Page 46 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

M y body shakes, the edges of my sanity slowly fading in and out. My body bounces as I hear feet pounding below me. My body shivers in the arms wrapped tightly around me. I hear panting above my head, someone screaming out orders, but my mind is too weak to follow.

My body is gently lowered onto something soft.

I’m left for a moment, the sound of water starts quietly in the distance.

Two warm hands grip each side of my face, turning my head to look up at them.

Two soft thumbs swoop under my eyes, attempting to wake me, to drag me away from the warm, inviting place just beyond my reach.

“Nyxi, please stay with me. I’m going to heal you. I just need time,” they plead, their voice laced with pain.

Hade?

“Tired,” is all I manage to whisper back.

“Sleep is friends with death, and I’m not letting you have an intimate relationship with either of them. I never did learn how to share.” The words tumble from his lips, broken and defeated.

All I can manage is a soft, breathy laugh in response. His thumb gently strokes over my cheek, and I nuzzle into it.

“You’re freezing. We need to get you in the bath. Healers are on their way, but I need you to hold on until then. Can you do that for me?” He tries to sound unaffected, but I can hear the slight strain in his voice. I nod my head slowly in answer, but it’s weak.

“Good girl,” he whispers, kissing my forehead before he scoops me up again and walks us into the connecting room.

Setting me down on the counter, his hands bracket me, holding me up. I let out a small whimper of pain, which makes him curse under his breath. My eyes remain closed as I sit limp in his hold.

He speaks to me softly, like one would a child.

“We need to get your top layer of clothes off. Is that okay?” I nod softly, trying to breathe through the pain while opening my eyes to stare into his piercing gaze.

I try to lift my arm to help, but it’s no use; it ends up lying limp by my side. “Here, Iet me help you.”

He gently strips my clothes off, leaving only my undergarments on. I sit there helpless, my vision blurring more by the second. I whimper as he lifts me, walking me over to the full tub before he slowly lowers me into the warm water. Heat surrounds me like a warm hug, lulling my eyes to close.

I could die peacefully wrapped in this warm water, surrounded by his intoxicating scent. What a way to go.

I struggle to peel my eyes open when I feel his hands retreat from my body. The water around me is slowly turning a soft red from the blood still pouring from my side, except I notice a thin wrap over my wound attempting to stifle the blood flow that he must have put on me while in my haze.

Hade takes a step back, and my heart crumbles. Reality seeps its way to the forefront of my brain, taking hold of me, paralyzing me in its grip. It’s a selfish request that wasn’t afforded to the one I loved most, but I don’t want to die alone.

“Please don’t leave me,” I beg on a cry. “I d-don’t want to die alone.” The words are barely a whisper, and I’m ashamed by how weak I sound.

His face crumples. “Shhh, you’re okay, sweet girl. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you,” he assures me.

He must notice me losing my battle to stay awake, because panic flashes across his face, unsure on what to do.

In a blur, he steps up to the edge of the tub, sliding his boots off, and then he submerges his fully clothed body, making the water slosh over the edges.

He wedges his body behind me, gently placing me between his large legs and dragging my back up against his chest. My long, curly hair makes a barrier between us.

It feels instinctive to rest against him like this, as if my body was made to mold into his. I’m shocked at how natural it feels, like an extension of home, a comfort I’ve only been afforded one other time.

I can feel my life seeping out of me, reaching its end, so I take these last few moments to ask him the question that’s been burning my tongue.

“How?” I ask weakly.

His hand reaches forward, absentmindedly playing with one of my curls. “How did I know that piece of worthless shit stabbed you?” he says gruffly behind me.

“Yes, h-how?”

“I was coming to drop an orange at your door. Normally, I would do it early in the morning, but I felt this strange sensation to do it tonight instead. I followed my instincts by luck… Luck, ” he chokes out in a laugh devoid of any humor.

“I heard your heart shattering scream and busted through your door without another thought. I didn’t care what monster was sitting on the other side of your door, as long as it turned its attention on me instead of you.

