Page 8 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

“She was dying.” Rage rose from deep inside my belly. Wave after wave, it grew and grew until I felt myself disconnect from the present when my primal instincts took over.

Through my nose, I sucked in a deep breath, and Teddy’s fear infiltrated my nostrils. Her bottom lip wobbled as she stared at me, at my eyes that I was sure were as dark as the night sky. Blinking, I took in another shaky breath and managed to gain my control back .

“She was safer with that male than she will ever be again,” Uncle Hudson spat.

Anguish tore through me and choked me until I struggled for my next breath. All the while, Teddy watched me with her own terror shining in her translucent blue eyes.

“Teddy?” I spoke softly.

I approached her the way I would a scared caladrius, one of the smaller birds of our kingdom.

While her body swayed toward me, she took another step away.

She feared me. I’d ripped through the veil to save her, but all I’d done was make her scared of me. That realization made my heart hurt.

“He’s dead?” she asked.

“I apologize,” George said, sincerity spilling from his lips. “I was unaware I should not have harmed him.”

Tears filled her eyes. “You didn’t harm him,” she whispered.

When her eyes clashed against his, it was his turn to take a retreating step back.

“You killed him.” Her sudden anger was a beautiful red orb that glistened around her.

“An innocent man who only wanted to take care of his family. His wife is dying, and now he’s dead because of you.

” She wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

“You’re crying for him?” I asked, trying to understand her emotions.

She wiped another tear. “Of course I am.”

“He harmed you,” I argued. “He had you trapped. You told him he was killing you.”

A humorless laugh tore from inside her. “He didn’t harm me.” She shoved my chest, and although the blow itself wasn’t hard, I stumbled back a step. “The refrigerator fell on me, you idiot. He was trying to get it off. ”

“Guardians help us,” Uncle Hudson muttered.

I stood there with my mouth open in shock. I had seen him over her. Heard the way she screamed for him to stop. The harrowing way she’d told him he was killing her.

“I don’t understand,” I said, working my jaw back and forth.

“He was trying to get the fridge off me. I screamed because it hurt, but he was trying to save me.” Her tone was a deathly sort of quiet. Another tear fell down her cheek as she held her arms around her chest. “His children have no parents now.”

“I can send them money,” I offered, hoping to placate her.

My parents did it for orphans and their caregivers until the child reached adulthood.

“Money?” She turned to me, tears falling faster down her face. “You think his kids will care about money when they’re alone in this world?”

“I. . .” I tried to find the right words but failed.

“We’re not from here,” Brenton said, his tone cautious and lips pressed together to form a thin line. “We weren’t aware of your customs and are truly sorry.”

“In what world is murder a custom?” Teddy asked, her anguish and anger making her cheeks redden.

“Murder?” I asked, truly perplexed. “This wasn’t murder. This was—I thought?—”

“Stop.” The plea in her voice made me pause.

I closed my mouth, frustration silencing me.

“This isn’t real,” she muttered to herself, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “It’s just a tumor or. . .”

When she looked back at me, the sorrow in her eyes slammed into me. It tore through me and shredded me apart.

“I want to go home.” She sniffled. “To Ryenne and tacos and fictional boyfriends. ”

I stared at her shoes and clenched my fists beside me. “I’m sorry, Teddy. I never meant to hurt you.”

My heart wobbled at the way she sucked in a slow breath as she tried to compose herself. “You’re not here. This isn’t happening.”

Guardians, I wanted to hold her again. To comfort her.

I had to help her but wasn’t sure how when she looked at me like I was the enemy. I guess I was to her and the whole human race.

There was a way, though. It would break me, but she’d be whole again.

I swallowed around the lump forming in my throat and fought back the terror that threatened to strangle me. It wasn’t my fear I needed to ease, though, but hers. Even my primal instincts agreed.

“You’re right.” I coughed to clear my throat. “It’s just a bad dream. I’m the monster in this nightmare, but if you trust me one more time, I can make this all go away.”

“Elias,” Uncle Hudson warned.

He knew what I meant. Knew what I’d ask of him if she agreed.

“Will you let me take you home?” I asked her.

When she didn’t flinch from my outstretched hand, I cupped her face in my palm. Her expression was open, her panic and curiosity warring with each other.

“You can make this all go away?”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I smiled at my beautiful mate despite the way my heart broke. “If you’ll let me.” I said it softly, wishing there was another way.

But for Teddy, I wouldn’t just damn the world, but myself too.

