Page 12 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)

Zane

Iwalked the entire town with Nellie. She followed me like a little duckling, never complaining about her feet hurting as she ate her bag of sweets.

I had pre-negotiated a price for a nice mare to get us to the Spring Palace, along with some supplies, including new boots for Nellie.

A fae named Jasper, at the east end of the city where his farm shop was located, was holding everything for me.

Now, I was waiting outside the sweets shop while Nellie swept and cleaned to pay back her debt to the owner.

I rolled my neck, stretched my arms, and did some basic warm-ups in front of the shop as the sun began to set.

A part of me wanted to fall asleep just so I could see Lorelei again.

Even in my dream state, she was irresistible.

Her full, red, heart-shaped mouth. Her soft, creamy skin that I was dying to press my lips against. Even her scent was enticing.

I had no idea how I could remember a fragrance from a dream, but I did. Even now, as I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, I could almost smell the sweet notes of floral honeysuckle and vanilla carried on the wind.

But it wasn’t just Lorelei’s physical beauty that drew me to her.

The way Isolde had talked about the Spring princess had made her seem delicate, almost fragile.

Isolde hadn’t said it in so many words, but I got the distinct impression that she, along with the other princesses, thought Lorelei was too soft for this world.

With her gentle demeanor and kind heart, I could understand why they thought that.

But I’d seen the fire in Lorelei’s eyes when she came to me in my dream.

The way she protected Nellie against a room full of hostile males.

How she didn’t just beg me to save her but cautioned me against coming until I had the support of her court to protect me.

Even now, she was standing up to Queen Liliana and enduring who knows what kind of torture in order to do the right thing rather than the easy thing.

She was fierce, with an inner strength that most overlooked. Sweet and kind didn’t mean weak.

Movement on my left caught my attention. A hulking male fae with short-cropped black hair approached, walking with purpose. He was tall but still at least three inches shorter than me and very muscular. I tensed as he stopped directly in front of me, but then he smiled, and I relaxed a little.

“Are you Zane? Mr. Donahue’s new champion fighter?” he asked, his voice gruff and low.

Maybe Donahue was looking for me. Was I late?

“Yes,” I answered.

He moved blindingly fast. Reaching behind him, he grabbed what looked like a metal rod and swung it at me. I lifted my arm to protect myself, and the rod connected with my wrist.

Hot, sharp pain exploded at the point of impact and reverberated down my arm. I buckled forward, dropping to my knees. I barely had time to process what had happened before the guy took off running, and the door to the shop flew open.

Nellie rushed out, wide-eyed, holding a broom and still wearing her apron.

“Zane,” she cried, hurrying over and peering down at me. “What happened?”

Kneeling on the ground, I held my arm to my chest, wincing in pain. I glanced up just in time to see the male who had attacked me round the corner. It took effort to stop myself from lashing out with my magic and alerting the whole town to who I was.

“A fellow fighter trying to take out the competition,” I told her as I ran a hand carefully over my wrist.

Her eyes went wide as she gripped the handle of her broom and shook it at the empty street. “You better run away, you coward!” she yelled at the fae, who was no longer in sight.

She turned back to me, frowning as she examined my wrist. There wasn’t any blood, but it was already starting to swell. Holding it in front of me, I gingerly tried to bend my wrist. Pain shot up my arm, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

“You can’t even bend it?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“If you can’t bend it, then you certainly can’t throw a punch. And if you can’t throw a punch, you can’t fight.”

I glanced up at her concerned little face. “I have powers you don’t know about,” I told her. “One of which is fast self-healing. I’ll be fine. I just need several hours.”

She sighed exasperatedly. “You don’t have several hours.” She chewed on her lip. “I’ll be right back.”

After stepping inside, she returned without her apron and broom and helped me over to a bench on the other side of the street.

By this time, my wrist had swelled to twice its size, and I was panting through the pain.

I could move it a little, but was there any possibility it wasn’t broken? I didn’t think so.

Nellie was right. I couldn’t fight like this, at least not without my magic. But I needed that prize money.

