Page 10 of Broken Hearted (Cursed Fae #3)

I traveled two hours outside of Soleum before stopping at an inn in a small village. When we’d arrived, I’d told the innkeeper Adrien was my husband and that he’d drunk too much, and so I needed help getting him inside. The innkeeper had given me a look that said he absolutely didn’t believe me when I led him to the bed of the wagon where Adrien was sprawled out. And I hadn’t blamed him.

Worried that someone would recognize their lord, I’d stopped on the side of the road before then and smeared mud on his face to conceal his features. I’d taken Adrien’s fancy jacket off earlier, and dirtied his pants and clothes as well. There was no way the innkeeper had believed my story, but when I’d offered him extra coin, he’d only shrugged before hefting Adrien on his shoulder and carrying him up to our room for me.

Now I chewed on my bottom lip as I stared at Adrien’s prone form, worried I’d hit him too hard because it’d been hours since I smuggled him out of Soleum, and he was still unconscious. Maybe it was something in the concoction that Elisana had been forcing down his throat for so long that slowed his natural healing or made it hard for him to wake? I didn’t know. If his chest hadn’t been steadily rising and falling I’d have thought he was dead.

At first, I thought it was good luck he wasn’t waking, but now … I was concerned.

My stomach was in knots as I stood and walked closer to where he lay, pausing at the side of the bed to look down at him.

I hadn’t wanted to restrain him, but the tea that Adrien had been drinking was clearly some potion that Elisana had used to brainwash him, so there was no telling what he would do until it was out of his system. So after the innkeeper had set him on the bed and left, I tore one of the bedsheets into strips and tied Adrien’s arms to the metal bed frame.

I cocked my head as I stared down at him, a little put out that even covered in mud I found him attractive.

He was going to be mad when he woke.

If he wakes , my mind whispered, and a bolt of fear shot through me.

No, not if , when . He was going to be fine.

Turning, I grabbed a rag and dipped it in a deep bowl of water intended for hand washing. The least I could do for him was wipe the mud off his face so he was clean when he regained consciousness.

After I had wrung the excess water out of the towel, I twisted back toward Adrien to find a pair of angry, teal eyes staring back at me.

Yelping in surprise, I dropped the rag, and it hit the floor with a splat.

“Adrien,” I said, pressing a hand against my furiously pounding heart. “You’re awake.” Sweet relief rushed me, overshadowing the angry glower on his face.

“Why am I tied to this bed?” he asked, each word clipped and laced with ice. “And why does it feel like a horse sat on my head?”

“Right, that,” I said, wringing my hands. “Well, it’s kind of a long story …” Where did I even begin?

Suddenly, a wall of shadows appeared to my left and right, boxing me in place, and I shrieked in surprise.

Was this his power?

“Start talking,” he growled.

I pulled the moisture from the bowl of water I’d dipped the towel in and created a long thin sword, pointing it at his neck. As it suspended in midair, I expected to see anger in his gaze, but I only saw mirth and a flash of respect. Like he enjoyed a worthy opponent.

“I’ll speak when I feel safe,” I told him and gestured to the walls of shadows pressing into my shoulders.

He sighed, and the shadows dissipated. I tossed my ice sword to the floor, and it shattered into a dozen pieces.

“Okay, Isolde. Why did you steal me away from my wedding and tie me to the bedpost?” he asked with one eyebrow raised.

When he put it that way, it sounded awful.

I gave a nervous laugh. “Well, I went to see the Wise Ones and they told me what I needed to do in order to end this curse. But I’ll need your help.”

His brows drew together. “I will gladly help you. But why couldn’t you at least have waited until after my wedding to my beloved?”

On second thought, tying him up did seem a bit excessive now. But hearing the words “my beloved” caused a sharp pain to form in my chest.

“She’s not your beloved,” I spat with more anger than I should have had. “She’s a witch. I caught her doing a spell over your precious tea .”

A dark look overtook Adrien’s face, transforming his handsome features. “Liar. You’re here to carve out my heart!” He bucked against the restraints and the shadows were back, pressing in on me. I re-created my ice sword and pressed it against his throat.

“Adrien, I don’t know you very well, but you seem like an intelligent man. Why do you think she pushed you to drink your tea every day?”

He frowned. “Because she loves me. She cares about my health. Besides, I haven’t had the tea in a few days. I tossed it out because my sleep had improved.”

“ No , because she was drugging you with some love potion,” I told him.

“Elisana is not a witch. She’s my future wife.” The dark walls pressed closer into me, and even though they were made of shadows, they began to crush me like a boulder, squeezing the air from my lungs.

I moved the tip of my ice sword to his neck until a single drop of blood formed. He eased the shadows off, which allowed me to breathe and have some limited range of motion.

We were in a standoff. I’d forgotten he was an Ethereum lord, and therefore powerful.

Plan B.

“I’m not here to kill you, okay? In order to do that, I would need this.” I pulled my faestone blade from its sheath and then held it out with the handle facing him. “Here, you can have it. As a show of good faith.”

