Page 27 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Eleven

ELIAS

Enfierna. I was in the darkest pits of Enfierna.

The Elders had decided to kill me for what I’d done to the human realm, and my punishment was eternity in the flames.

Despite my body’s protest, I tried to prop myself up from where I lay on my bare stomach and blinked my dry eyes. My feet felt heavy like something restrained them.

No, I hadn’t died, although a few times last night I’d wished I had. But then I remembered her.

Teddy. My soul-bound mate.

The way she looked at me. Touched me. Kissed me. Took care of me.

And she did it with our bond broken. She did it for me because maybe—just maybe she liked me.

I was foolish to hope, but Guardians help me, I’d take a thousand lashings to feel her hands on me again.

“You are foolish.” Nalari’s voice raked through my aching head.

“Do you ever not listen in?” I retorted.

She huffed out a laugh .

On a quiet groan, I looked behind me to find Teddy’s donkey sleeping on my feet. The movement shot a burst of pain throughout my back, enough that all I wanted to do was rest my head back on the pillow Teddy had given me last night.

She’d tended to my various wounds gently, so gently her touch was like a whisper. Still it hurt, although I did my best to keep myself from flinching so she wouldn’t shy away from me.

She hadn’t just taken care of me but cared for me. It was obvious in the way her bottom lip had wobbled, in the way her eyes had watered, and her breath had shook.

I told myself not to get too excited about it because Teddy was the type of person to care for someone without actually liking or even knowing them.

It was why she looked after Victoria, who wasn’t her own.

Why she went to her store every day, even before we had arrived, and started providing food.

Why she went to Javier’s the previous night with food she probably couldn’t spare.

She gave of herself and, from what I’d witnessed, never asked for anything in return. As if the giving were reward enough.

Needing some more pain medicine, I eased one foot out from under Hee-haw and placed it on the floor.

The strange pet opened one eye to watch me.

When I took out my other foot and knelt on the warm tile, I sent a silent thank you to my friends who’d remembered to make sure Teddy stayed warm for the night.

On shaky legs, I stood as quietly as I could so as not to wake Teddy from wherever she slept. The blasted donkey broke that silence with a loud bellow, that oddly sounded like his name .

I ran a hand over my face in amused disbelief.

“You’re awake,” a man said from behind me. “And naked.”

Pain slashed over my back when I whirled around and glared at Donnie, about to argue I wasn’t naked.

I had a pair of human shorts on, which was far more comfortable than the trousers from my realm, but the divine smell of whatever liquid steamed from his cup distracted me.

I clenched my jaw, wanting to ask what he was doing here or if I could have a cup of whatever he drank, but then I saw Teddy.

She slept upright on a chair facing her front door with a long, slender, metal stick of sorts on her lap.

Her red hair fell over her shoulders while her pretty face tipped forward. She was compassion, yes, but also passion and fire. She was love. And at that moment, that was what I saw. What I didn’t dare blink away from.

“She’ll be up soon enough,” Donnie told me.

I nodded but didn’t look away from her. Without having met her, I’d once compared her to a siren without knowing how accurate that was. She called to me, and if she willed it, I’d gladly follow her to my own end.

“So will the others,” he continued.

“Others?” I asked.

I forced my attention away from her to find Ryenne and a male I’d seen but never spoken to, curled up together on the floor by Teddy’s feet.

“Come,” Donnie urged.

I followed him to the small kitchen, and when I took a seat similar to the one Teddy slept on, Donnie handed me the same three painkillers I’d taken last night.

On a hard swallow, I took them with the glass of water he offered.

When I set the glass down, I was careful to move a white book out of the way .

Curious, I picked up the book without a title and soaked in Teddy’s scent that emanated from it.

“I wouldn’t go through that if I were you,” Donnie warned, jutting his square jaw toward the book. More scruff than I’d seen on him lined his jaw and upper lip.

I arched a single brow in question.

“It started off as Teddy’s dream journal for dreams she kept having.” I set it back down on the table. “But she’s turning it into a story. I used to think her imagination was crazy until you showed up with other fae and dragons.”

My heart stalled as I wondered if our bond had brought her dreams of me. “She’s writing about fae?”

“Not fae,” he said. “Some other fantastical, supposedly mythical creature, but who knows? Maybe whatever she’s writing about is real too.” He huffed out a humorless laugh.

