Page 122 of A Bargain with the Fae King

Riven clutches his chest and falls to one knee in a grunt of pain.

Sigurd’s yell of “No!” echoes my own as he shifts forward to Riven’s side.

The Unseelie clasp hands in unison and shift away.

I push past Sigurd and fall to my knees beside Riven, sobbing as I behold the thick arrow protruding from his hunched chest. Riven’s men appear around us. Sigurd stumbles back, wide-eyed, mouth agape, and disappears.

“Riven! You can heal. If we just pull it out and—” I choke on the gasp I suck in, unable to get enough air.

Ambrose passes off May and kneels beside Riven. He grasps his king’s shoulder.

“Poison,” Riven gasps a wet, thin sound.

Ambrose stills and stares at the point of the arrow. A curse and bellow fill the air. The ground shakes as his fist slams into it again and again.

Riven’s bloody hand caresses my face.

“May is safe?” he wheezes.

I nod, unable to speak. His form blurs through my tears as they run unchecked down my face, mingling with his blood.

“I do…love you…”

His limp hand slips from my face as my wail splits the air.

Chapter 37

“Wehavetogethim back. Now!” Ambrose yells. “Lia!” His fiery gaze lands on the bracelet preventing us from shifting.

In one urgent tug, I rip the stones from my wrist. The metal bites painfully into my skin before splintering apart.

The air bends and warps. Seconds tick by like hours as I hold onto the man in front of me. One, who only hours ago, had been a villain of the worst kind. Yet he’d literally given his life for my sister and me.

And he loved me.Lovesme.

The familiar scent of new leaves hits me first. A room takes shape around us, though I don’t spare even a moment to glance at it. All of my attention is glued to the ever-growing crimson stain on Riven’s chest and the way his head lolls to the side. Ambrose calls for the guards before we’ve fully materialized. Boots thump across the floor with hurried steps.

“Get the master healer. I don’t care where he is! And all of his apprentices. Call for Karin and her girls.”

Their retreat sounds before the orders are even finished as they rush out.

“You, open those doors. We need to get him inside.”

Two large wooden doors open. Wood splinters as they crash against walls of stone and plant life. Ambrose lifts Riven in one smooth movement, cradling him in his arms as he hustles inside. I trail after Ambrose, past the fae pressed against the doors, frozen in shock.

I recognize this room, the sitting room of Riven’s chambers in Virideria.

A flash of pale blue catches my attention from the corner of my eye as a guard brushes by me to lay May’s slumbering form upon a nearby couch. I trail after and drop to my knees at her side before the guard has had the chance to move away.

“Pillows,” Ambrose orders. “We need to prop him up until we get the arrow out.”

More guards rush in. Amidst the shouts and chaos, the only sound I can focus on is the steadydrip,drip,dripof Riven’s blood onto the stone floor until Ambrose disappears into the bedroom with his body.

"You’re safe,” I whisper to May’s sleeping form before placing a kiss on her forehead.

And then I’m up, my body moving without thought as I push through the curtain of vine into the bedroom. Sylvie follows on my heels.

They’ve settled Riven on the bed on his side, pillows holding his body in place, the arrow protruding from his chest and back. The snap of wood echoes through my body as Ambrose breaks off the arrow and tosses the broken end away.

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