. It wasnt a sharp pain like the stabbing was, but even the duller sensation brought tears to her eyes. She leaned back. Obviously this faery healing thing is overrated.
Its because it was Donia. Keenans tone was even, but the rumble of thunder outside belied his attempts at calm. She is our opposite, and she is a queen.
Sonow what?
Keenan blanched again. I dont want war. Its never the first choice.
Aislinn let out the breath shed been holding. War wasnt something she wanted either, especially not with her court so much weaker than the Winter Court. The thought of her faeries feeling this sort of pain filled her with terror. Thered already been enough upheaval in Faerie with the changing of power in three courts. Good.
If it were anyone but Donia, Id gladly kill over this. He brushed back Aislinns hair, letting a little extra sunlight into the gesture. Seeing you thereshes attacking my queen and therefore my court.
Aislinn didnt object to his comfort, not now. The feel of that cold inside her body was too recent. For a brief moment, she wished they were close enough that she could ask him to lie down and hold her. It wasnt sexual, or even romantic; it was the idea of having sunlight spill over her.Warmth, heat, summer, sunlight, hot. She blushed guiltily as she thought it, though. It would mean something else to him, and she wasnt going there.
