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“I can get a healer here now.”
“No, it can wait till tomorrow. It’s the middle of the night. Please, don’t make this a big deal.”
Xavier makes a strangled noise of exasperation, lifting his gaze to meet Cat’s. They seem to have an unspoken conversation, then he scoops me up much the same way he did before so Cat can draw the covers back. He settles me back down, and I try to fight a whimper when he slips my foot under the covers.
“I’m going to stay,” he announces once I’m tucked in like a child.
“No, you’re not. You can check on me tomorrow, like a normal person. I just need rest.”
“She could come back for you at any point. I’m going to talk to Sybil and Estelle about how we can prevent this from happening again.”
“Good, go do that. Just get out of my hair.”
“I’ve got her,” Cat promises. Even the dogs are more on guard, Shadow positioned at the foot of my bed and Dave on the floor on my side of the bed, afraid, I think, of hurting me. Waffles makes his way onto the bed and settles near my head.
“Send Dave if you need me,” Xavier says.
Dave lifts his head and woofs in response.
I give Xavier a small, grateful smile. “If I promise, will you leave?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes, I promise. Now go. This is a no-boys-allowed space until my husband returns.”
With my agreement, Xavier leaves. Grateful there is no one else to keep on a brave face for, I collapse into the pillows and cover my face with my hands, a small sob choking me. Cat doesn’t say anything, just molds her body to mine, holding me close. She’s mindful of my hip and my foot as she does this.
“You’re okay,” she swears as she strokes my hair, letting me cry until I’ve exhausted myself.
What I didn’t tell everyone about was my fear of how Posey got to me. How there was nothing I could do when she did have me.
That feeling is the fuel for my anger.
CHAPTER16
Fingers gently touching my hair and face wake me from my nightmares in which I was faced with a hallway with hundreds of doors, a child crying behind one of them, as Posey chased me. As my eyes open, the bad dreams slowly recede into a memory to be forgotten, but the feeling of fear, of terror, lingers.
Essos looks down at me with a grim smile on his face. I melt deeper into the pillow and reach a hand up, my fingers grazing his cheek.
Relief burns through me. “Why do you look so serious?”
“Because it’s been a seriously long time since I kissed you.” His words are smooth, and then he covers his mouth with mine. He cups my face, his thumbs caressing my cheeks. I open my mouth to him, our tongues flicking against each other. I’m more desperate for him than I thought. I forget everything about Posey, Essos’s mother, and my injury and try to sit up to match his ardent kisses with my own. The movement sends a wave of pain radiating from my hip.
I gasp in pain into his mouth, and he pulls back immediately, concern overwhelming his features.
“What? What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
I shake my head, because I’m beyond words. Xavier wasn’t kidding about his healing masking the pain. I grip Essos’s forearms just to have something to squeeze though the agony. My own powers of healing must have dulled the pain while I slept. I remember Helene once mentioning that her personal healing was slowed when she was pregnant because her powers were focused on the baby, leaving her injuries neglected. That would certainly explain why I was slower to heal during the Trials.
“No. Not the baby. You missed a lot,” I manage.
“Good thing I had Saima make you a batch of macarons to ease the pain of my absence.” His thumb smooths along my cheek.
Essos doesn’t take his gaze off me, but I feel the presence of someone else entering the room. My head snaps up, and shock surges through the pain. I’m glad for it, because it takes my mind off the torment.
“Callie?” I breathe. The woman’s black hair creates a halo of natural curls around her head. She always had impeccable style. She disappeared long before I died, though I’m hard-pressed to put an actual timeline on it. Her dark skin looks luminous against her cream-colored silk blouse, and her dark brown pants have been pressed so there isn’t a wrinkle on them. Full lips and big brown eyes always made Callie irresistible to every person she met. There was a reason she was the Goddess of Beauty and Sex. She was a siren calling to all; no god was immune.
“Hi, Daphne.” Her voice is just as sultry as I remember.