I walked slowly toward him, the shadows moving with me as I reached out to lay the blade by his head.

He tracked me with his eyes, and I could see a cloudiness there. The tea was still at work, and I would need to detox it from his system before he saw reason.

As his attention was engrossed with the faestone dagger beside him, I sent a hunk of blunt ice from the floor into his temple, knocking him out cold.

Again.

The shadows fell away, and I sighed.

This was not how I had planned for this to go.

* * *

After paying the innkeeper nearly all of my coin, he procured a fae with a dampener rune wand and the ability to use it. I needed Adrien’s powers neutralized for the next few days, and that was the only way I could think to do it.

When the fae arrived, I was a little surprised at his elegant appearance. In his early thirties with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, he strode confidently into the room with a bowler hat and three-piece suit, but there was a conniving look in his eye that made my skin crawl.

“You can dampen his powers?” I asked.

He just nodded, walking over to the bed without sparing me a second glance. Opening Adrien’s shirt, he drew the rune onto his naked chest with his wand.

His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. “Love potion. Interesting. No judgment,” he told me with a smirk.

“It’s not mine,” I protested.

He could smell it? Did that make him a witch too? I swallowed hard.

He raised one eyebrow. “Well, if he’s coming down from it, you are in for a rough few days.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

He held out his hand as if to say that his knowledge cost money. I’d already paid him for the rune.

With a growl, I dropped two coins in his palm.

“Depending how long he’s been ingesting it, he’ll get sick after a few days and then the potion will try to make him cling to thoughts of whoever it was focused on. It’s ugly.”

My heart hammered in my chest at the thought of it. I felt so bad for Adrien and even more furious at Elisana. If this fae was right, we were both in for a rough few days. If he’d already stopped drinking the tea, then he would probably start getting sick soon. But what I was really dreading was having to endure listening to him cling to Elisana for who knows how long after that.

“How do I get the rune off when I don’t need it anymore?” I asked the man as he glanced at Adrien in bed. Dispelling runes was no doubt part of Dawn’s training to be a champion, but I’d only had time for a crash course before coming to Ethereum.

His gaze fell to the blue faestone dagger on the pillow beside Adrien’s head. Desire flashed in his eyes and I snaked my hand out and sheathed the weapon back at my hip.

“One touch of that blade will do,” the fae said. “Unless you want to sell it to me.”

“No chance. Thank you for your time.” It was a goodbye, and my tone was firm. He got the point and with a little hesitation, he left.

It only took about ten more minutes for Adrien to rustle awake. He was out for a much shorter time than before, which I was going to take as a good sign. But when he glanced down at the rune on his chest, he growled and then bucked like a maniac in the bed.

“Shhh, calm down,” I told him. Running to his side, I tried to soothe him. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

His gaze flew to mine. “You dampened my power? You are trying to kill me.” Fear flashed in his eyes, and I splayed my hand out on top of the rune across his chest. His heart fluttered wildly against my palm, and my gaze fell to his lips.

“I would never hurt you, Adrien.” The honest admission shocked me, and for a wild second I considered kissing him to prove we were mates.

“I need Elisana. I need my love,” he begged, and it was like ice-cold water down my veins. I retracted my hand as if I’d been burned.

“She’s a witch,” I reminded him.

His face contorted. “Don’t speak about her like that,” he yelled, his eyes wild and unfocused. A thin sheen of sweat beaded his brow, and he looked a little ashen.

I glanced at the door. Was it safe to stay here for a few days? I doubted it.

I thought of the way the fae had stared at my dagger. He wanted to steal it, I was sure of it. And the innkeeper knew I had a man up here against his will. How long before the fae either returned for the dagger or the innkeeper sold me out?

I grasped the sides of Adrien’s face, my gaze boring into his. “Adrien, I need you to trust me. You’re going to have a rough few days as the love potion Elisana force-fed you wears off, and then, when you are feeling better, we can talk about how you can help me. But first we need to get out of here. It will be easier if you work with me. I don’t want to knock you unconscious again.”

He yanked his head out of my grasp and turned away from me, vomiting all over the side of the bed.

My stomach roiled at the sight. I’d taken care of my little sisters when they were sick many times, but I didn’t enjoy it.

I ran over to where there was a bucket sitting in the corner of the room, catching a slow drip from a roof leak, and snatched it. Holding the bucket under Adrien’s face as best as I could, he threw up again. I felt bad that he was vomiting with his hands tied, so I unknotted the strips of cloth and he sat up and grasped the bucket, heaving into it over and over again. He barely had time to breathe between retches. It was awful.

If he tried to hurt me, I’d use my powers on him, but with the dampener rune on his chest I felt confident he wouldn’t be a danger to me.

When he finally seemed to have nothing left in his belly he slumped back in bed with a groan. “We need to move to another town. We are too exposed,” I told him and then leaning forward, I hooked my head under his left armpit.

He moaned as I forced him to stand and his legs nearly buckled. Poor guy. Since it was well into the night, I was hoping that everyone was already abed at the inn and we wouldn’t draw much attention as we left.

