“I can help you save him,” Niall said.
Lexi wasn’t sure anyone could help her save him. At least not without the aid of a witch, and Sahira was hunting for the harrow stone with Brokk. The only other witches she knew were at the new marketplace, and it would take too much time for her to get there.
Sahira had more potions at the manor, some of them must be healing potions, but she couldn’t leave Cole alone with another dark fae. No matter how much Cole trusted this man, she couldn’t leave them alone while Cole was so weak.
“You can help me by guarding the door,” she said. “I’ll let you know if I need anything more.”
Niall’s nostrils flared, and his jaw jutted out, but he stepped away from the bed. Lexi didn’t breathe easy until he left the room. She hurried after him and stood in the bedroom doorway as he made his way across the sitting room, opened the door to the hall, and paused there.
He looked over his shoulder at her. “I’m not leaving this hall.”
“Good. Don’t let anyone in here.”
Although, if the palace didn’t want anyone in this room, they wouldn’t get in unless they battered down the door or set it on fire. But she would take all the extra help she could get to protect Cole, even if it was from the other side of the door.
When he closed the door, Lexi ran across the room and clicked the locks into place. Knowing it wasn’t enough, she retrieved a chair from the corner and wedged it under the door handle before rushing back to Cole’s room.
He lay on his side with the sword blade still sticking out of his chest. It took everything she had not to rip the weapon out of him, but she couldn’t do that without some supplies first.
And then there was the other wound, the one through the side of his chest. She didn’t have the time to examine it more closely, but it had to be tended and would require help to heal.
He’d survived when almost all other fae would have already perished, but that injury, on top of his copious blood loss, could still be the end of him. She had to get her hands on some healing potions, but to do so, she would have to leave him here, alone and unprotected.
She stepped back to recheck the chair and door. Neither had moved.
If she went fast enough, she could be back here in mere minutes. But what if she couldn’t find anything to help?
That was a chance she had to take. She ran over to the bed, and with tender care, she removed his father’s sword from his back. Smoothing his hair from his forehead, she kissed him tenderly.
“I’ll be back soon. I love you.”
Lexi couldn’t look back at him as she ran to the portal he’d left open; if she did, she wouldn’t leave. And if she didn’t go, he would probably die.
Though her heart screamed at her to turn around and go back, Lexi kept moving. She plunged into the portal that would take her home.
When she burst out the other side, she half expected Orin to be still hanging out, stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce, but the kitchen was empty. She was grateful for that; the last thing she needed was to deal with him right now too.
Lexi flew across the kitchen toward the cabinets where Sahira kept her potions.
Chapter Twelve
“Orin?”
Orin turned away from the closed, metal door when his brother, Varo, spoke. Sometimes, Orin forgot what his brother looked like now, and it would shock him to see Varo again. This was one of those times.
Varo had always been slender, but since the war, he’d lost more weight. His high cheekbones stood out starkly against his pale skin, and the dark circles under his eyes made his white-blue eyes vividly stand out. The war hadn’t been kind to his half light fae sibling, and the aftermath was less so.
“Varo,” he greeted with a smile.
Varo’s eyes shifted to the cell, and a line appeared across his forehead. “What are you doing here?”
Orin jerked his head toward the cell. “I have some questions for our inmate.”
“What could you possibly have to ask Del?”
“There are some things I’m interested in learning about his daughter.”
“You know his daughter?”
