Page 81 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

With a sigh, my mother closed her eyes. “I’ll try, though. But right now, I need to rest.”

I kissed her forehead. “Rest, Mama,” I said, calling her by the name I hadn’t used since my youth.

Ryenne stepped into the room with Grandma Richter behind her. With a book in her hand, Grandma Richter sat on a recliner near the bed.

“Go, do what you need to do,” Grandma Richter told me. “I’ll watch over your mom.”

“If she needs anything?—”

“I’ll get ahold of you,” Grandma Richter said.

I kissed my mother on the top of her head again, and when I stood, I fussed over the blankets to make sure she was warm and safe .

I blew out a heavy breath and let Teddy lead me out of the room.

We passed Javier and the girls who were busy playing with Hee-haw in the living room.

Javier gave me a sad smile that I found too difficult to return.

Once outside, Ryenne gave both Teddy and me quick hugs before she went down the steps of her front porch.

When I went to follow, Teddy stopped me with a hand to my chest.

“We need to?—”

“No,” she said. “We need to stop. Take a breath.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t stop. Every time I did, all I saw was my uncle killing my father. My mother stabbing herself. All I felt was the weight of my dagger slicing into my uncle.

“Teddy,” I pleaded.

She cupped my cheek, wiping away tears I hadn’t meant to shed.

Her arms wound around my neck. I stood rigid for half a beat before I melted into her embrace.

I dug my head against her neck, and the sob that tore through me made my body shudder.

Her fingers combed through my hair while her other hand held me close.

“I don’t know what to do,” I told her in a whisper.

“For now, all you need to do is breathe,” she said just as low. “One breath and then the other. And cry, mo elma. Cry with every piece of your broken heart. I promise I’ll be here. I won’t leave you to go through this on your own.”

So I did. I cried in her arms. Broken in ways I didn’t know I could break. I both grieved and hated my father for leaving me...for starting this war in the first place.

Despite the cold temperature, the strenuous work had me removing the short-sleeved shirt I wore.

With my wadded-up shirt, I wiped the sweat from my forehead before I tucked it into the waist of my pants.

For hours, we’d carried away those too injured to walk themselves.

The humans were carted to one section where Dr. Daniels and his assistants tended to those they could help while the fae were taken to another area, where the few fae with healing magic waited to help with the more serious problems.

Alastor, who’d earlier helped George heal the many breaks in his body I hadn’t been aware of, worked at healing the fae relentlessly, with what seemed like an endless supply of magic.

Seeing him and the others gifted in healing made me feel better about not helping with that task.

But I needed the hard labor that kept me moving, unable to stop and think about everything.

Already, I’d cried in Teddy’s arms. Although I was exhausted afterward, I knew I hadn’t yet drained myself of all the tears that built and built and threatened to burst. So I worked at wearing myself out physically.

I marveled at Teddy and how she’d known how to harness her magic without any training.

How she’d been able to pull Leanora’s magic without the mage noticing.

While fate had said I would be the realm’s salvation, it had all been Teddy.

If not for my mate and her magic, Leanora wouldn’t have weakened enough for me to kill her with a dagger.

Although Teddy had moved to grab her gun, I couldn’t let her deliver that killing blow, knowing that although justified, killing her would hurt Teddy.

And it’d been Teddy who’d kept me leveled between who I was and the primal instincts I’d sunken into. If not for her, I wasn’t sure I could’ve returned .

Once the injured were taken care of, we started to carry the dead—the humans in one section and the fae through the tear in the veil.

Before we’d started, I’d asked Teddy to see if she could find a group that was willing to put together food for everyone.

She and Ryenne left shortly after that and hadn’t returned.

While I wanted her close, I was glad she wasn’t here to help with the dead.

To carry the burden of their listless bodies and unseeing eyes.

To hear the mournful cries of those left behind.

Once all the bodies had been collected, the police and fae patrol worked to keep small groups going through the deceased to find loved ones.

I allowed the fae to go through the veil to identify any loved ones they’d lost or visit with family before they returned the following day. It was the least I could do for them.

