Page 27 of A Curse of Breath and Blood

Heads hung low. Tired bodies picked at the meager dinner. No one said a word. The events of the day took a toll on us all.

After dinner, we lay by the dying light of the fire. I curled my knees into my chest, hoping to keep the dinner down. Winter nights could be brutal in the northern kingdoms, and my healing body wasn’t doing me any favors. Although being part of sylph had its advantages. My withdrawal would be shorter than most humans.

Through heavy-lidded eyes, I surveyed the camp. Lucius sleptas he always did—standing up—a trait I chalked up to his wraith curse. Amolie and Roderick huddled together. His large body cradled hers under his cloak.

The shakes made it impossible for me to sleep. Sweat coated every inch of my body, making me both hot and freezing at the same time. I tried not to wake the others but knew they could hear my misery.

Fleeing to the shore, I hurled my dinner into the river. My stomach tightened. I spit acidic bile into the water. Heat radiated off my clammy skin. Cupping the icy water in my hands, I splashed my face. The sting provided a moment’s respite.

I gazed at my reflection. Hollow eyes stared back at me. What had become of my life?

I wanted to go back to the days before I married Gideon. When Caiden and I were young and in love. Seeing him now stirred something inside me I thought had died long ago.

As if summoned, Caiden appeared next to me. His warm hands rubbed my back. “You’ll be okay, Springborn.”

For the first time since we set out on our journey, I detected sympathy in Caiden’s voice. Although, I winced at the name. Only Roderick and Lucius had ever called me that.

“Does this remind you of the ball in the Court of Tears? When someone slipped me faerie wine?” I asked through chattering teeth.

Caiden let out a laugh—a true lighthearted laugh, like the ones we used to share so long ago. “You were such a mess. You thought you could dance in a sylph circle.”

“I can’t believe you still wanted to kiss me after that.” I splashed more water onto my face. The cold distracted me from the agony.

Caiden continued to rub circles on my back. “I’ve wanted to kiss you every day since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

My breath hitched in my throat against feelings I had buried rising to the surface. “I’m sure your wife wouldloveto hear that.”Don’t catch feelings, Aelia, he’s married, and you’re a mess.

“She knew we both had pasts. That’s part of what made me fall in love with her.” Sadness filled his voice.

Daggers twisted into my heart. Why did I think Caiden wouldn’t have moved on? I had my fair share of lovers since I last saw him.They were just distractions, though. A way for me to feel something other than pain and to ease the sting of loneliness. I didn’t trust anyone enough to let them get close to me. The rug had been pulled out from underneath me twice before. My heart could not bear it a third time. So, I built a wall around it, so high and so thick no one could ever hurt me again.

Caiden filled the awkward silence between us. “You know, you’re not old, Springborn.”

I laughed. “To you, I must seem like an infant.”

Although not immortal, like the elves, Sylph lived for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years. At thirty, I must have seemed like a child to him.

“Even for a human, you are young.”He continued to rub circles on my back, reminding me of how my mother would do the same when I was a child.

I studied him through lowered lashes. Though we looked the same, I calculated his age at nearly seventy.

Dipping my hand into the black water, I let the river cool my fever. “I feel old. Like I have lived a thousand lives since I left Elyria.”

“A long life is hard. It makes the sylph petty and violent. Life is less precious when it extends hundreds of years.”

“You’d think it would make them less dramatic,” I said, only to hurl more of my dinner into the river.

“What’s life without a littledrama?” Caiden patted my back.

I wiped my mouth on my sleeve. “I think I’ve had enough drama for multiple lifetimes.”

Caiden laughed before looping his arms under mine and helping me to my feet. “Let’s get you back to camp. There’s no telling what lurks in the waters of the Court of Sorrows.” He wrapped his powerful arms around me, pulling me closer. I couldn’t help but catch the scent of bergamot on him. Some things never change.

Caiden wrapped me in his cloak. “Do you want me to lay next to you? To keep you warm.”

Words escaped me. I blinked stupidly at him. It was the first time Caiden had touched me in years.

A chasm of silence formed between us.

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