Page 79 of A Dance of Water

She was listless, her throat ached with every swallow of the tea. It was mild but held a slightly bitter undertone—like her. Sniffing, she handed the half-empty cup to Az, who sweetly took it from her.

Swallowing, she felt a tug on her neck, her cold hand fluttering to press over the bruised, abused skin with a wince.

"Don’t touch it, Luella," Bastian said. He took her handbefore she could do further harm to the dark bruising along her neck—where her attacker had nearly crushed her windpipe.

"I—" She cut off with a series of rough, hacking coughs, bending as her blanket slipped from where it was tucked around her shoulders. Hands quickly fixed it back to tuck around her slim frame. The intensity of her coughs lessened, and she straightened, hands cupped around her mouth as she met Tharen’s eyes.

In the wake of her almost death, the mage was strangely severe. She could still see the way he had run down the snow-covered beach, slipping and sliding until he fell before her, terror lining the harsh edges of his face.

Graves had taken his cloak off and given it to Vale to cover himself, and Tharen had gone to her first before even sparing her attacker a glance. It was only when Vale had roughly ordered the Prima to tie him up that he had jolted from his care of her, conjuring a few thick vines to tie off the male’s arms and legs.

Bastian had carefully lifted her from the ground and tucked her into his body, Graves pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head before he and Tharen departed with the male.

And not for a moment had Az left her alone. The demon’s hot hands had pressed against every bit of her cold skin.

She remembered her eyes falling closed, and then nothing but hazy moments filtering in slowly before she had been deposited on a bed of soft pillows and downy, wrapped in a mountain of blankets while Vale had lit the fire with a sparking, fire-filled breath, barking out orders to Tharen—who arrived without Graves, strangely—to prepare a potion.

Which led her to now, where she was curled on the bed in her gilded cage, thankfully, instead of in the King’s room.

Bastian perched on the edge of the bed, holding her hand in his own—his skin was freezing, but she didn’t have the heart to let him go. Az by her side, strong, thick arms wrapped around her, tucking her into his warmth; Vale, pacing along the edge of the bed as he watched Tharen pour a thin stream of swirling blue liquid into a medium-sized pot where it hung over the fire, hands held aloft as he murmured soft words over it.

Luella’s head pounded, and she gave a noise of pain, Bastian’s hands tightening on hers.

"Almost, pet," the vampire said, stroking a thumb over the back of her hand.

"The potion for the pain should kick in shortly." Tharen used a thin metal stick to mix the liquid, bubbles popped and fizzed over the side, and she watched, half-lidded, as he used tongs to dunk a small cup inside, lifting it with his arm held away from his body. Light, airy steam wafted from the cup, and he tilted it over a glass.

Walking to her, Tharen stood by her side. Her head fell back against the pillows as she blinked up at him. The action bared the mottled bruising on her neck, and his eyes fell to it, the strong line of his jaw hardening, making him seem lethal.

"He’ll pay," Tharen gritted out. "With his life."

Az growled, the noise making her body vibrate. "I will end him. He shouldn’t have his hands for what he did to her, for touching her…"

The talk of violence made her head grow light.

"Enough." Bastian exhaled deeply before he said, "You’re upsetting her. This is no talk for someone so delicate."

The words were sweet, and Luella knew the vampire meant well, but the well of feelings inside her gave a low throb. She shifted, feeling small drops ofsomethinggrowing, attempting to fill the space that had been vacated by whatever she had done in the water. The feeling was neither pleasant nor unpleasant—it simply was.

But she was simply tired.

She opened her mouth to speak, but at the four stares that warned her to stay silent, she promptly snapped it shut.

I’m not delicate!she shouted in her mind, hoping Bastian was listening.

The vampire jumped slightly, red-tinted eyes falling to hers with the barest hints of shock.

"What? What is it?" Vale demanded. He stopped his pacing at the foot of her bed, a hand passing down his face with weariness.

"She just spoke to me," Bastian stated.

What?

Luella hadspokenin Bastian’s mind? She was too overwhelmed,too exhausted, and shaking in the aftermath of what had happened on the beach to sift through her thoughts and feelings.

Her demon rubbed a warm palm over her arm, throwing a leg over hers where they were curled under the pile of blankets. She felt coddled. Safe and warm. Wrapped up in him, in all of them. Too drained to care what the vampire had just revealed…

"How is that possible? You have to make the link yourself," Az said as he brushed a strand of her drying hair away from her cheeks; she leaned into his touch.

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