You may take some of my magic in order to heal him,Rian’s voice prompted, infiltrating my thoughts. I flushed in embarrassment at the realization that he’d clearly been able to feel allmy curious prodding at our bond.
Mine too,chimed in Darragh.
If you must,was Ciaran’s snarky reply that made me roll my eyes and smile before glancing at Sage curiously. He continued lacing up his sword belt, trying and failing to hide his winces without looking up at me.
Can he not also hear?I asked.
He would if I were not actively blocking him. Sage is detrimentally selfless,Rian reminded me.
Of course. Sage would never ask any of us to sacrifice magic to heal him whilst we were all so badly depleted. Regardless of how much pain he was in. But I knew that the others were as eager to do this for him as I was.
I was not sure how to take what I needed. But much as Sage had once done for me, the others were able to push some of their recouped power down their bonds to me. Not everything, they would not leave us all defenseless, but it was enough to make Sage strong enough to move around the camp without discomfort.
He looked up at me as I touched him wordlessly and let what I had been given flow into him. He inhaled with surprise and then sighed softly in relief and bent his head down to rest it against mine in appreciation.
“Where did you get that magic?” he asked knowingly once he had caught his breath.
“You should not ask questions when you know you will not like the answers,” I teased him.
“Summer—”
“It isfine, Sage. We love you. Let us help you.”
I could tell he was having words with the others in the quiet that followed. Whatever they said to him seemed to assuage his concerns because he gave a resigned sigh and wrapped his arms around me to squeeze tightly.
Thank you,he said finally to all of us.
As we walked to the mess hall to get breakfast, I filled my mate in on everything I could think of that happened since he was taken. I told him what Nuala had learned about Aoibheal using blood magic on the Fuath, and about how Rian rejected Nuala as his mate. That revelation confused him as much as it still confused me since he had also seen his cousin’s reactions to her. But then he shook his head and muttered something about Rian’s stubborn nature.
It was difficult to have a conversation with him when we were constantly being interrupted by warriors wanting to welcome Sage back from assignment. It clearly did not matter to any of them that we were obviously attempting to avoid attention at a secluded table in the corner of the mess hall. I had also told Sage that Rian and Darragh had brought all the aes sídhe tribes to the army encampment, and we’d planned to go see them after eating. But he was already exhausted from talking to his soldiers, so I didn’t think he could handle being fussed over by his people. Especially since they’d had a better idea of what really happened to him.
“I wish I was here to make them bleed,” he growled after I told him how we dealt with my cousins while we walked back to the tent. We planned to collect our things, and then I would take him to the bathhouse in the city.
“Worry not! They bled aplenty,” I told him, and Sage grunted his approval. He lifted our entwined hands to kiss my knuckles with a tenderness that belied his bloodlust.
“Have you told Rian about the other tribes of dryads? That there are some who are less barbaric?” he asked.
“Not yet. He has plenty to occupy him now.”
“Your people will keep coming for you. We must deal with it soon, and it would be good to have such allies,” Sage pointedout in his gentle but firm way.
I sighed with a reluctant nod and looked down at our interlaced fingers. I watched as our hands swung between us with a carefree comfort I would have never imagined for myself. And in spite of all the dark uncertainty ahead, the thought of our future made my heart sing.
Until I heard a voice that set my teeth on edge.
We both turned toward Orlaith who was racing toward us with tears streaming over her cheeks and both her arms outstretched. I was not sure how she knew he was back, whether she had just happened to see us out walking or if Shay had let it slip, but her intrusion irritated me.
Especially when she launched herself at my mate.
I knew she had every right to be relieved that he was home safe. She also probably had no idea that he was still injured when she jumped at him with every expectation of him catching her. But after what I’d overheard her saying to her friends at the meeting with the Sua, I was finding it difficult to be patient.
But I refrained from violence and caught her midair in a tangle of vines that sprung from the earth just before she clamped onto Sage. Orlaith was confused, and it would have been comical to see her suspended there if her knees were not parted in preparation to wrap around my mate.
“Sage?” she spoke his name, making my teeth clench again in resentment.
I debated using the vines to constrict her until she had no more air left with which to soil his name on her lips, but Sage squeezed my hand. He wrapped his other arm around me to draw me against him and kissed my head in reassurance, which helped me breathe through the rage.
“I am alright, but I am in great pain,” Sage explained, making Orlaith blanch as she assumed this was the reason for my interference.
