Page 35 of Mistake of Magic
A dim room, a single lantern like a small star in the corner, augmenting the sliver of light from the moonless sky. Odd for Coal to have fallen asleep with a light on. Odder still that he is still sleeping, sprawled out shirtless on the bed, his blankets and pillows littering the floor like something out of Autumn’s room.
I step toward the bed, my breath halting at the sight of Coal’s spasming body, his face set in a silent scream that never escapes his lips. The male is dressed only in a pair of cotton trousers, his quivering chest covered in a thin sheen of sweat. His musky metallic scent fills the cold room. “Coal, wake up.”
I touch his shoulder carefully, ready to jump away if he decides to kill first and wake up later. My hand comes away slick with sweat and blood from reopened gashes. There was only so much Shade’s magic could do; it will take time for Coal’s flesh to heal fully. If he gives it a chance to.
Coal gasps, drawing breath in slowing motions, as if bracing himself for something that is yet to come, his muscles straining against invisible binds. As if he’s had this nightmare before. And his body knows what to expect next, knows the torment is only just starting. A thin trail of blood leaks from his mouth, where he’s bitten his tongue or lip.
Kneeling on the mattress beside Coal, I shake him with all my strength, no longer caring whether he’ll knock me across the room for it. “Coal! Wake up.” My heart races, my hands changing tack to brush his face instead. His light hair, for once free from its bun, tangles around my fingers. “Coal. Open your eyes. It’s me. Just me.”
“Mortal?” Coal’s confused growl is the most wonderful sound I’ve heard in a long time. The male’s eyes open, wild and pale blue, surveying the room, the light, me. Bracing himself with his hands, Coal sits up roughly. “Why are you in my bed?”
“I had a nightmare.” I swallow. “Your nightmare. I had your nightmare.”
“What the bloody hell are you talking about?”
Right. He wasn’t there for Autumn’s explanation. Granted, Iwasthere and I still little understand what’s happening.
“The quint bond works differently with me—it lets me echo your magic. Sometimes. When we connect.” I sigh. “I don’t know. Ask Autumn. But that’s why I could use River’s earth magic in the arena and Shade’s healing magic yesterday. And now, I’m seeing your dreams.” I pause. Not just now. It’s been happening since we first approached the Citadel.
“Go back to bed, mortal,” Coal orders.
I don’t budge, my heart speeding again. “There were shackles and pain, things with gray skin and pink eyes.”
“The qoru,” Coal says, pulling his hair back from his face, the movements stiff. The muscles of his arms and chest, so defined they would put a sculptor to shame, are coiled tightly beneath taut skin, and the heat radiating from him in waves brushes over my own flesh. “They are the dominant race in Mors. I’m unsure why you dreamt of them, but I don’t imagine it was pleasant.”
“It wasn’t my dream, Coal.” I find his eyes, glaring into his haunted blue gaze. “It was yours. And it wasn’t the first one, either.”
Coal says nothing, which I take as a good sign.
Rising to my knees, I slide close enough to lay a hand on one muscled shoulder. But for all the times Coal has helped me, I don’t know how to offer comfort that the warrior will accept. “Shade and I worked hard on the flesh you are destroying again,” I say, picking up a corner of the sheet to dab at Coal’s back. “Are you in pain?”
“No.”
I snort softly. “I truly don’t know why I bother asking questions that I know you’ll lie in response to.”
A chuckle. Barely audible, but there.
I’ve never been so relieved to see a smile in my life.
Shaking my head, I brush my hand down his right shoulder, along the deadly curve of his bicep and forearm to the lacerated skin around his wrist. For the first time since I’ve touched him, I feel Coal tense beneath my fingers, a fine tremble running through his muscles. I touch his wrist lightly, like comforting a wild animal on the verge of bolting. With the damage to his back, no one looked twice at the marks the binds left behind when they bit into his skin today. Hearing Coal’s breath still, I know I’ve found the source of the nightmares after all.
“You don’t like being bound,” I say softly.
“Do you?”
“I don’t like the sound of a belt being pulled loose.” I clench my jaw, needing a breath before I can think again. Coal’s dream brushes against my memory, the dream and the shadow of Malikai’s taunt. Beatings were the least of what Coal faced, I realize with a cold shiver. The qoru did to Coal the one thing Zake never did to me.
“I can’t heal these,” I caress the raw skin. “Not without Shade.”
Coal pulls his hand out of my grip, all hints of humor gone. “I don’t need to be healed.” He catches my wrist when I reach for him again. “You should leave my bedchamber now, mortal. Whatever you imagined you felt has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, stars, are we back to the ‘I’ve no notion of what youmean’ horseshit?” I lean close enough to invade Coal’s space, my heart pounding. A muscle ticks along his jaw. “And whatwereyou dreaming of? Or do you imagine you were lying here peacefully when I came in?”
Coal’s blue eyes pierce mine, his voice cold. “I dreamt of fucking. And not with you.” I flinch and he releases me, tossing my arm back into my lap. “Go to your own bed, mortal. Or to Shade’s. Or to Tye’s. Hell, go to River’s bed. I little care so long as you are out of mine.”
“You know what I think?” My words vibrate through the thick air. “I think you are telling the truth about little fearing a few lashes. It was being shackled that had you terrified. So damn scared, it gave you nightmares strong enough to bridge the bond with me. I think that even the notion of allowing someone to take hold of your wrists is more than you can bear without shaking. And you know what else?” I let the words hang for a heartbeat then lower my voice so low that only fae hearing could pick it up. “I think that what Malikai guessed happened to you in Mors is absolutely true.”
This time, Coal doesn’t order me out.