After that, I started working through the rubble with a group that grew larger as time passed. We worked until the sun started setting. While many left, I called up spheres of fae light and continued the grueling work. Needing to fix what I’d help break.

I only stopped when I felt Teddy’s hand on my arm. Her eyes were soft and tired. She stepped in front of me, and when she wrapped her arms around my midsection, I hugged her back. Resting my chin on the top of her head, I heaved out a heavy sigh.

Despite how filthy I was, she kissed my chest. I cupped her cheek and leaned down to press my lips against hers.

“I saved some food for you,” she said.

I drew my brows together in confusion.

“You asked me to put together food for everyone,” she said.

“Ry and I have been handing out whatever we were able to find from her house and whatever neighbor was willing to give up some of their food.” This time, her brows drew together, and I ran my thumb over the bridge of her nose.

“I asked someone to get you so you could eat. No one told you?”

“I’m not sure,” I told her. “I don’t remember.”

She tugged on my hand and leaned her head to the side. “Come.”

“I will, I just want to finish?—”

“No,” she said. “We can start again tomorrow. Right now, we’re going to Ry’s to shower, eat, and sleep.”

I wasn’t ready to stop. Wasn’t sure I could because then—then, I’d have to remember what I’d done. How I’d failed both my parents. How my parents had failed everyone.

Teddy rested her palm on my chest, and I covered it with my hand.

“Breathe,” she whispered, tucking her head against my shoulder.

I sucked in a breath that wheezed through my lungs. Then another. One breath at a time until the burning in my lungs faded.

When I wrapped my arms around her, she molded her body to mine. I ran my hand over the top of her disheveled hair and pressed my nose to the top of her head so I could breathe her in.

My heart. The other part of my soul, who’d promised she wouldn’t leave me, but help me survive this tumultuous turn in my life.

“I love you.” I wrenched the words from my heart and offered them to her.

She tilted her head up and kissed my chin. “I love you.”

Her hand slid to mine, and when she tugged me forward again, I followed.

Our walk to Ryenne’s home was quiet and slow.

While I could’ve bent space and taken us there, I preferred the walk and the ease of our slow steps.

The rhythm of her breathing. The way she peered up at me and sometimes kissed my shoulder.

I’d survive this. Would make sure my mother survived it too.

Grandma Richter greeted us on the front porch and hugged me to her small frame when she took me in. I only let go of Teddy to return Grandma Richter’s hug, but I quickly sought her out when she stepped back.

“How is she?” I asked her.

“She still has a lot more tears to cry,” Grandma Richter replied. “Brenton’s with her now. You go on and take your shower. I’ll heat your food.” She patted my cheek so softly I barely felt it. “I’ll be spending the night with your mom tonight. You rest up and let my girl take care of you.”

I swallowed past the emotions swelling in my throat and managed to croak out a thank you.

Before we went inside, I looked up at the dark sky glistening with millions of stars shining around the clouds. Small, quiet snowflakes fell on my face, and for a few beats, I stood there, taking in the frigidity that trailed around me.

“Have you seen Nalari?” I asked.

Teddy shook her head. “She and the dragons left with the thunderbirds after everything. I haven’t heard from her since,” she said, guiding me to a hallway bathroom, where clothes for both of us had been placed on the vanity. “No one’s seen any of them.”

Nalari had left, probably disappointed in all my failures too.

That was why my head felt so weightless. I hadn’t thought to reach out to her before, but now all I felt was a void where her side of our connection once lived .

I gripped the edge of the vanity and dropped my head forward. Taking another breath, I started to undress. Beside me, Teddy did the same, and when I noticed the bandage wrapped around her ankle, I dropped to my knees.

“I forgot. I’m sorry, I forgot.”

I kissed her knee and slid my hand down to her ankle, where I unwrapped the bandage. Her ankle was swollen and lined with black and purple bruises. I hissed, hating myself for forgetting about her, for letting her walk around, making food and serving others when she must’ve been in pain.

I leaned my head against her knee while I healed her foot. Her fingers sank into my hair, her nails scraping my scalp gently only to then thread her fingers through the long tendrils of my hair. She did it again, and it felt so good, pleasure rumbled deep in my chest.

