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And Rion realized this was hell.
He’d failed Arianna and somehow slipped into the world beyond.
And this time, there was no escape.
Chapter Thirty-One
Arianna
Rion’s body arched off the floor again. His voice echoed through the small den and that painful cry was enough to rend her heart in two. Tears streamed down Arianna’s face, but she couldn’t stop. Not if she wanted him to live. So, she kept pulling the poison out, a portion of liquid with it, and replaced the lost fluid with fresh water.Forgive me.
She could have sworn Talon smirked at Rion’s plight, but that smirk vanished, and his lips parted as the slow realization of her actions came crashing over him.
“You’re healing him.”
She didn’t answer, but Talon quickly ordered his warriors to stand guard outside.
She panted, her body almost spent. Sweat poured down her face, but Arianna collected particles of poison again and yanked it from his blood, letting the foul mixture splatter against the far wall.
Talon tapped his foot, glancing at the entrance. “If you keep doing that, someone is going to find us.”
She growled and he stepped back, letting her work without further interruption. If he questioned her actions, he didn’t voice it. At least not yet. Questions would come later when she had Rion stable and breathing on his own.
Arianna soothed his lungs, repairing the damage inflicted by the toxin. With each piece of tissue she healed something unraveled in her chest.
She kept at it. Pull, fill, pull, fill. Until there was nothing left, and she collapsed against the moss-covered wall with sweat stinging her eyes. Arianna leaned her head back, listening to the sweet song of Rion’s strong heart.
She pulled his head onto her lap and cracked one eye open to find Talon staring. His gaze traveled over the male the world loathed and lingered on the way her fingers brushed through his hair.
One of Talon’s warriors poked his head through the curtain of brush. “It’d be best to wait here until nightfall.”
Talon nodded. “We couldn’t leave if we wanted to.” His gaze shifted back to Arianna and the warrior’s followed. She couldn’t read his expression, but one look had him leaving the den without question.
Rion inhaled, the sound no longer a rasp in his chest.
Time crawled and crickets began chirping outside while she kept a careful eye on Rion’s body, watching his chest rise and fall. She prayed it never stopped. She didn’t know for sure if she’d gotten everything out, or how much damage might linger. Arianna wasn’t even sure he’d wake again.
Talon made a fire and had his warriors deliver wood and water. She relished in the heat, wishing she could move closer, but Arianna didn’t dare leave Rion’s side.
Talon finally rose and approached slowly. She leaned over Rion as if she might protect him and hurt flashed across Talon’s face. He sat at her side, a careful distance away, and offered her a water skin.
She took a long, slow drink, leaning her head back against the den’s dirt wall. The fire crackled in the stillness, and she cast another glance at Talon. She looked away when he caught her staring. He was here. He’d kept his promise and come for her. But so much had changed. She—
“I’m sorry.” Talon’s voice was soft. He clasped his fingers together and leaned forward. “I looked for you every day. Every moment.” He eyed Rion then met her apprehensive gaze. “Are you… good?”
Arianna let out a long, slow breath. Her shoulders relaxed, and she finally took in the scent of the male beside her. How many nights had they spent together like this at the summer retreat, watching a fire and the lake’s shimmering surface? How many times had Ellie convinced them to dive in, guided by moonlight as they discussed bright futures full of happiness and love?
The male beside her was a comrade and her closest friend. He was someone she could trust with not only her life but her secrets as well.
“I was a prisoner and a slave,” she began. Talon stiffened, his gaze falling to the scars around her wrists. “I suffered. A lot, but I was never those things to him.” She brushed Rion’s hair out of his face. “At least, not for long.”
“Tell me everything.”
So, she did. Arianna sat with Rion’s head in her lap and recounted every step she’d taken from the moment Talon had shoved her upriver in that little canoe. She told him about the first time she’d been clasped in chains and how she’d hid her Fae form from prying eyes. She elaborated on the fear that consumed her and the promise that kept her going as the slavers dragged her further and further from home.
Arianna told him about the attack on her slavers’ caravan. She detailed the death of the young female and her heartbreak with it. Then she told him how she’d arrived inside The Demon’s cabin. She paused then before telling him a story about a male that wasn’t quite as malevolent as everyone made him out to be.
Talon listened, far more intently than she expected. He only interrupted to ask for clarification and once she finished, Talon looked at Rion with just a little less malice.
