Page 32 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
Chapter Twelve
ALIRA
A rich scentof alder wood stirs me awake. My lashes flutter against the warm light cast from the lanterns—too bright and arresting to fully open my eyes. My body feels frozen and aches terribly. A cold I’ve never known wraps me in its embrace, as if the hounds of the underworld are lingering nearby to collect my soul.
“Kalel, she’s awake.” It’s Tessa’s soft voice. She moves to my side and leans over me until her head is in my line of vision. I gaze at her for a few moments before shutting my heavy eyes.
“I’ll send for you if I need you, thanks Tess.”
She hesitates but leaves shortly after. I wince at the light again, it’s still too bright to look at Kalel. I drape my forearm over my eyes; the relief is instant.
His thumb brushes over my cheek, surprisingly warm,thatgets my eyes to open. I squint to see him.
He’s sitting beside me and by the grim expression on his face, I’m assuming something awful has happened. His ebony hair is messy and covers his forehead. He’s dressed in his evening attire, so it must still be early morning.
What happened? How did I get here when the last thing I remember is… My hand flies to my chest—where I vividly remember a piercing pain and teeth burrowing into my flesh.
How am I alive right now?
I sit up slowly, expecting pain but I feel better than I have in days.
“You look like you are feeling well,” Kalel says indifferently, but something about his tone is off from his usual broodiness.
“What did you do?” My hand rises to my chest once more—fingers meeting a shirt, not bandages. I feel everywhere I know I was injured and find nothing, not even a scar. I’m completely healed, but I should be dead from those wounds. That dire wolf had me in its mouth for gods-sake.
Kalel looks exhausted. Has he been by my side the entire time I was resting? He mulls over his thoughts before lifting his eyes to mine. “I gave you my blood. It healed you but you cannot be so reckless, little godling. Unless you truly wish to die.”
My stomach curls. “Your blood healed me?” I search his eyes and find only truth. But that doesn’t explain why he’s warm to me now. My brows knit at the thought.
“It only works once,” he says darkly as he drags his hand down his face like he’s done something terrible. Something he’s unsure about. “Alira—” he clears his throat. “—we need to discuss what happened to the captive demigods tonight.”
I stare at him, unsure what he means until the memory of demigods running for their lives resurfaces in my mind. “Were you able to save them?” I ask quietly, dreading how few may have survived. Surely at least a few though, right?
He leans back and runs his fingers through his hair with a distressed pinch to his brow.
The longer he remains silent, staring at me with cold eyes, the more confident I am that no one survived the attack.
“A handful succeeded in escaping. I bargained with the dire wolf to let them have claim to any demigod left in their forest in order to save you.” His tone is thick with dread. He thinks I won’t take this well, and he’s right.
An ache rises in my chest again. Why must so many of my kingdom’s people die? King Borlin will be furious and unlikely to believe that we were attacked by dire wolves. He’ll think Kalel killed them.
“You’re lying,” I seethe, pushing his shoulder back and glaring at him.
“I have no reason to lie to you.” His eyes are even and the bleak expression on his face is convincing. Why would he let them all perish like this? EvenIknow that this could be enough to reignite the war.
Fuming, I stand and walk straight to the tent’s entrance. Kalel’s up and blocking my way in the blink of an eye. “I need to search for survivors.” I fist my hands at my sides. They can’t all be dead—without them this might as well have been all for nothing. I need to at least find Hans.
“You will be torn to shreds, Alira.” His impassive face drives the rage deeper into my heart.
“You idiot.” I shove his shoulders. He takes a single step back and raises his brows with annoyance. “If we lose them all to the wolves, King Borlin will ride to war. He won’t believe any reason you give him if there’s no one to send back home as agreed upon.”
I try turning to leave again but he grabs my wrist tightly and growls.
“Let the foolish king sentence the last of his demigods to death then. We outnumber them hundreds of times over.” His words are sharp and cut into me. He must see the pain in my eyes, because he grits his teeth and furrows his brows.
My arm falls to my side as he releases my wrist.
Kalel takes a long breath. “I’m sorry, little godling, I shouldn’t have?—”
