AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wait—what? Five? You’ve survived alone since you were five years old?”
“I didn’t have any other family. No one else wanted me. Those who did show an interest in me…well, I quickly learned their motives were less than loving. So I avoided adult fae and learned to hunt.”
Vicious rage heated his blood. “Did they—” He clamped his mouth shut, shook his head. “I shouldn’t ask.”
A side glance from those sparkling gray eyes. “A few tried. They paid for it.”
“With their lives, I hope?”
Her smirk was positively wicked. “With their testicles.”
“Can fae grow back body parts?”
Her smile widened until she showed teeth. “No.”
“Good.” Grim satisfaction wound itself around his heart, even though a part of him itched to track down those fae and do some more major damage.
Isa uttered a choked sound, and stopped abruptly. With her hand fisted over her chest, the knuckles flashing white, she wheezed, her face ashen.
His heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong?”
Muscles twitched in her face, and her neck corded, sweat coating her paled skin. With a cry, she fell to her knees, balling her other hand to a fist, too, biting into it.
“Isa!” He crouched next to her, his mouth gone dry as desert sand.
“S-seizure,” she hissed, panting. “Ugh!”
She doubled over, and he caught her before she hit the dirt.
“I’ve got you.” He pulled her close, but she slapped at him.
“No. I’ll be…all right.”
Veins stood out starkly on her skin, which had lost its usual warm tone, taken on a sick pallor. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she blinked furiously while breathing fast and shallow, keeping her chin up.
“I don’t…need…” She bared her gritted teeth while she panted through what had to be an excruciating wave of pain.
“Yes, you do.” He drew her closer, careful not to hold her so tight that it hurt her more. “And you’ll let me.” He leaned down, spoke in her ear. “Allowing someone to care for you is not weakness, Isa. You don’t have to suffer alone. I’m here, I’ve got you, and I’ll help you through this. Let me.”
With a shuddering breath, and a broken sound in the back of her throat, she closed her eyes, grabbed his shirt, and buried her face against his shoulder. Basil exhaled roughly, stroked her back, and murmured words of encouragement and healing.
He held her through a storm of convulsions, through muffled screams that pierced his soul, through tides of agony so violent, so palpable, he could taste them with every breath. He channeled his despair about his helplessness into unflinching emotional support, into the steady strength of his embrace, poured every ounce of his desire to see her free from pain into the words he whispered in her ear.
When the last of Isa’s seizure subsided, leaving her trembling in his arms, her skin sweat-slick and cold to the touch, he rested his forehead on top of her head, and fought to keep his limbs from trembling along with hers.
Her breath hitched, and she pushed against his chest. He released her, and she came to her feet, staggered to a tree, which she grabbed for purchase.
Eyes downcast, she took a deep breath and said, “Thank you. Your help pays for the favor you owed me for my assistance in guiding you through Faerie and searching for Rose.” She inclined her head and turned away.
“What the—” Basil huffed, stood up. “Not everything has to be measured in favors, Isa. I gave my help freely.”
“Are you saying you’d rather be beholden to me still?” She peered at him, her warm brown tan returning slowly.
He sighed, linked his hands behind his head. “No, but that’s not the point. It’s just… Why does it have to be about paying a price? Why not just accept it as kindness?”
She dusted herself off, righted her clothes. “Because asking yourself ‘what will this cost me’ is the smartest way to stay alive.”
“And the fastest way to a life spent alone.”