I knew something was deeply wrong, and there was nothing that was going to stop me from getting into your room. Nothing, Nyxi.”

A breathy laugh escapes my throat, making me cough. “So you’re telling me an orange saved my life?”

He lets out the most beautiful laugh behind me that takes all my pain away for the briefest second.

Medicine could be made from its healing properties.

He subtly reaches forward, gripping my wrist, I assume keeping tabs on my pulse’s slow descent toward my impending death sentence.

I let out a soft sigh and melt into him, more than content with this being my last moment.

A soft knock rings out in the distance, drawing my fading attention.

Hade grunts for them to come in, but he doesn’t move an inch, intent on staying put right behind me.

Two women shuffle into the bathroom, wearing red robes, their hoods drawn up.

Hade’s tone turns hauntingly serious when he speaks to them.

“Spare no expense. There is no room for failure here, or it will be your lives on the line. Do you understand?” he demands.

They both nod and roll out their cloths full of the supplies they need.

“We will need to assess her wounds first, and then we can get started on treating her. Can you carry her to the bed?” one of the women says.

“There is no time,” he grunts out. “You can heal her right here in the bath. She’s been stabbed with a poisoned dagger in her left side.

I tried to stop the bleeding the best I could, but she had already lost a lot by the time I got to her.

The poison is fast-acting and has already taken hold of her body. ”

The two healers listen intently, taking note of everything he tells them.

They get to work fast, one mixing a few things, the other hovering over me, removing the wrap from my wound.

It sits just above the low waterline. She prods my side, making me hiss.

Their faces looks like blurry blobs now as I struggle to draw air into my lungs .

“Looks like the dagger narrowly missed her spleen. This is good news. Her symptoms are mostly due to her blood loss and the poison. I can heal her wound with my magic, but her life depends on if the antidote works faster than her failing body. She is already so far gone, it will take a miracle to bring her back.”

Luck , I internally laugh. My life has been one big game of chance for as long as I can remember.

“Then it’s a good thing you are the two best healers in Lunaria. Get it done!” His temper flares to life, his concern laced with anger.

“Hold her down. This is going to hurt,” one of the women says.

I feel Hade’s arms wrap around my chest, holding me tightly to his body without cutting off my weak air supply. “Do it,” he demands.

She reaches down, placing her two hands on top of my wound. Bright white light erupts from her palms, searing my skin. I scream, my throat going hoarse from the sob that escapes me. It feels like I’m being stabbed all over again, my side a living fire.

“I’ve got you,” Hade whispers from behind me as he tries to hold down my flailing body. It feels like every mistake I’ve made in life is coming back to torture me, making me pay for my sins with this ungodly pain.

“Make it stop,” I whisper weakly. I feel a hand stroke the hair back from my slick forehead as stars dance behind my eyelids until I give in to the call beckoning me to sleep. The pain fades to the background, and then everything goes black.

See you soon, Theo.

A deep rumble vibrates my back, drawing my attention and waking my senses. The smell of smoke and sandalwood swirl around me, a scent all too familiar. My body feels light like a cloud. There are voices arguing around me, but I’m still too foggy in the head to understand.

Slowly, I blink my eyes open, my surroundings coming into focus. I’m still weak, but the blinding pain that was too much to handle has lessened to a bearable ache. My skin now feels warm and cozy as I take my first full, deep breath without choking on pain.

“You’re okay?” a hopeful, gravelly voice breathes behind me.

I feel a heavy presence wiggle at my back. Water sloshes around, and I realize I’m still sitting in the tub, wedged between Hade’s giant thighs. Now that I’m more coherent, it’s comical seeing Hade’s giant body smashed in the small tub with me while fully dressed.

“I must have passed out.” My words come out thick, my throat raw and scratchy.

“How are you feeling, miss?” one of the healers asks.

Taking note of my body, I feel mostly in good spirits. “Okay, I think. Mostly just tired, and I’m a little sore when I breathe, but it’s not unbearable,” I say honestly.