Page 47 of The Dragon King's Curse
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going? You really shouldn’t have done that. I told myself that I wouldn’t kill you. That you were my ticket to returning home. Maybe I’ll have to find another way home.”
Snatching me up in his painful grasp, Sasha dragged me kicking and screaming back to the room with the cot. I did my best to grab onto the threshold and then the table. Anything to keep him from taking me further.
He threw me down on the mattress, climbing on top of me. Fisting a handful of my hair, he jerked my head hard, baring the unbitten side of my neck.
“Sorry, Your Highness. Your journey ends here.” For the third time, Sasha bit deep, spilling my blood.
I knew that he would definitely kill me this time. I had only one hope left. Reaching for the earth the cavern was made from, I gave it my command. All I could do was make the earth crumble. To bring it all crashing down. No doubt it would bury me alive, but if I managed to take Sasha with me, then it would not be in vain.
Vampires didn’t die easily. Neither did elves. I would likely suffocate and succumb. Not needing breath in the same manner, Sasha might suffer a long while. As long as the earth buried him so deeply that he could not emerge, it would be worth it.
As I felt my life force draining away, I used the last of my strength to move the earth. All around us, it began to rumble. A sound that grew louder by the moment. Lost in the throes of my impending death, Sasha was oblivious.
Dirt began to rain down upon us. When the remaining vampires returned, they would find their home no longer accessible. I hoped the sunlight took them all.
I’d accepted my fate, ready for it to end when a blade whistled through the air. Suddenly, Sasha’s head was missing, blood spurting from the gaping wound before his body turned to ash. Blood rained down on me, painting me in crimson.
Noxx stood over me, his sword in one hand. The dirt began to fall faster, larger chunks falling all around us. Shoving hissword into the scabbard, he scooped me up in his arms and ran for the stairs.
“You’re safe now, princess. Just hold on. We’ll find a healer. You’ll be all right.” The worry in Noxx’s tone told me it was really bad.
Once we were outside and safely free of the collapsing cavern, he stopped to check my wounds. His eyes said it all. I wasn’t going to make it.
“Noxx.” I struggled to speak.
“Don’t waste your energy. We need to find help. Stay with me, Feryn. You’re not leaving me now.” He made a brief effort to stop the bleeding by applying pressure before giving up, realizing we didn’t have that kind of time.
I wanted to make a joke, to taunt him for only wanting me alive because if I died, the key to breaking his curse would die with me. The words would not come.
Holding me tight against him, Noxx took to the air. I felt momentarily disoriented as we left the ground. I faded in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of returning to the inn. Noxx rushed up the stairs to our room after barking orders at the innkeeper to send for a healer.
He laid me on the bed where just hours ago we’d made love. Pushing my hair aside, he used a wet towel to wipe the blood from my skin so he could better see the punctures.
“This is going to hurt. Brace yourself, all right?” He only gave me a moment to suck in a breath before pressing his palm to my wounded neck.
Fire immediately licked at my skin, scorching me with heat. The pain was sudden and excruciating, tearing a scream from me. Once he’d finished, he did the same to the other side, cauterizing the bites.
I gasped for breath, fighting through the pain. My eyes rolled back in my head. All I could see was the ceiling above me.
“I’m sorry, princess. I had to. I can’t let you bleed out on me.” Noxx gently held my head, pressing a cold, wet towel to my temples and forehead.
I’d known many types of pain in my time as a warrior on the battlefield. Broken bones. Stab wounds. None of them had compared to this. I thanked the gods that elves were fast healers. So long as I didn’t die, the worst would be over soon.
A healer was fetched from somewhere in town and brought to our room. Most healers were either fae or elven. I worried that a fae healer would sell us out to the king. To my utter relief, the healer was an elf. An older woman with gray streaked through her red locks. Kind green eyes.
Motioning Noxx aside, she sat on the edge of the bed and applied a healing salve to my wounds. She spoke calmly while she worked, assuring me that I would be fine. I wondered why she was here in The Seam and not in the Earth Realm. Had she chosen to leave or had she been banished?
None of that mattered, of course. My mind was scattered and all over the place. She gave Noxx instructions to make a tea for me with some herbs she provided. He immediately warmed some water in a metal cup with fire from his hand.
The healer left him with instructions on how often to give me the herbs. “You did the right thing, Your Grace,” she said, patting his arm. “I’m confident she will make a full recovery. Our kind heals quickly. Give it time.”
She refused Noxx’s offer to send payment for her services. She asked only that we tell nobody that we’d seen her. He promised her we would never say a word. We didn’t even know her name. She’d come and gone so fast. Only the easing of my pain proved she’d been there at all.
“You should rest.” Noxx pulled the blanket over me. “The fae know we’re here. We don’t have much time. The innkeeperpromised to tell anyone who asked that we’ve left, but I don’t know how long that will work for. We need to leave.”
I caught his arm before he stepped away. “Lie with me, please.”
I saw the reluctance in his eyes. The hesitation. After locking the door and pushing the table in front of it, he came to the bed and got in beside me.