Nellie grasped both sides of my face. I looked into her deep green eyes and was captivated by the compassion I found there. She was such a good kid—a loving kid—whom I’d somehow become the temporary guardian of, and I had no complaints.

“Remember when I threatened to kill you with my power?” she asked.

I chuckled despite the discomfort. “I’m assuming you don’t have power? Which is okay. There’s nothing wrong with—”

I sucked in a sharp breath as the pain in my wrist flared tenfold and then disappeared. Dropping my face, Nellie broke into sobs, clutching her arm to her chest.

“It hurts,” she cried.

I sat there in shock, wide-eyed, as I watched her rocking back and forth on the bench in agony.

“Nellie. What did you do?” I asked, suddenly becoming frantic with worry when my gaze landed on her now-swollen wrist.

She looked up at me with tears streaming down her face.

“I’m a healer, Zane. But the worst kind.

I have to take someone’s injury into my own body in order to heal it.

My mother was a Spring fae, but my father was from Fall, so my powers work differently than full Spring fae who have healing magic.

My nana said there were ways to help lessen the side effects, but she never got around to showing me how.

I was too scared to try it on Elida for fear I’d die. ”

I grabbed her shoulders, held her steady, and found that my wrist was totally healed. No more pain. No more swelling.

“Give it back. Give me back the injury.” I’d take that and more to never see her sweet face full of tears.

She shook her head defiantly. “We gotta go now. You’re gonna win those fights, and then we can help the princess.”

“Nellie. I command you to give me back the injury. Now.” I tried the stern voice my father had used on me and my brothers when he meant business, but she just shook her head.

“My magic doesn’t work like that. It’s mine now. It’ll heal in a few days.”

A few days!

A knot tightened in my chest. I picked her up, being careful not to jostle her wrist. Cradling her against me, I walked toward the inn we were staying at.

I’d leave her with Evander and Elida and then collect her after the fights.

A brutal underground fighting ring was no place for a young girl like her, especially with a painful wrist injury.

Anger swirled inside me at what she’d done without my permission. She was just a sweet kid. She shouldn’t have to live with that kind of agony, even if only for a few days.

“The second I win this fight, I’m tracking down Percy and paying him to heal you. And if you ever do something like that again, I’ll—” I let the threat hang in the air because I didn’t know what to say. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Okay. Geez,” she muttered but rested her head against my chest.

I walked a few minutes before I said, “And thank you.”

I felt Nellie nestle into my chest just a little bit more.

When we reached the inn, I left Nellie in Elida and Evander’s care after making sure her wrist was bound.

Even injured, she’d put up a fight about staying behind that night.

But injured or not, I wasn’t about to bring her to an underground fighting match.

I’d grown to care deeply for that child, and Evander and Elida were about the only people I trusted to watch her while I fought.

We didn’t tell them that Nellie’s injury came from healing me.

Instead, we said she’d tripped and fallen on it.

By the time we got back to the inn, she could bend her wrist a little, but it was red and swollen.

Elida, who seemed to know at least something about these things, didn’t think her wrist was broken, but she couldn’t be sure. I hoped she was right.

I already felt bad enough leaving Nellie with them instead of taking her to the healer immediately, but there was nothing I could do until I won the prize money to pay for his services.

Nellie had smiled bravely at me before I left, saying her wrist hardly hurt at all, but I saw in her eyes the pain that she was trying to conceal.

It made my chest feel like it was caving in.

That injury was meant for me, not her.

After leaving the inn, I made my way quickly to the treasury, where Mr. Donahue was waiting outside for me with a muscular fae I didn’t recognize who was holding an ornate wooden box. The unfamiliar man had black hair, pale skin, and ice-blue eyes. Donahue introduced him as Malek.

I glanced at the box in his hands, but neither of them offered an explanation. The prize winnings, perhaps? I’d learned that Donahue was one of the fight’s sponsors as well as the town treasurer, so it made sense that he was the one handling the prize money.

Donahue looked me up and down. “You look good. Feeling ready?”

I nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

The pointy-nosed fae frowned at that but turned and walked down the street toward a side alley, beckoning me to follow.