Page 140 of Between Sun and Moon

I vomited again.

And again.

And when I was done, hands tugged me back into a warm torso. Something wiped at my mouth—a cloth of some sort. A hand slid tenderly over my cheek, a desperate voice asking, “Sage, can you hear me?”

The voice was familiar, but my mind was cloudy, and whoever it was, I couldn’t quite place them.

“What’s wrong with her?” the troubled voice shouted in another direction, no longer directed at me. I followed the sound, as if I could see the notes dancing in the air. They landed on—

“A demon of a man,” I whispered, the familiar words triggering something within me. My heart began to quicken in my chest. My voice cracked as I asked the towering darkness leaning against the stone wall, “Von?”

“Not quite, little dove,” a deep baritone rumbled, the sound playful and teasing—and gods, it sounded so much likehim. “The prickling’s ichor has twice the potency levels of opium. It’s going to take her a while to come down from it,” he said, directing his voice to whoever was holding me.

Sloppily, I rubbed my eyes, trying to wipe the clouds from my vision. I didn’t believe the bourbon voice who said he wasn’t Von, but since when had he ever called melittle dove?

“Can you do anything else to help her?” the voice behind me asked, his tone painted with concern.

“Shoving my fingers down her throat was the best I could do. I’ll shadow walk her to the Cursed Lands. There, she’ll recover,” he said, pressing off from his shoulder blades as he strode towards me.

“Take me to the Cursed Lands?” I asked, my weary mind like a toddler’s, holding up two pieces to a four-piece puzzle and unable to connect which piece went where.

“Yes, Sage. Ezra will be there. She’ll help fix your arm,” said the voice directly above my head.

I craned my neck and looked up, meeting familiar gray-blue eyes. An excited squeal left my lips—I knew those eyes. “Kaleb,” I cooed. I reached up and patted him on the head, but I miscalculated and nearly poked him in the eye. Sticking my tongue out, I concentrated and tried again.

Gently, his hand encompassed my wrist. He smiled down at me, his shaggy blond hair falling forward, framing his masculine features. “I’m here,” he reassured me.

His words were like a warm blanket—so warm, I tugged them closer.

Kaleb’s head shifted back up. From this view, I could see the day’s growth of stubble, a few shades darker than his dirty-blond hair, beginning to poke out. I brushed my fingers along the cropped, coarse pieces, curious if they would make a sound.

“What about the king’s advisor?” Kaleb asked, his throat bobbing. I was tempted to poke his Adam’s apple, it’s sudden appeal equivalent to the nose of a dogs—oh so boop-able.

I tried but failed miserably.

Kaleb sighed and caught my hand, gently lowering it back to my chest.

“Whatever repercussions he faces for betraying his father—” the Von look-alike rumbled, “—well, that’s on him.”

Kaleb ran his fingers through his hair and his long locks took on a wavy look. “He told us where to find her. It wouldn’t sit right with me . . . leaving him here.”

The king’s advisor? A few rusty cogs turned—

“Arkyn?” I asked, my blurry hand that looked like it had one too many fingers falling to Kaleb’s wrist.

Kaleb sighed, “See? She’s drugged out of her mind and she’sstillpiecing things together. You and I both know that when she sobers up, and I tell her that he helped us and we left him to suffer the consequences, she’s going to trot her stubborn assback here to try to help him. And then you will have to rescue her all over again.”

“He has a point,” I exclaimed profoundly as I raised one finger in the air, wagging it around for all to see.

The male grumbled—the sound born from the depths of his chest. “Fine, I’ll help the king’s turd. But on one condition.”

Kaleb nodded. “Alright. What is it?”

“I want your firstborn,” the male conceded with a wicked smile.

My brow crinkled.That hardly seemed fair.

Kaleb sputtered, “My firstborn?”

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