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“You need me, huh? And I didn’t know we were on ‘entering before knocking’ terms.”

Layala stumbled into the room. “Hel, help me.”

Chapter31

HEL

Fuck, Hel knew something was wrong and didn’t listen to that gut instinct. He caught her around the torso just as she fell into him. “What happened?” He swung his arm under the back of her knees and lifted her against his chest. She was feeble, lethargic. He smelled a coppery tang, but she wasn’t bleeding profusely.

“She bit me,” Layala mumbled, grasping at his tunic as he carried her over to the daybed in the corner of Thane’s office Hel had taken up.

He laid her down and scanned her body, finding the wrap on her thigh. “Who bit you, Val?” He tore it free and ran his fingers over the deep puncture marks. He felt the blood draining from his face.

“The child was there, and I couldn’t kill her, but Piper did.” Tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes. Her body began to shake with her sobs.

He grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. She wasn’t making sense. Her bright blue eyes were glassy, unfocused. “Did a pale one bite you?”

Her chin trembled, and she nodded. “Can you help me? I couldn’t go to Thane. I couldn’t make him do it if it’s too late. He’d never forgive me. He already had to kill Osric.”

“No one is killing you.”

“I can’t be one of them. You can’t allow it.” She grabbed his shirt, pulling herself up. “Give me my sword. I’ll do it.”

“Stop it.” He uncurled her fingers and pressed her chest to lay her back down. “I’ll fix this.”

“What if you can’t? Hel, please tell me you can save me.” She threw her arms across her face and began sobbing into them. The beginning stages of the turn often resulted in hysteria. “I’m going to turn!”

Fuck. Hel clenched his jaw, sat on the bed, and pulled her arms down. “Look at me.” Her wild searching eyes locked onto his. “Good. Now take some deep breaths. Better. You’re not going to turn. You’re a goddess. You’re immune to it,” he lied, but he needed her to calm down. If she had her immortal body it would be true, but Mathekis proved someone with the blood of the gods could turn when they’d fallen from grace. “And even if you weren’t, I said I’d fix this. You’ll be perfectly fine.”

“I’m immune?”

Strands of ebony hair stuck to her wet cheeks. He gently lifted them away. “Of course.”

“But I’m so cold.” She dragged in a breath. “I might throw up.”

He tugged up the blanket and tucked it around her shoulders. “Remember when I told you that you first kissed me and called me a big boy?”

“Yes,” her voice trembled.

“You were right. It was a lie, but we did kiss.”

“When?”

“You must remember, it was after the cliffs. You promised to tell me about it.” He started to rise, and she gripped his hand nearly hard enough to crush a weaker elf’s bones.

“Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving. But I need to grab something off the desk, alright?”

“Don’t leave me,” she repeated, more desperate. “He left me, and he didn’t come back.”

He clasped her other hand, too. “I’m staying.” Hel’s throat felt thicker, and he cleared it. He needed to get to that desk, but he could spare a few moments to calm her. “Tell me about after the Cliffs of Amonlee.” She closed her eyes and swallowed. The silence stretched long enough to alarm him. “Val?”

Glossy eyes settled on his face. “Why did you do it? I loved you more than anything. You were the love of my fucking life, my only true love, and you broke me. You destroyed me.”

His brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I thought what we had was real.”