Page 104 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

“Seeing you fall from the sky.” He reached forward and brushed a stray curl out of her face. “I thought I was going to lose you too. I’m …” His fingers were chilly, so close to her ear and cheek. “I’m used to being very powerful, but it seems every time I truly need to be powerful, my magic fails me. Like with my family. Like with that attack from that skinless horse. I can’t have it happen with you too.” Blár’s smile was almost sad, almost pained. “What have you done to me? To have me so terrified of losing you?”

Kolfinna could barely keep her eyes open anymore. “I’ve bewitched you with my fae charms.”

“And I’ve gladly fallen victim to it.”

“Poor you …”

Despite the adrenaline rush from the unexpected battle and the fear she had for the half-elf commander’s army, for the first time in a long, long time, she felt utterly safe. And before she could completely fall into the clutches of sleep, she felt the distinct touch of lips against her forehead.

“Sweet dreams,” he murmured, and her hands wanted to move to his face and stay there and never let go, but before she could do so, she fell asleep.

23

The soundof the door swinging open and slamming against the wall woke Kolfinna from her dreamless, deep slumber. Her bleary eyes adjusted to the crackly ceiling, and the first thing she noticed was just how frigid it was in the room—with the hole in the wall, the cool, night air was breezing in uncomfortably. The second thing she noticed was that she had a thick blanket surrounding her and tucked underneath her, and the last thing she noticed was Joran standing by the doorway with a candle in his hand.

Kolfinna jerked upright and then hissed as pain shot through her shoulder and her chest. Joran rushed to her side, the candlelight flickering with his fast movement. “Are you okay?”

He moved to place his hand on her shoulder, but she raised her good hand to keep him at bay, a frown deepening her features. Blár wasn’t in the room anymore; had he left her to go to the bathroom, or maybe to assist some of the soldiers outside?

She tentatively touched the thick bandages padding her shirt and cringed when another bolt of pain struck her; if she still wasn’t healed, then not much time must’ve passed.

“What do you want, Joran?” Kolfinna twisted her lips. She didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but the pain she was dealingwith, the betrayal, and the fact that he woke her up much too early when she should’ve been recuperating, ticked her off more than she had initially thought.

“I came to see how you’re doing.”

Kolfinna laughed, and it sounded harsh to her ears. “Funny you say that after what you did.”

Joran shrank back, and the candle wobbled in his hand. “What do you mean?”

“Seriously?” Kolfinna bunched her hands over the thick fur blanket. If she didn’t grasp something, she was sure she would reach over and wring his neck. He was either pretending like he didn’t know what she was talking about, or he really was that dense. “You knowexactlywhat I’m talking about,” she said through gritted teeth.

“No, I don’t.” He stared at her levelly, but there was a spark in his eyes that told her he was lying. She had seen him, he had seen her, and he had turned his back on her.

“You didn’t even try to help me when that fae grabbed me and flew in the air. I know you saw me.”

Joran’s lips pursed together and he peered down at her with an expression she didn’t like—as ifhewas disappointed in her. “I couldn’t do anything in that moment, and you know it too.”

You know it too.

In that moment, she saw red.

Her fists clenched together tightly and her nails imbedded into the palms of her hands.

“You betrayed me, Joran. Do you not understand that simple concept? We’re supposed to be allies, and instead of helping me when you saw a winged fae had taken me, you did nothing. You could’ve chucked a stone at his head. Hell, Iknowyou have good aim. You could’ve raised a stone tower and grabbed me with it. You could’ve created a stone barrier in front of him. You could’ve tried to grab me with the stones—you could’ve done anything!”

Joran was already shaking his head before she finished, the candlelight bobbing and casting shadows over the room. “You know I can’t do that.”

“You can. You’re capable?—”

“No, Ican’t.”

“Oh, right, you can’t because you don’t want anyone to know that you’re fae. You’d rather keep your secret than save my life.” She wanted to laugh at him right now, laugh at how incredulous he was, how he wanted to act like he cared about her when he wasn’t willing to use his powers for her.

“Not that loud,” he hissed. He shot a look at the broad hole in the wall and raised his hand subtly, low enough that no one would be able to suspect him. In seconds, the mishmash of stones and pebbles in the room launched at the hole, building upon one another until it was cobbled, but rebuilt. Gaps and fissures from uneven stones stacked together formed between the rocks.

Joran blew out some air. “It’s hard to reveal that I’m fae. You should know that.”

“Then don’t act like we’re anything more than just acquaintances,” Kolfinna snarled. Now that all the walls were closed in around her, she became increasingly aware that it was just the two of them. The only light source was from the candle in his hand. “Because the way you were acting, what you were insinuating in front of Blár, was infuriating for me. I don’t know if you like me—in some twisted sort of way that stems from the fact that we’re both fae—but if you truly liked me, you would’ve saved me from that fae, regardless of what happened afterward, and you wouldn’t have used underhanded methods to make it seem like we’re more than just acquaintances.”

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