Page 12 of A Court So Dark
“Brother!”
He reached a hand toward the bed and attempted to speak, but only a gurgle came out.
“Don’t speak.”
He was deathly pale, even his eyes didn’t look as green as normal as he blinked in a daze. I had to fight to keep my focus on him and not on the absence of my mate. Tearing a sleeve off my shirt, I removed his hand from the wound, pressed the cloth to it even as blood shot out.
“Hold this as tightly as you can,” I ordered him.
He obeyed, and I willed his healing powers to work faster and save his life. I couldn’t lose him too. As I sprang to my feet, eyes searching for any sign of Daniella, my uncle and his men rushed into the room, weapons at the ready. They froze as I had, though their eyes searched every corner, and under my uncle’s orders, they quickly spread out to search the bathroom and the closet.
Larina flew without a care for her safety and stopped to hover right over the empty bed. “Oh, no! Where is she?”
“Tend to my brother,” I ordered her as I rushed past the library doors, throwing them open and finding nothing but emptiness. “Daniella,” I bellowed, my voice echoing through the three stories of useless shelves and books.
As the guards came out of the closet and bathroom, their blank expressions suggesting they found nothing, I ordered them to search the library from top to bottom. They rushed in and efficiently spread out, two staying on the first level, and the other two bounding up the stairs. They dashed between the shelves, but I suspected they would find no one there.
I started to turn away from the library when my uncle cried out a warning.
“Kalyll! Behind you!”
I had no time to react as I noticed my brother appear out of thin air. A stab of pain went through my neck. The world turned completely black. I tried to lunge for him, to wrap my hands around his neck and strangle him, but the floor seemed to shift under my feet, and I fell, tumbling into the gloom until I knew no more.
CHAPTER 5
DANIELLA
Heatseepedintome.The image of a kindling fire floated inside my head. It was comfort and warmth and arms wrapped around me. Kalyll’s mouth on mine. His body on top of my own, driving me to ecstasy, my entire being smoldering from the inside out.
I sprang to a sitting position, calling his name.
A strange male sat next to me. I pushed away from him, my arms and legs feeling strong, unlike the last time I’d been awake.
He put both hands up in a pacifying gesture.
Arabis was next to me in an instant. “It’s all right. No need to panic. He’s a healer.”
He had graying hair, which fell in strands as he inclined his head and quietly walked out of the room.
I collapsed back onto the pillow, feeling dizzy. When the spell passed, my gaze danced around. I was back in my chamber. Something pinned to my chest caught my attention. It was a silver brooch in the shape of a rose. It was beautiful and delicate.
Where had it come from?
A memory rose like a phantom from the back of my mind.
“This one won’t wither. Find your way to me, melynthi.”Kalyll’s voice. He had given me this. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.
I sat up slowly, searching every face, aching to see him.
Cylea was there, and Larina too. They wore matching concerned expressions that gradually seemed to ease as they offered me a weak smile.
“Kryn!” I exclaimed.
No one said anything.
Tears filled my eyes.
“No, no, no.” Arabis took my hand and squeezed it. “Kryn is fine. He’ll be all right.”