She wrapped her fingers around my wrist and licked her lips. “Please,” she whispered. “I want to go home. Ryenne’s waiting for me.”

I held my arms open to her. She hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip as I waited for her.

Her friend was an inconvenience we’d have to remedy once we got there. Not in a way that would harm her or Teddy, but she couldn’t see us or, at the very least, remember us.

“I can help you, Teddy,” I promised. “When you wake up tomorrow morning, this will be nothing but a nightmare you barely remember.”

“Elias, no,” Everly said harshly.

She stepped forward, but George stopped her with a hand on her arm. She shrugged out of his hold but didn’t move to me again.

“You can’t,” Brenton argued. “You’re sentencing yourself to a lifetime of torment.”

My eyes stayed on Teddy. “I will always do what I must to protect you.”

And I’d survive because my life had never been my own. Since birth, my life belonged to the people of Niev, and for them, for Teddy, I’d survive anything.

She blinked, and she held herself rigid when she came to me. Her back straightened when my hands met her waist.

Hating myself, I withdrew them.

“Can you close those pretty eyes of yours for me, Teddy?” I asked, my voice low and reassuring.

She studied me, and I fought not to squirm under her scrutiny. My uncle and friends drew closer to us when her eyes shuttered closed. I tasted their dissatisfaction on my tongue, but I didn’t care what they thought. Only about how I could protect Teddy. Even if it meant protecting her from me .

“Think of your home, picture it in your mind,” I told her. “Can you see it?”

She was silent for a few beats. “Yes.”

“Good,” I said. “Good girl. Keep the picture in your mind, okay?”

She nodded.

“I have to touch you for this next part,” I warned her. “Is it okay if I put my hands on your waist?”

She nodded again.

“I need you to tell me out loud, Teddy,” I said. “I need to know you’re okay with me putting my hands on you.”

Her eyes popped open and held mine, her slender throat bobbing when she swallowed. “You can touch me, Elias.”

Those words were like balm to my aching soul. And hearing my name on her lips...sweet agony. For a few beats, I allowed that torment to take me, knowing I’d never hear it again.

I rested my hands on her waist, and without thought, I leaned my head against her temple. She gripped my arms, and had we been in any other situation, my sigh would have been one of contentment rather than sorrow.

“Bring up your house again,” I said.

When she did, I saw it in my own mind. It was a small log cottage with many windows and a chimney. Chairs sat in front with trees surrounding her home.

“I need you to open the door,” I said.

She did.

“Good. Can you walk me to your bedroom?”

The picture flickered in my mind at her reluctance.

“This will all go away,” I reminded her. “I need to make sure you’re home safe first.”

Her home faded so that only she stood before me.

“You won’t hurt me?” she asked.

I balked. “Hurt you?” I dug my fingers against her waist but loosened my hold before I could cause her any discomfort. “Teddy,” I stammered out.

She thought I could hurt her. Her, the one being I could never harm and would lay my life down for.

“Child,” Uncle Hudson said. “Do you truly believe this male is capable of harming you?”

I already had, though, hadn’t I?

By wanting to help, I’d caused her irrevocable harm.

“No,” Teddy whispered. “But I shouldn’t trust you, should I? I don’t know you, and your friend?—”

On the features of her face, I saw the way her anguish circled back to the male George had killed.

“This isn’t real, remember?” I interrupted, pulling her thoughts back to me. “We’re in a nightmare—you and me, and I’m the monster others need to fear. Not you. Never you.”

Her silent gaze ran over my face, and I let her see me, hoping she could somehow see how I felt. The barely controlled love I felt for her. The desire to be with her and take care of her.

She jerked back. “Will I see you again?”

“No,” I whispered.

Her sadness mingled with my misery.

“Because this isn’t real?” She paused. “Like my other dreams.”

“That’s right.”

An uncertain smile tipped her lips up slightly. “I’ll write about this. About us. It’ll make for a good story.”

“Sure,” I said, wanting to keep her soft smile in place. “Write about us. I’ll wait for you between the pages of your book. ”

Her eyes closed, and she pulled the image of the inside of her house again.

Somehow, she pulled me into the image with her, and when she mentally reached her hand out to me, I held on to her as if my life depended on it.

Together, we walked through her house—past the living quarters and through a narrow hallway I barely noticed because all I could see was her.

Her friend was nothing more than a whimsy shadow who sat on the couch without noticing us.