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Bright and Death shoved their way past the fae and stepped up on either side of me and Kierden, sniffing both of us as they pressed up against us. I leaned against Death a little, scratching Bright lightly behind the ears as my eyelids started to grow heavy.
“I think I need to rest,” I whispered to Eisley.
“Let’s get you back to the castle,” she agreed, eyeing Bright and Death. Both of them had wounds and were bleeding in multiple places, but they seemed fine otherwise.
Death ducked a head under Kierden’s arm, and Bright growled at him.
He stopped and gave her a long look.
She growled at him again, and he lowered his head toward her before he stepped up close to me and inclined his head. My arm went up over his neck, and Eisley lifted me onto his back as he bent down a bit.
My face buried into his fur, and I felt the warm stickiness of his blood against one of my arms as I carefully wrapped them around him.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to him, realizing why Bright had gotten mad at him when he tried to take Kierden. He was more injured than she was.
He licked my arm lightly, and my guilt softened.
“He still wants to help. Stubborn bastard,”Bright grumbled as she bent down. Eisley helped shove Kierden’s massive body onto Bright’s back, and then Bright slipped into the jungle, her movements smooth and careful. A few bands of ice wrapped around her and the other four of us followed.
It took a lot longer to get back to the castle than it normally would’ve, but I didn’t complain.
I was alive and well, and Kierden was too. We needed rest—probably a lot of rest—but we were okay. And that was what mattered.
When Death reached Kierden’s room in the castle, I was shivering a little, and could barely keep my eyes open. He carefully placed me on the bed, and Bright did the same with Kierden. My side met his, and I curled toward him as my heavy eyes started to close.
“I’m going to bring you food soon and check on you frequently,” Eisley warned me. She brushed a few strands of hair off my face, then placed the back of her hand against my forehead to check my temperature. “I don’t know much about how humans heal, but you seem alright,” she said. I thought it was more to herself than to me.
“I’m a fae now,” I murmured to her, finally giving up on the fight with my eyelids. “Kierden’s magic will have changed me in all the ways that matter.”
She flipped my hair away from my ear and lightly tapped on the gentle curve of it. “Not here.”
My lips curved upward slightly.
Kierden loved my ears.
She smoothed my hair back into place carefully, despite the blood and dirt in it. “Get some rest. I’ll be back soon.”
I was already lost to sleep.
Eisley woke me up to eat sometime later, and attempted to wake Kierden too. He didn’t so much as flinch. When I reached out to his mind to make sure he was alright, I didn’t feel anything concerning, so she gave up on it and left us to get more sleep.
Kierden’s blood must’ve worked well, because the next time she woke me up, I already felt much, much better. When we looked at my wounds, we were shocked to find them almost entirely healed. Though I still felt sore, I was no longer in terrible pain.
Bright and Death woke up just long enough to scarf down the food Eisley brought them, then fell back to sleep almost instantly when they’d finished.
Once again, we couldn’t get Kierden to wake up. Eisley was starting to worry, though she was trying to act like everything was fine for my sake.
“I’m almost healed,” I told her quietly, so I wouldn’t wake the esu. “If he’s not up in a few hours, I’ll make him drink my blood the way he made me drink his.”
“He’d kill me if I let you do that so soon after you’ve recovered,” she protested. “I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.”
I didn’t argue with her, because she was taking care of me, and I didn’t want her to worry that I’d take it into my own hands. But I wasn’t concerned with Kierden’s potential anger; I could handle it. And if my wounds were healed, I wouldn’t die if he drained me the way I’d drained him.
I nodded my agreement, eating the food she’d brought me quickly before handing her my plate. She fussed with my hair, the way she’d taken to doing, and then slipped out of the room.
Though I fell asleep quickly, I did so with one thought in my mind:
Making sure Kierden was alright.