While I was curious about what she’d written, about getting to know another small piece of who she was, I wanted to learn it from her. Not sneaking through something that was obviously private.

Still, it called to me. Urged me to open it.

“What are you and the others doing here?” I asked, eyeing his cup and taking in its aromatic scent.

“Long story.” He lifted his cup toward me. “You want one?”

“I don’t know what it is,” I admitted.

He shot me an incredulous look, as if I were stranger than he’d originally thought. “It’s coffee. Helps wake you up in the morning and give you energy.”

Without another word, he went to a counter behind him and started pouring the light brown coffee into another mug.

When he slid it to me, I inhaled it deeply and then took a long swallow, that immediately burned my tongue and roof of my mouth.

Before I could take a slower, more careful sip, I healed the inside of my mouth.

“It tastes. . . different but good,” I replied.

“Teddy lives off it,” he said with a soft chuckle.

“Calls it her life blood. My sister, Ryenne, the girl sleeping on the floor, stays away from it. Says it makes her jittery. My best friend, the guy sleeping with Ry, is Nate and he swears his brain doesn’t start working until he’s had two cups.

Fair warning, don’t talk to him until he’s finished at least half of his first cup.

Not sure what we’re going to do if we ever run out of it.

Thankfully, it’s the one thing Teddy hoarded so for now we have plenty. ”

I drew my brows together in thought as I took another drink. “It’s a magic potion of sorts?”

“If we’re talking about coffee, yes, it’s magic.”

I scrambled to my feet at the sound of Teddy’s voice. Nervous and scared and maybe a little excited, I shoved my mug toward her.

“You can have my. . . life blood?” I said. “I’ll pour another.”

Her lips twitched. When she peered up at me from the rim of my cup, her eyes tired but glistening with amusement, it was my cock that replied.

I jumped toward the counter, hiding my wince of pain, while I also hid my growing problem and poured another mug.

I begged it to go down, which it finally did when Hee-haw nudged my ass with his head.

I bent over to pet him in silent thanks but straightened when I felt Teddy watching me.

“He’s a good donkey,” I said in explanation, mirroring what she’d told me last night.

She smiled and my heart exploded within my chest. At that moment, I didn’t care what kind of fool I had to make of myself, I’d do and say whatever just to have that smile aimed at me again.

I smiled back at her, not moving or saying anything. Just staring and smiling. Like some prepubescent who’d never spoken to a female before.

“This is too painful for me to witness,” Nalari complained. “Pull yourself together before I put your shame to rest and burn down her house in the name of mercy.”

I barked out a laugh and felt my face warm at Teddy’s inquisitive stare. “Nalari.” I motioned toward Teddy’s ceiling. “She said I’m embarrassing myself and that she’d burn down your house to save me from myself.”

I ignored Donnie’s laugh and instead focused on Teddy’s growing smile.

When I sat back at the table, I noticed her book was no longer there.

Although I wanted to ask her about it, I wanted her to want to tell me.

Without mentioning it’s sudden disappearance, I gave her the cup I’d filled for her while I took back the mug that she’d drank more than half.

Mixed with the smell of coffee was Teddy. This time, when I drew it to my nose, it was simply to breathe her scent in.

“I take it you like coffee?” One of Teddy’s brows rose.

Entranced, I watched her guide the mug to her lips. When she let out an appreciative hum, pride flared inside me. It wasn’t anything big. All I’d done was pour her a mug, but it’d brought her pleasure. Something I’d done had brought her a sense of joy.

“Yes,” I agreed, my voice gravelly. I cleared my throat before I spoke again. “First time drinking it. It’s incredible.”

“Life blood.” She winked.

And there went my dick again. Up and ready for action we wouldn’t be getting.

“How’s your back?” she asked .

I shrugged, and the motion sent sharp pain across my battered skin. “It’s okay,” I lied.

She frowned, and Donnie huffed out a disbelieving laugh.

“After you fell asleep last night, I did some research,” Teddy said.

“I think we should clean out the wounds again, and when I put cream on it, we should cover them with a bandage this time. I’ll use a wrap instead of trying to stick it with the adhesive.

I think it’ll work. I, uh”—she pressed her lips together—“I asked Dr. Daniels to treat you, but he refused. I’m sorry. ”

Her words didn’t hurt, only the misery behind her clear blue eyes.

Slowly, so she could see what I was doing and reject me if she chose, I reached for her hand. Her fingers squeezed mine.