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“Me?” The hag shook her head, making her hood sway around her face. “Is that the gratitude I get for saving your hide from ebon weed poison?”
He blanched, reining in his impatience. Being deemed ungrateful by the hag might have dire consequences.
“Forgive me. I meant no disrespect. Please, tell me, what have you done to her?” he begged.
“To her? Nothing. I haven’t even seen your woman. But you share a thread of connection with her. I used it to let you visit her at the beginning when your spirit was barely attached to your body. You thrashed and screamed for her like a man possessed. So I set your spirit loose to give your body a chance to heal. But you’re not out of the woods yet. Keep jumping and jerking like a grasshopper, and you’ll split your wounds open again. Then you won’t leave this room for many more months to come, if ever. Only a few survive ebon weed poison.”
The connection.
He felt it, too. An invisible thread that stretched from his heart to hers. He wasn’t quite sure when it’d formed. But he knew exactly what it was. Love. He loved his little sweet pea, even if he was too blind to see it sooner.
“Where is she now?” he insisted. “Where is Amira?”
The hag heaved a breath in frustration. “He just doesn’t listen, does he?” she muttered under her breath.
Hapon scratched a sentie draped over his shoulder. “We don’t know where Lady Amira is, my lord.”
Worry squeezed around his chest like an iron band.
“How long have I been here?”
“Four months.” Hapon sighed, resting a grim gaze on Kyllen. “You were in bad shape, my lord. Still are, to be honest.”
“Four months?”
It was an eternity! Meanwhile, Amira was out there… Alone.
He’d sensed her feelings while he fought for his life, unconscious and weak. He knew she’d been scared, lonely, and in pain… so much pain. The echo of her sorrowful screams still resonated through his heart. It could only stop when he held her again.
He had to find her. Comfort her.
“I need to go.” He handed the mug back to Hapon and sat up, a little slower this time.
The hag rose to her feet. She slammed the end of her walking stick into the floor with power unexpected from her frail figure.
“You’re not going anywhere!” Her raspy voice carried enough strength to boom under the rafters. “The poison is not out of your veins yet. If you keep moving, you’ll die. Not that you could get up to your feet yet, anyway.” She cackled and plopped back into her chair, looking every bit the frail old woman again. “If you die on your way to your lover, who will help her then? If your dead body is lying on the bottom of a river somewhere, eaten by eels, how would that help your little human?”
As much as he hated her at the moment, the hag was right. He couldn’t even get off this cot without tumbling down. How was he supposed to stay on the paddle board long enough to search the wetlands for Amira?
But she was out there somewhere, alone, frightened or…
What if she was no longer alive?
Fear froze his insides. Then, a tiny petal of warmth flickered in his heart—he felt her. The fae mating bond may not be possible with a human, but his connection with Amira was undeniable, whatever it was.
She was alive. He just needed to find her before it was too late. Amira was gentle and fragile, too delicate for this world. So easy to hurt.
“They wouldn’t kill her.” Hapon must’ve sensed his fear. “A human woman is too rare and valuable. Wherever she is, she’ll be alive.”
Amira posed no threat to a gorgonian, including Udren. On the contrary, she was a beautiful, enviable possession that any lord would love to have.
Which could hurt her, nevertheless.
“Could she still be at the palace?” he asked.
Hapon shook his head. “I really don’t know, my lord. I’ve been hiding from everyone. Only my closest family know we’re here.”
Kyllen couldn’t blame Hapon. The man’s priorities had been elsewhere. He’d had a lot on his plate with the unconscious Kyllen on his hands while being pursued for murder.
Hapon touched his arm in a comforting gesture. “I’m sure Lady Amira is alive, my lord. We’ll find her. But you need to regain your strength first. Then I suggest you claim your title, too, before searching for her.”
He stirred impatiently, but Hapon pressed his hand to Kyllen’s arm harder, keeping him in place.
“An old, dying man is sitting on the throne of Ellohi,” Hapon said. “The lower lords are swarming him, waiting for him to die. Without Bherlon, they see an opening for themselves. If you don’t act fast enough, someone will steal your rightful place the moment your brother dies. It’d be that much harder to wrest it from them then.”
Everything inside him urged him to dash in search of Amira as soon as he could get off this damned cot. As the High Lord, however, he’d have the resources to find her faster and the power to punish anyone who took her.
Amira had taught him patience. Patience and trust.
He rolled his head on the pillow to face Hapon.
“Pledge your allegiance to me as your lord, and you’ll have my loyalty in return. For life.”
Trust was hard to come by. His own family had betrayed him. He’d known Bherlon hadn’t been happy about his return from the human world. He’d expected his nephew to challenge him. But he did not anticipate Bherlon to ambush him like a coward in the middle of the night. His mistake had been giving Bherlon more faith than he deserved.
Hapon, however, had proven his courage and trustworthiness. He saved Kyllen’s life.
“It’ll be an honor, my lord.” Hapon lowered his head in a bow, reciting the words of the vow of allegiance.
Kyllen sealed their agreement with the promise of loyalty, too. A sweep of magic rushed around them, binding them for life. Instead of the heavy burden of obligation, however, it brought relief. Some promises were worth making after all.
The hag’s brew was dragging him under—to rest, to heal. Through the sleepy haze, the urge to act burned and nudged. He wished to rush into action. Take his throne back. Find his woman. Slay everyone who dared stand in his way.
But he could no longer even open his eyes. The healing potion worked its magic, knitting his skin and muscles together and cleansing his veins from the poison.
“Sleep, my pretty lord,” the hag chuckled. “Regain your strength.”
He needed his full strength back. He had to use his inherent fae affinity to plot and plan meanwhile.
Amira’s image floated to the front of his mind. Her dark, inquisitive eyes. The lips he loved to kiss so much. Amira was so trusting and vulnerable. Every minute he stayed away from her, she might be suffering. He needed to save her. He had to…
Heavy darkness swallowed him again.
* * *
