Page 72 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

Chapter

Thirty-One

TEDDY

I stayed close to the cells that held the humans prisoner, watching their features as we all took in Pietro’s torture.

I watched, reveling in his screams and pleas until I was satisfied Pietro didn’t harbor any more secrets.

Brenton and George continued their torture even after he gave them the names of the fae and humans living in Niev who had worked against Elias and our people.

We knew which of our warriors worked against us, where each fae or human lived, although most of the traitorous fae were those who still lived in the castle.

We knew where they hid their weapons, and where a group of humans had hidden in the wasteland of Respandora.

Had Alastor and I already started working on healing our ancestors’ land, we would’ve found them along with their weapons made of iron.

Pietro had been clever in how he planned it all, not letting the humans who stayed among us know of the others he’d hidden in Respandora, along with their weapons.

And then he’d not only bound them to magic that would kill them should they try to speak, he’d also played with their minds, not allowing them to speak about him and give him away.

While his fellow traitorous fae had used their own magic to shield their minds.

It was why our truth-tellers hadn’t been able to detect who’d planned the attacks on the military school or the castle.

Donnie rested a hand on my shoulder when I edged off the cold wall of Commander Hudson’s old cottage with a sword in my hand and determination in my heart.

I stared at my now clean hands; at the fresh clothes I’d put on after a quick shower.

At the scars that marred my hand where the fire had burned.

The healer who’d tended to me had been quick, but the process had been painful and had left deep, ugly scars where the burns had been.

Somehow, I could still see Elias’s blood all over me.

I shuddered.

“You don’t have to do this,” Donnie said, his voice low while his worried gaze assessed me. “I’ll do it. I’ll kill him. You don’t need his blood on your hands.”

My heart wobbled at his words. While he was against killing prisoners, he’d do it so I wouldn’t have to. But . . .

“I want his blood on my hands,” I said.

Crossing to him, I stepped on the snow covered in Pietro’s blood and smiled at the heated gaze the fae gave me when I neared him. Fatigue made him hang limply from his wrists that had been shackled with iron cuffs, but it did nothing to hide his hatred.

With Brenton on one side of me and Donnie and George on the other, I picked at the scabbed wound Elias had made when he punctured my hand.

Satisfied when I drew blood, I said the words that were now familiar.

I called to Pietro’s fire magic and sent it roaring over his thrashing body in one large flame.

I drank in his screams of agony and inhaled the smell of his burning flesh.

Only when his bellows subsided did I call that magic back. With his head drooped forward, I placed the tip of my sword beneath his chin, making blood trickle when I used it to force his head up.

“You can hate me all you want,” I told him.

“As long as you die knowing Elias and I will rule this realm, just as my sons who you called abominations will also one day rule. All while you rot in some unmarked grave. There will be no commemoration of your life, and your soul will never make its final journey to the stars. If I can find a way to lock your soul to your body, I will do so.”

Before he could utter a sound, I drove my sword through his neck.

His breath hitched, just once, before blood spilled in a thick gush down his chest and along the blade. I didn’t look away. Not even when I yanked the sword free, and crimson slicked the metal.

A broken sigh made my shoulders rise and fall in exhaustion. George took my sword while Brenton pulled me close to him.

“George.” I held my chin up, not allowing my head to drop despite the sudden fatigue. “Will you see to the fae and humans he named?”

“Of course.”

I nodded. “I’d like to see Elias now.”

When I reached Leah’s house, Nalari, several lirio I recognized, and Hayden stood guard outside. I patted Nalari’s head right between her nose when she nudged her head against my stomach.

“Do you know how he is?” I asked aloud.

“He remains unconscious. It’s taken quite a few healers to work on him, but he will make a full recovery.”

My back slumped forward in relief.

“I’m sorry,” Nalari said, her reptilian eyes darkening. “Had I kept my connection with you and Elias open, I would’ve felt it the moment you were in danger. I shouldn’t have ?—”

“There is no need to apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong,” I told her. “There was no way of knowing what would happen.”

When she didn’t reply, I turned to Hayden, who stood at attention, alert and observant of everything around us.

