Page 20 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
I approached hesitantly, my heart beating loudly in my ears.
Rosalina. God, are you okay?
I wanted to shift to my human form so I could talk to her, but the last thing I wanted was to immediately flash her. That wouldn’t be pleasant for either of us, so I stayed as I was. When I reached her, I coyly sniffed her hand which lay limply at her side.
Noticing me, Damien pulled away, and I was finally able to see my friend. As soon as she realized it was me, she raised her hand to the top of my head and petted me.
“Toni,” she said in a very weak voice that broke my heart and at the same time made it sore with happiness.
She was fine. Rosalina was fine. The jeans and T-shirt she’d been wearing the last time I saw her were filthy, and she looked like she’d lost a few pounds. There were huge circles under her green eyes, but she was alive.
Damien allowed us a few minutes of basking in each other’s presence, then he said, “she needs some rest.” Getting closer once more, he pressed the tip of his index and middle fingers to her temples and spoke a quiet incantation.
Rosalina’s eyes grew heavy, then they closed, and her face relaxed, the tension dissolving and leaving behind only peacefulness.
Damien deposited a gentle kiss on her forehead, then drew to his full height. “She’ll feel much better when she wakes. Now, I must tend to the others.”
I glanced around, noticing Gonira and Em for the first time. They were lying on a couple of the additional sofas that were strewn about. There were four seating areas in this front room, all delineated by rugs.
I’d never asked Eric why he needed so many of them, but I figured it was just to fill the large space. He didn’t spend any time here anyway, so I was sure it would be all the same to him if the area was filled with S&M implements. Em was curled up in the fetal position, hugging herself and shivering. Her frame was so petite that she looked like a child. Her green hair was stringy and matted to her face. Gonira, for her part, was rubbing her eyes with closed fists and blinking at the ceiling as if making a huge effort to draw her attention to the here and now.
Jake, Eric, and Prince Kalyll finally joined us. Jake was fully dressed and had a set of my clothes draped over his arm. We kept several spare outfits in the training room. He nodded and draped the clothes over the back of an armchair.
“Thank you,”I said.
“You’re welcome. Are you all right?”
I nodded.
“Rosalina?”
I nodded again and glanced in her direction.
“Good,” he said, a smile of relief lighting up his face. “I told you she was fine.”
Prince Kalyll’s dark blue eyes scanned the room until they found his cousin. His face tattoos stood out sharply against his pale skin. It was strange seeing him here with his tunic, pointed ears, and sword strapped to his back. It made me understand how the Fae looked at us when we appeared in their realm wearing our jeans and T-shirts.
Sternly, the Prince approached Gonira. When she noticed him, she gave her head a good shake and struggled to sit up. She managed to get to her feet by pushing against the arm of the sofa, though it seemed to take all her strength. She kept her head bowed, appearing scared and contrite.
Kalyll scanned her from head to toe as if to make sure she wasn’t missing any important bits, when he was satisfied, he asked, “Are you well?”
Gonira nodded once.
“Perhaps this time, you have learned your lesson. Could we be so lucky?”
She said nothing. I remembered her defiance that time at the repair shop when we found Stephen Erickson. She’d seemed fierce and wild, but there seemed little left of that person. Maybe now, her mother and father would finally have some peace.
Damien approached the Prince and inclined his head. “It’s good to see you again, Your Majesty.”
“I’m glad to see you are alive.” Kalyll inclined his head in response.
When the building exploded—something I was blocking at the moment for fear of crumbling in defeat—Kalyll had been certain that his cousin had perished in the blast. He’d had a hard time believing she could possibly be alive, but during the ride home, Eric gave him a quick explanation of the events.
“I must thank you once more for coming to our aid,” Kalyll said. “First you delivered us from the reapgrubs, and now you saved my dear aunt’s daughter. How could my family ever repay you? Do you perhaps require more bitterthorn to repay your debt to that vampire? Your friend explained your dilemma on our way here.” He gestured toward Eric. “It wasn’t easy to convince my parents the last time, but it is their niece you delivered from harm, so perhaps, it won’t be so hard to persuade them again. That is,” he turned to his cousin and stared at her sharply, “if their affections haven’t spoiled.”
Gonira shrank, her shoulders caving in.
“Thank you for the offer, but...” Damien reached into his breast pocket and retrieved the cure.
