Page 15 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

After slipping my journal into a concealed pocket of my packed bag, I headed to the back bedroom and settled into the soft chair beside Briar's sleeping form.I felt the weight of silver eyes tracking me from the woods, but with my oath to let Elias join me in the Everland Forest, there was little I could do now.

A sudden crack of thunder made me jump, and fat raindrops began pelting the cottage roof.Within moments, it had turned into a downpour.I moved to close the window when a figure emerged from the tree line, moving swiftly through the storm toward the cottage.

Elias.

He was soaked through by the time he reached the small overhang by my door, his dark hair plastered to his head, his shirt clinging to every muscle of his chest and arms.When he knocked, I hesitated for a moment before opening the door.

"Can I take shelter?"he asked, water dripping from his hair into those tempestuous, steel-colored eyes.

"You can't come in," I said quickly, thinking of Briar sleeping just a room away.

"I'm not asking to come in."He gestured to the small covered area by the door."May I stay here just until the worst of it passes?"

I should have said no.Should have told him to find shelter elsewhere.Instead, I found myself stepping outside, pulling the door mostly closed behind me.The space was cramped, forcing us to stand closer than I was comfortable with.

"Better?"I asked, suddenly aware of how the sound of rain created an intimate cocoon around us.

He nodded, but his gaze wasn't on the storm.It was on me."Much better."

The way he said it, low and rough, sent heat swirling through my belly.This was wrong.He was unseelie, my enemy by birth and blood.I should have been repulsed by him, not fighting the urge to step closer.

"Stop looking at me like that," I whispered.

"Like what?"

"Like you want to devour me."

His eyes darkened."And what if I do?"

The question hung between us like a loaded weapon.I should have been horrified.Instead, I felt an answering hunger unfurl in my chest, dangerous and unwanted.

"Then you'd be disappointed," I managed to say."I'm not some conquest for you to claim."

"No," he agreed, his gaze never leaving mine."You're something far more dangerous than that."Elias stood, striding out into the rain as I watched.

I realized, with mounting horror, that I wanted him to try, wanted him to turn and close the distance between us and damn the consequences.

Instead, I went back inside and to the room I shared with my sister.

I opened the book Madame Eliza had held for me, not a fairytale retelling, which was my favorite type of story to read to Briar, but something more crucial.Flipping to the first page, I read aloud to my sister.

"The history of the fae began long before memory can recall..."

A steady tapping at the window behind Briar's head caused me to pause.Herb perched on the outside ledge, and when I didn't immediately open the window, he tapped even harder.

"For heaven's sake, Herb!"I complained, closing the book as I crossed the room to fling open the window."The front window is still open for you.You don't need to disturb my reading."

His dark feathers flared as he swooped into the room, circled my shoulders, and landed on the pillow beside Briar's head, his usual spot.Nestling into the silk, his wings folded, glowing with a bluish hue in the candlelight.Somehow, he’d managed to stay dry.

Herb stared at me expectantly.When I didn't break the silence, he finally cawed, nodding toward the book.

"You want me to continue reading?"

Caw-caw!

Sighing, I pulled the book back into my lap and continued.

"Once the two fae races were one.Two sisters arrived to a land void of magic..."I read of how darkness plagued one sister's heart until she could hold it at bay no more, pulling from the land what was never hers until the balance distorted."That blackest of nights, the unseelie were born."