Page 31 of Shadows of Air and Earth
Firm hands held my shoulders and shook me gently. "Xi," a shake, "Xi Lanora Chin. You must listen to me now."
Blinking while my heart lay dead in my chest, I looked back at the fierce shadow fae general bearing down at me.
"You have been able to heal someone from the brink of death before…" Her stern voice held no argument, but I protestedanyway, I did not want her false hope. Remnant shook me gently again, cutting off my words. "Yes, you have. It was yourself. You saved yourself, Xi, the night of The Wailing."
I shook my head, "No, no, that wasn't me, it was Riley. He found a healer to save me."
Remnant snorted. "The only healer Riley found that night was the one inside of you." Her hands squeezed my shoulders and I could see hardened resolve in her stare, "Xi. Riley combined his energy with your healing power and possessed it so that you would live."
My deadened heart dropped into my stomach, like a stone sinking in water. "His energy…the one of ownership, of enslavement—possession?" I shook my head, thinking back to how desperately he had wanted to explain, both in the tunnel and when we had escaped. Both times I had shut him down, fearful of the truth and what it would mean for us…together, "No Riley would never do that to me, he could never do that to me." Remnant's hold on me broke when I fell to my hands and knees, wracked with too many emotions for my own stubborn self to bear. My fingernails dug deep into the foliage and earth, willing it to soothe this pain. "He knows—he knows what my freedom means to me," I cried, gasping at air that would not fill my lungs. I did not want that air anyway, I wanted Riley's air or none at all, making his betrayal all the more excruciating.
Even when tainted, I still wanted him. I would always want him.
Tearing from the earth, my hands flung up to my neck in horror when I felt the heavy weight of a metal ring. My recognition of Riley’s possession revealed the horrifying truth for all to see. A collar, enchanted to do the bidding of the one fae I trusted above any other in this world.
"I’m so sorry Xi," Remnant whispered before continuing, "you know Riley…he would never accept a life without you. Hewould have done anything to save you." She sighed, "I would have made the same choice if I were him, if I had experiencedallof what he has. His love for you is fierce and reverent. You are what keeps him grounded to this world instead of being swept away by the winds. Just like you cannot live without his air, he cannot live without your gravity."
Her words bounced against the numb barrier I shielded my emotions with, something I’d done since childhood to protect myself, but one thing she said stuck out to me and I held onto it. I wanted to understand, Ineededto understand.
If I had experienced all of what he has…
I released the collar around my neck, slowly peering at Remnant through the white strands of my hair, swallowing back the bitterness and the contempt—emotions I never thought I’d hold towards Riley Dragoon. But I didn’t want him to die, no I wanted him to live so I could see in his eyes the truth of what he had done to me and then I would walk away. I needed to walk away.
Staring down at his pale face with the god of death hovering just beyond, my voice was hard, "Tell me what I need to do. How do I save him?"
Chapter 21
Apleasant warmth anda soothing hum both sweet and sinful, enveloped the dream I was in, a sound I swore I had heard before. Smiling contentedly, I curled into the warmth mumbling my own thanks for its sweet abyss. It was better than where I came from. It had been hot and feverish there but atthe same time freezing. My body had been wracked with violent shakes that left me aching deeply…but here, here I was pain free.
"Goddess damn it, Riley Dragoon, come back to me."
"That's it…you're doing it Xi, the poison is leaving him, the smell is less."
I frowned,poison? This wasn't poison nor was it smelly. This was peace, contentment—I hesitated at the string of curses. That voice, goddess fuck that voice. A huskiness that was both sensual and comforting, the coolest of breezes in fall, and I yearned for more of its lovely caress. Perhaps then I could finally rest.
"Oh no you don't, Ri. You fucking unicorn ass. You're waking up and you're going to look me in the eyes when you tell me how you stole my freedom from me." The lovely voice hissed, more like a chill this time.
Ah, a frigid brisk wind on the first bite of winter snow, and yet despite its sting I wanted this too—craved it even.
A sharp slap, a muffled snort, and then my eyes flew open as a low groan escaped my lips.
"Who in the Sheol just slapped me? And why am I a unicorn ass?" I scowled, reaching up to rub at my eyes. Chasing away my blurred vision, I opened them again to reveal the jungle canopy above where brightly colored wisps danced among the branches and dust-glittering butterflies fluttered through the leaves. "What is that awful smell? Please tell me a gnome didn't piss on my face," I rubbed my eyes again.
"It's the poison I purged from your body, Riley Dragoon," Xi snapped at my side. A slight groan emanated from the shadow fae general on my other side.
I sat up quickly, dizziness swirling in my vision, my body wavering and weak as I struggled to stay upright with a curse.
"Easy," Remnant said softly, steadying me. "You were poisoned by the anthousai thorns, Ri. Xi saved your life."
"Thank you," I muttered, grateful for her support, my eyes never leaving the furious female in front of me. "You're okay…" I breathed a sigh of relief. I had no idea what had happened but the fact that she was here, before me, was enough. I would take her fury any day, for all of my immortal life, to make sure she was always still here.
“Okay?” she hissed. “No Riley Dragoon I am not okay.”
Desperately, I reached out, needing to feel her, to reassure myself that she wasalive, but my hand stilled when she flinched away, disgust written plainly on her face. The sting of it worse than the slap she woke me with.
"Xi—" My gaze trailed over the tear stains on her olive skin, following their path downward, before freezing on the golden collar around her throat. Fear, horror, nausea, loathing, bitterness, guilt…it all hit me like a tidal wave while I stared at the cursed binding. "Fuck," I whispered, licking slowly at my lips, bringing my gaze back to her stormy grey eyes. Both of them. She wasn't even hiding, her furious beauty hitting me and stealing the air from my lungs in a whole new way.
It was a look I had feared seeing every night since The Wailing.
