AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Still, I sent my magic at Esta, even as my own eyelids began to droop, and I felt the blood at my nose.
Esta landed into a bed of my magic, much like the landing pad I’d made for Warrick when we were going down the staircases. Two trees were crushed by the weight of her in my magic, but I had made sure I willed my magic to cushion their fall, so they shouldn’t get skewered by any branches.
A branch hit my side and I was only conscious enough to note that it would barely break my fall.
As my eyes fought to stay open and I braced for impact, my head jerked backward, a warm surface against my head, and then everything faded to black.
CHAPTER28
Iawoke warm. Warmer than felt possible as dark as it was. Even more so considering I was not wearing a shirt anymore.
“Esta,” Amory’s voice urged. “You have to allow the healer to look at his scratches.”
She let out a low growl.
“He saved you and you are feeling overwhelmed, I get it. I’m with you. Just let us make sure he doesn’t need stitches, okay?”
That was when I was with it enough to note that I was wrapped into a dragon.
“If you wanted a hug,” I said groggily. “You could have just said so.”
With a yelp sounding noise, she did just that. Hugging me hard.
I took in my surroundings, not sure where we were. Malachi was there. Emric and John too.
“We are in Esta’s lair, her cave,” Amory said gently from somewhere.
“Can’t breathe,” I wheezed. Damn, that dragon queen could hug. Also, I wasn’t sure “cave” was the term for my surroundings. Underground fortress felt more accurate.
“My Queen,” a woman’s voice stated. “May I look at his scratches now? From what I can see, they may not need stitches, but they may still need to be cleaned.”
With a huff, Esta was gone, leaving me laying there on the cold floor with my weight on my elbows. My shirt had apparently been sliced through and was discarded in a heap a few feet off.
“What happened?” I asked Amory. Her eyes were haunted. So haunted I wondered what all had transpired while I was out and how long I had been out.
“You passed out and Malachi caught you.” She paused. “Just before banging your head on the forest ground. Why didn’t you use your magic to save yourself, you fool?”
I swallowed. A small cup full of water was being shoved across the ground toward me by a large gray head I was coming to adore. “Thank you.” I patted his head and took a quick drink. “I was just more worried about you and Esta. Thought I could get the trees to break my fall so I could send all my magic at you. I knew I didn’t have much left.”
Amory’s eyebrows reached up. “So in a freefall to your death, you decided to go ahead and let a tree break your fall instead of your own built in protection mechanism?”
“I was worried?”
Normally she likely would have laughed, instead she sniffled. As if she might cry.
Malachi was also quiet. Too quiet.
“How long was I out for?” As I looked around, I noted even Emric looked grim, and I could count on one hand the bad days he’d had since I’d known him. I sat up and hissed at the pain across my ribs. I had a few small gashes from the branch I had attempted to use to break my fall. It hadn’t really helped me out, yet it had no issue taking it out on my skin.
“Three hours,” Amory answered. “Emric and John told us you likely would have kept sleeping but I still had Whit bring the healer to check on you and Esta. You were so out of it, I didn’t realize we could rouse you.”
The healer was taking in my wounds and opening her kit while we talked.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was wrong. I felt it in the air. There was a lingering misery which couldn’t be ignored. I reached my hand out and grabbed Amory’s wrist. “What happened while I was out? Other than an assassination attempt on your queen?”
Malachi let out a low groan as if the phrasing of my words made him angry.
I sat up straighter, batting the healer’s hands off me as I did. “Amory,please, what happened?”
