Page 7 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)

Zane

I awoke with a start, panting and covered in a thin sheen of sweat, as I frantically scanned the space to get my bearings.

I wasn’t sliding down a mountain of oil, nor was I in my study in the Western Kingdom.

I was in Faerie, in the cottage at Orange Hills, with a sleeping redheaded child beside me.

Releasing a shaky breath, I glanced outside to see that it wasn’t yet light. Then again, Nellie had told me it never got very bright here, so I had no clue what time of day it might be.

That dream … it felt so real. Lorelei’s presence, her telling me she was in trouble, and then her sudden departure—it had turned the dream into a nightmare.

But was it real? Did she really need my help, or was I just imagining things out of some savior complex?

Already, the details of the dream were hazy. She’d referred to herself as something … a dream maker? A night visitor? I shook my head, trying to dredge up the memory from the depths of my mind. But as I grasped for the details, they slipped through my fingers like fine grains of sand.

It didn’t help that after she left, the dream had morphed into something nonsensical.

I was on a quest with a talking raccoon and bear, searching for marshmallow snowballs, when suddenly, the black oil from the Harvest Mountains swept us away.

I was certain that wasn’t real, so did that mean I’d simply conjured Lorelei as well?

She’d been on my mind constantly, so it made sense that she would appear in my dreams. I’d never heard of anyone having the power to visit someone in their dreams. The most logical explanation was that the dream was just that: a figment of my unconscious imagination.

But what if it wasn’t?

I rubbed my forehead, the knot in my gut tightening with worry for Lorelei.

My instincts told me she needed me right now.

Then again, my instincts had been screaming at me to protect her since the moment I first laid eyes on her.

That didn’t necessarily mean she was in any more danger now than she had been before. Right?

A rustling beside me broke through my spiraling thoughts. Nellie stirred awake and peered up at me with sleepy eyes, pulling my attention.

“Hey, good morning,” I whispered softly.

“Mmm,” she grunted, still groggy.

I stood, guilt prickling in my chest, as I noticed the dark smudges under her eyes.

She looked so tired. If given the chance, I knew she would roll over and fall back asleep.

She probably needed the rest. But the best thing I could do for Lorelei was to get to her as quickly as possible.

We didn’t have the luxury of wasting time.

“Come on, we need to get a move on,” I said gently.

With a groan, she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Then she crossed her arms and leveled a defiant look at me. “Not until I’ve had a proper breakfast and thanked Evander and Elida.”

I growled in frustration. If it were just me, I’d chew on some jerky while walking, but she was right. She needed sustenance, and we should, too, thank Evander and his wife for their hospitality.

An hour later, we were all seated at the table, eating flatbread and jarred fruit jam.

When Evander hacked up a powdery cough for the fifth time, I couldn’t take it anymore. He and his wife had been so kind and generous to us, a couple of strangers, and it didn’t sit right with me to just leave them here to continue to get worse.

“Come with us,” I blurted out.

I was on an urgent mission to save Lorelei, but I couldn’t let this old couple die.

Elida shared a look with her husband.

“This is our home,” he said, but I could hear the defeat in his voice and the rattling in his lungs.

“We heard Princess Isolde went to Ethereum to end the curse. Maybe if we just wait another week—” Elida started, but a violent cough racked her body, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Her cough was even worse than her husband’s, and that worried me.

Evander rubbed his wife’s back as she tried to compose herself, then gave me a solemn look. “We would just slow you down.”

It was true—they might not be as fast as Nellie or me—but the fae couple were still fit enough to walk. If I left them here, there was no doubt in my mind they’d die. I couldn’t, in good conscience, let that happen when it was in my power to prevent it.

“I’ll get us all to the Spring Court safely,” I told them firmly. “You have my word.”

Elida peered at her husband, her expression filled with silent pleading. Evander looked around their small home with misty eyes, clearly reluctant to leave. “Okay,” he finally said quietly.

And with that, my party of two was now four.

Evander had a wheelbarrow that he’d filled with his most precious belongings, along with a walking stick for Elida.

Though both were suffering from the effects of powder lung, they managed to stay steady on their feet for the most part and kept a decent pace.

The only thing that slowed us down was their frequent coughing fits.