“Did anything happen?” I asked, scanning the various homes that made up a small neighborhood. “Did anyone . . .” I waved a hand in the air.

“We’ve only allowed those closest to him inside,” Hayden said. “Everly told us of humans trying to get through the tear to return to the human realm. We weren’t sure if they were among those who’ve betrayed us. We closed the tavern and the shifter fae are holding them there so they can’t escape.”

“Did any fae try to get through too?” I asked.

“No.” His lips thinned. “Do you know what fae betrayed us?”

“Yes.” I blew out a long breath of air. “George is gathering warriors together to arrest them. There may be more hiding in Respandora. I know I’ve kept you on your feet for a long time when you’re still healing, but I’d like you to put together your own group to search the area for people and weapons.

You don’t have to go, and you can rest once you assemble the group, Hayden, but I need someone I can trust to handle this.

Just let whoever you choose know that if anyone remains hidden there, they will be armed with weapons made of iron. ”

“I can go,” he said. “If you’ll allow it, I can lead the group.”

“Hayden.” I placed a hand on his forearm. “You should rest.”

He pulled his shoulders back, and a slight flinch of pain crossed his features. “I never cared about losing my arm. My only fear was no longer being useful to our people. For the first time, I feel like I can still be of use.”

“You know your body and the extent you can push it,” I said, letting his words convince me.

“As long as you promise to listen to what your body tells you, I would very much appreciate you leading the group. After you finish, if you feel up to it, I’d like you to join George in questioning those he arrests. There may be more Pietro didn’t name.”

Hayden thumped his fist twice on his chest before he bent space and left.

“Several thunderbirds and shifters will meet him there,” Nalari said. “Should George require their help, the thunderbirds and shifter fae are willing to assist.”

I took a second to pat her between the eyes again. Her golden eyes blinked at me.

“Alastor took the girls back to his village,” she said. “That way, you and your mate can rest once you’re able to go home.”

It was good to have a family we could rely on.

“You did good today, Theodora,” she said.

Brenton had said the same thing when he first reached me. Calling on my mage magic hadn’t felt strange or foreign but rather a natural extension of who I was.

“Not just your magic,” she continued through a puff of white breath. “You acted like a queen. ”

“I did what I thought Elias would do.” I kicked at a rock on the ground. “I killed Pietro. I watched his life dim from his eyes.”

“Do you regret it?”

With my adrenaline coming down, I shivered and wrapped my arms around my chest. “No. Should I regret it?”

Was there something wrong with me that I neither regretted killing Pietro or the man who’d attacked me at my home?

“Only you can answer that.”

I grunted when she didn’t say anything further. “Your elusive wisdom is as annoying as always.”

I turned at her laughter, carrying it with me when I entered Leah’s home.

I found Elias on Leah’s couch, still unconscious although his pallor looked better.

He still wore his fighting leathers, but someone had used magic to clean him of the blood that had seemed to cling to every part of his skin.

Medical supplies were scattered around her living room floor while she and two other healers continued to send their magic through him.

“What can I do to help?” I asked Leah when she paused to look at me.

She beckoned me to them, and when I knelt at Elias’s side, she tucked his hand in mine. I looked at the burned, wrinkled skin and was careful not to hurt him further. “Let him know you’re with him.”

Leaning into him, I kissed his forehead while Leah placed her palm on his chest, where she had torn his uniform open down to his stomach.

The wound there was mended, with the skin lifting where she must’ve sewn it back together.

Her magic swirled through him while she drew her brows together in concentration.

When her magic flickered, she narrowed her eyes, staring at the ribbons of her magic as if she couldn’t understand what was wrong.

Pursing my lips, I looked away. Instead, I focused on Elias’s face, which I traced with my finger.

Across his soft lips and over his nose to his eyebrows.

While his forehead was sweaty, his skin remained cool to the touch.

I pressed my lips to his forehead again, wishing he could absorb the heat from my own skin.

“I love you, mo elma, ” I said.

His eyes fluttered, letting me see the pale violet of his beautiful eyes before he shut them.

“If it were me lying unconscious, you’d have the perfect words to make my heart race,” I said. “I don’t have your pretty words, but I do have your heart, and I’m not letting that go anytime soon.”