Finished, I held her foot and moved it in different directions. The swelling had gone down, and the worst of the bruises were gone.

When I peered up at her, I asked, “How does it feel?”

She moved her foot and placed it on the cold tile floor, carefully putting weight on it.

“A little tender but overall, good,” she said.

She reached around me to open the shower door and turn on the water. It didn’t take long for steam to rise over the shower’s wall.

I let her guide me into the shower, and when she pointed at the seat ledge inside the shower, I sat. With the showerhead in her hand, she stepped in front of me. I clasped both hands on either side of her waist, where my thumbs whispered over her warm skin.

The drain filled with dirt and whatever blood was left from the magic someone had used to clean us earlier.

I trembled at the sight of it. Then Teddy’s hands dug into my scalp as she lathered shampoo into my hair, and all I felt was her.

All I saw, smelled, and sensed was her. I rested the side of my head against her right breast and wrapped my arms around her.

I let her love me, take care of me. Let her cast out the darkness of that day.

Teddy was my once-in-a-lifetime love. She was my dream come true, my hope for the future. The one I wanted to turn to when life got hard. The one I wanted to share my joys and excitement with. She was my quiet calm and my brightest light.

As a prince to my realm, I’d never been a commoner, but still, I was nothing or no one special. But I loved Teddy with every part of who I was, and what was more, she loved me back, which made me feel like I’d done something significant. Like I was someone significant.

I leaned back so she could rinse out my hair, that she then lathered with more shampoo.

I slid my hand down her side and goosebumps lifted everywhere I touched.

This time, when I leaned into her, it was to cup her breast. She took her time rinsing out my hair, running her fingers through the tendrils.

When she finished, I circled my tongue around her pebbled nipple, and pleasure rumbled in me when she dug her fingers harder against my scalp.

I nipped and tugged her nipple while I used my other hand to cup her other breast. She arched against me.

“Elias,” she sighed out.

I trailed a finger over the inside of her thigh and made my way up to her folds, where I plunged two fingers inside her. She rocked against my hand as I pumped my fingers harder, then she tugged hard on my hair and pushed my head back.

Her teeth dug into my throat, making heat flood my veins.

I pumped my fingers more ruthlessly, enjoying the way her teeth drove deeper.

When her tongue trailed over my skin to lap up my blood, I couldn’t stop my hips from thrusting.

I drew her back, my lips crashing against her, as I took in the taste of my blood that still sat on her tongue.

Her scent filled me, intoxicating me with her.

She cried out when I withdrew my fingers to grip her ass.

With one swift movement, I stood and scooped her up in my arms. The warm water fell on us while I pushed her back against the shower wall.

I pressed a kiss to her cheek, her hair, her ear.

When I kissed her neck, she tilted her head to the side in invitation.

My tongue flicked where her heart pulsed, and as I slid inside her, I bit down on her neck.

She hissed out my name, the scent of her arousal filling me.

This time, when I kissed her, it wasn’t gentle, but a claiming. She was mine. My heart, my soul, my everything. And I was hers.

There was no end to me that did not begin with her.

My tongue stroked hers, wild and demanding. I kissed her fervently, swallowing her moans as if they were my own.

On top of me, she rolled her hips against me as I thrust deep inside her. She grasped my shoulders, my arms, my neck, where her nails clawed into my flesh.

We moved together as one, our magic twining inside us brighter and stronger.

I pushed inside her again and again. Harder, deeper, my release getting closer.

When she tightened around my cock, I plunged my teeth into her neck again.

Her blood swam on my tongue as she shouted my name and came apart in my arms. My release followed hers, my body trembling as she pulsed around my cock and spread my pleasure until my knees almost buckled.

I held her to me, my face against her neck as she stroked my hair and back. Chest to chest, her skin against mine as the water continued to fall on us. Her breaths heaved in and out in rhythm with my own while our hearts beat one against the other.

“I love you,” I breathed against her neck. “I love you.”

“Always,” she promised.