We’d only been walking for an hour and had already stopped four times for both Elida and Evander to hack up powder.

Sometimes, the fits were so bad we had to take a small break to let them recover.

The good news was that the further we got from the village of Orange Hills, the less gray dust there was coating everything. I made sure to shake out Nellie’s clothes and dust her hair, not wanting any of the powder to cling to her.

We headed west for the next two hours until we stopped for lunch. After chewing on some dried meats and fruits, Elida sat in the wheelbarrow on top of their trunks of belongings while I pushed her. Wheezing and looking ashen, it was clear that the strain was wearing her down.

Nellie, who had been nervously watching Elida, stepped closer to me. “Is she gonna be okay?” she whispered.

I flicked a glance at Evander, who seemed as sturdy as a tough workhorse. He pushed on without complaint, though his face was sullen and void of emotion.

“Yeah,” I lied, unsure what age kids should be told hard truths. But I also knew that Nellie had had to deal with so much already, and I didn’t want her to have even more weight to carry on her young shoulders.

Elida twisted toward me, asking if I needed a break from pushing her. That’s when I noticed her lips were tinged blue.

I shook my head, telling her I was fine, and started walking faster. The truth was, if we didn’t find a healer for her soon, she probably wouldn’t survive the journey.

The further we got from Orange Hills, the better the landscape became.

There were trees with green foliage, albeit dusted with a thin layer of powder.

The sun even seemed to be trying to peek through the gray cloud coverage every now and then.

We found a stream to fill our canteens, and while the water wasn’t crystal clear, it was relatively clean, with only a few oil-covered rocks at the bottom.

“Where is the nearest town? One that might have a healer?” I asked Evander.

He looked at me in shock. “Haven’t you been to Spring Court before?”

I flicked a glance at Nellie, who was grinning. I had told her that if she kept my secret about being from Ethereum, I’d buy her some sweets when we found a decent town.

“No,” I said smoothly. “Grew up poor. Never been past the Harvest Mountains.”

I racked my brain, trying to recall the towns I’d seen on the map before it was destroyed.

Evander nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “Buttercup Village is coming up. It’s just across the border. The second biggest town in Spring Court. Plenty of healers there, if you’ve got the coin for them. I certainly don’t.”

Coin. Right.

“I’ll figure that out,” I told him.

I was more of a “figure it out as I go” type of person. There was no sense in worrying about something I didn’t have. Maybe I could convince the healer to help by offering a trade of some sort.

Evander glanced at me and then at his wife, who was now sleeping in the wheelbarrow, her chest rattling with each labored breath.

“You’d do that? For us?” Evander asked, his voice heavy with disbelief.

I was taken aback by his question. I would have wanted to help them anyway, but after the kindness they had already shown us, I certainly wouldn’t let his wife die over a lack of coin.

“Of course. You helped us, and now I’m going to make sure you’re both taken care of.”

I just hoped Lorelei could hang on a little longer.

When we reached Buttercup Village, I was taken aback by its beauty.

Gone were the dust and oil-covered rocks.

This area of Faerie was thriving, and I’d never seen so many beautiful flowers in my life.

The entire road into the city was lined with thick, bluish-purple lavender bushes, their scent alone making me sigh in contentment.

Each house within the white stone gates of the town was painted a pastel color.

Fae of all ages ran to and fro, dressed in bright dresses and suits—even the men.

A man tipped a light green top hat to me as we walked.

“It’s like a dream,” Nellie said, her eyes wide. “And I’ll bet they have a sweets shop.”

Right. I’d need coin for that, too.

I glanced down at Elida, still asleep in front of me, and felt a pang of worry. The purple hue of her lips had darkened.

“Excuse me, milady,” I said, stopping a redheaded fae wearing a vibrant green dress. “Where is your most talented healer?”

She glanced at Elida in the wheelbarrow and then at Evander, her expression softening. “The best in the village is Percival Pennyweather.”

She pointed toward the end of the lane where a bright blue shop bore the sign Healer. Then she hesitated, scanning our dust-covered secondhand clothes. “But the cheapest is Kelsie. She’s in the hot-pink-and-white-striped house across from the sweets shop.”

It was a veiled insult, but she meant well, I knew.

“Thank you.” I tipped my head to her and started toward Percival Pennyweather’s shop.