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Eighteen
Callum
I quickly shifted, and searched for anything to wrap myself in. One guard tossed me a pair of pants and I belted them on.
Kelia coughed and slumped against the prince who whisked her into his arms and began walking toward the second level. “You need to be stitched. Get my healer!”
“No time.” She looked at her chest. Blood flowed from the wounds.
I’d never been one for regrets, but this time I couldn’t ignore what I’d done. “We need you to be conscious if we have any hope of finding that creature.”
Prince Eldritch headed up the incline where an area of tents had been set. He walked into one that had four cots set up, two of them occupied with wounded soldiers, most likely from the prince’s last assault. He placed Kelia on one and slumped on the floor next to her, sweat sliding down his forehead.
A dark fae with her silver hair wound around her head in a braid, frowned at the prince. “Why is there a human in my tent?”
“Just heal her, Nikita. We need—” His words ended in a grunt as he gripped his left arm where his clothing was stained with blood.
Nikita kneeled on the ground and using a dagger, sliced his shirt. The annoyance on her brow vanished in an instant.
“Light crystals,” Kelia groaned as she tried to sit up, holding her bleeding chest.
I ran to the opposite side of the cot and pressed on her shoulders, forcing her to lay back down. “You need to rest and get stitched.”
“Callum!” the queen yelled, but I couldn’t be bothered with her now, not when Kelia was bleeding out in front of me. “You need to join the search.”
“Send your shadowwalkers. I need to help Kelia.”
The queen grabbed my arm. “This is not a request. You and I both know you can track even better than my walkers.”
Queen Merelda was one of five that knew my secret. Still, she had the resources to help Mab and I would join them later. “After I stitch Kelia.”
Fingers dug into my skin as the queen forced me to acknowledge her request. “Did you know that Mab is Lara’s daughter?”
I eyed the queen, frowning, and wondering why she would bring that up.
“Did you also know that Lara wasyours.”
Someone gasped and my breathing stilled. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” the queen leaned closer. “Lara was yours.”
“Impossible,” I whispered, my mind reeling from this absurdity. I’d always felt bonded to Lara, but to be mine . . . and Mab . . . my granddaughter?
“No time to stitch,” Kelia said, interrupting the conversation. “Use your fire and seal these wounds so we can go.”
My stomach dropped at the mere thought of burning her skin. Hadn’t I already done enough? “But Kelia . . .” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “You’ll be scarred.”
That stubborn, determined gaze met me head on. “Yes, now stop wasting time and burn me.”
My hands shook at her request. Between what I just discovered about Lara and what I’d done to Kelia, I couldn’t focus.
Prince Eldritch grunted. “I knew you weren’t loyal to Father.”
Nikita lifted him up to bring him to a cot.
“Yourfatherhad stopped visiting my bed many years before I conceived Lara. Why do you think Callum was around so much? Certainly, wasn’t for his personality.”
I couldn’t deal with this right now.
