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23
Erik couldn’t move. His wolves hadn’t been able to find who’d shot at them during their ride. The villains had masked their scent well enough there wasn’t a trace anyone could follow.
How could a werewolf not find a scent? Only his nose was better than theirs. He was tempted to go out and look for the culprit himself, but it was at that moment the healers had walked out of Mina’s bedroom, their faces grim.
He remembered hearing phrases likeinternal bleeding,unbalanced humors, anduncertain of survival, but none of them meant anything to him until he saw her propped up against her pillows, still as a body lying in a coffin. Her sickly pale skin and closed eyes knocked him to his knees at the foot of the bed, and that was where he’d stayed for…he couldn’t be sure how long.
“Has he moved at all?” He heard Aria asking someone in the distance, but he didn’t dare look. He couldn’t tear his eyes from the slow rise and fall of Mina’s chest. She had to be okay. She had to be okay.
“He’s worried about her,” Lucy said, and he felt a soft hand on his shoulder as the young witch leaned into his ear. “She’ll be okay. She’s a fighter.”
“This never would’ve happened if he’d just left us alone. Mother protect her soul.” Aria grumbled, nearly too low for anyone to hear.
“Leave us,” he said, the words rolling off his tongue without a thought. He would’ve removed Aria from his castle within the first three days of her visit if it hadn’t been for the love Mina showed her.
“I’m not leaving my princess,” the interloper hissed.
“Yes, you will,” Lucy answered. “In this palace, Erik is King. So, we will both obey his wishes.”
“He’s practically catatonic,” Aria complained, and her words unlocked his muscles.
Rising to his feet, he turned to glare at her. “I said, leave. I’d like a moment alone with Princess Mina.”
Aira opened her mouth to protest, but Lucy grabbed her by the forearm and towed her from the room. Once the door closed, he turned back to the bed, and sank down on the soft chair Lucy had placed beside the bed.
He took Mina’s hand and pressed her knuckles to his lips. “Please, come back to me. I don’t care if you’re Evangeline returned, or if you’re just Mina. Please. Come back.”
He bowed his head, and racked his brain, searching for the old prayers he’d learned as a boy. “Lumaria, shine down on her. Guide her home. Please. Please.Please.” The last word came out as a desperate whisper.
A beat of silence passed and then as if in answer the door to the bedroom opened once more and Andrea stepped inside.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” she said, bowing respectfully. “I’ve come to offer my services in waking the princess.”
“The healers said she would wake on her own time, or never wake again,” he said, sitting up straight. “What do you think you can do differently?”
“I can probe her mind, find where she hides, and…with some luck draw her back out into the world of the living.” Andrea said, her eyes drifting off to the side as she spoke.
“Is it dangerous?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Everything in life comes with a little danger.” The witch laughed. “But the spell I have in mind is minor. She’ll be perfectly safe.”
Erik frowned down at Mina as he rose. “I’m not leaving the room.”
“You don’t even have to leave that chair.” Andrea said. “I simply need your permission to try. Having you nearby, holding her hand might actually help the ritual. It should give her something to anchor her.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Whatever I can do to help her, I will. She has to be okay.”
Andrea narrowed her cold eyes at him. “You’re falling in love with her.”
“Just do the spell,” he growled, sitting back down, returning his attention to Mina’s sleeping form.
“If she’s not Evangeline, you will only be—”
“Do the spell, or get out,” he snarled, glaring at the witch. “Evangeline…She’s gone. All that matters right now is Mina. She is here. She is alive, and yes. I’ve been falling in love with her since I found her in the forest. But it makes no difference. She doesn’t love me, and that’s fine. She just needs to be okay. I need to make sure she’s okay.”
Andrea nodded and stepped up to the opposite side of the bed, her white dress spreading out like a cloud trailing behind her. She swept her long platinum hair over her shoulders and spread her arms high into the air. She took a deep breath and then began to hum her spell song. A lilting tune that had Erik swaying along with the current.
He couldn’t recognize the language, but it felt familiar. Like he’d heard the tune before…but where? Closing his eyes. He felt himself sinking down to rest his head on his arms. Like he was falling asleep. His body felt strange, and then with a great whoosh, he found himself outside the palace, outside the city even. Turning in a slow circle he saw nothing but wildflowers, cast in brilliant purples, reds, and whites. The petals rimmed with something dark.