I was wrong. Despite the late hour, the inn’s tavern was still crowded and we garnered multiple stares as we stumbled downstairs and out the door, the bucket still clenched in my free hand just in case.

“Too much mead,” I laughed nervously, and clutched Adrien’s unbuttoned shirt closed over the rune to cover it. When we got to our wagon I tossed the contents of the bucket into a bush and lay Adrien in the back with it.

“I’m dying,” he said between heaves.

“No, you aren’t. You’re purging Elisana’s poison.” Hadn’t the fae said something about the duration of the sickness depending on how long he’d been enchanted?

“How long were you and Elisana together?” I asked, but then amended the question. “Or rather, how long has Elisana been making your tea?”

“Almost.” He heaved. “A year.” And then he threw up again.

I sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Leaving Adrien in the back of the wagon, I climbed up onto the front bench. Clicking my tongue, I pointed us in the direction of some lights in the distance, and steeled myself for no rest.

We passed a small town in the dead of night. My eyelids kept closing: it had been days now since I’d had a decent night’s sleep, but I knew just one town over from where we were last seen was the first place anyone would look for us. I imagined by now Elisana would be scouring the kingdom for Adrien. So once the lights from the town were far enough behind us, I pulled the horses off on a dirt path that headed east into some sparsely wooded forest.

The moonlight illuminated the path, but just barely. My intention was to pull the wagon into the woods and sleep for a few hours, but at the end of the path was a tiny cabin with no lights on. I wondered if someone lived there or if it was one of those seasonal cabins people used for hunting or fishing trips like we did in winter.

Adrien’s sickness had slowed, but he still moaned between retches, and my heart ached for him. I pulled the wagon right up to the small house, deciding if someone was there, I’d tell them I was lost or offer coin for lodging.

I knocked on the door, quite loudly since it was the middle of the night and I wanted to wake whoever lived there.

Then I waited. One minute. Two.

I knocked again, swaying on my feet with exhaustion just as Adrien got sick in the wagon for the hundredth time.

Finally, feeling bold, I tried the handle.

Locked.

“Forgive me.” I used my power to throw a ball of ice at the small window next to the knob, and the sound of crashing glass filled the space.

I winced, but there were no shouts of alarm. I thought we were safe, so I reached in and twisted the lock, throwing the door wide open.

“Hello,” I called, but there was no answer.

My shoulders sagged in relief. I’d leave coin for the broken window, but I really needed sleep.

I went back to the wagon and hoisted Adrien against my side.

“Why are you trying to kill me?” he asked. “I want Elisana. I love her. That soft skin, those brown eyes. I need her.”

I wanted to tell him to shut up, but I knew it was just the effects of the potion leaving his system and took his renewed obsession with her as a good sign.

“She’s on her way,” I lied. He was delirious at this point.

“She is?” He perked up a little. “My love?” He stumbled into the cabin, his boots crunching the broken glass as he walked, before collapsing onto the couch. One more heave into the bucket I’d had the sense to grab from the wagon and then he was lights out.

The living room, kitchen, and dining area were all in one main room. The space was sparsely furnished, but looked to have everything necessary for a hunting cabin. There was a narrow hallway at the back that might have led to a bedroom, but I didn’t have the energy to search for it, let alone try to get Adrien up and moving again. I went back and shut the door, and then fell onto the bearskin rug in front of the couch. I just needed a few hours of sleep.

* * *

Sunlight danced across my skin and my eyelids flew open. My gaze shot frantically to the couch where Adrien was shivering, a waxy pale ghost.

Oh, stars!

I sat up, rushing to feel his head and pulled my hand back with a hiss.

Fever. This evil hag had such a grip on him that her spell wouldn’t leave him without a fever.

“I’ll kill her,” I vowed.

“Elisana,” he mumbled in his delirium. Even in his darkest hour, he wanted her. I hated her even more for that.

Was it because I wanted my name mumbled on his lips?

I shook myself, pushing those thoughts out of my head. Then I got to work. I did everything Mother did for us when we were sick. I rinsed the bucket in the stream and fetched water with a clean pail they had in the kitchen. I swept the glass from the entry and left the coins on the table with a note so I wouldn’t forget.

Then I got a cool bucket of water to give Adrien a sponge bath. Wrestling him out of his shirt and shoes and pants. He lay there in his under garment and I couldn’t help but stare. He was all muscle, toned in every area, and deeply tanned all the way down to right above his hips.

Clearing my throat and focusing on the task at hand, I brushed his teeth as he mumbled Elisana’s name and spit into a cup for me. Then I ran the cool cloth along his face, his cheek, and his neck, cleaning off the remnants of the mud I’d smeared on him the day before. I dipped it back in the bucket and brought it to his forehead, and he moaned.

His face felt a bit cooler, but when I touched his stomach it was scorching. After rinsing the cloth in the bucket again, I ran it along his abdomen, my cheeks heating with a blush I was sure was redder than a tomato. I leaned forward and blew across his now wet skin like our mother did, and he sighed.

“I love you,” he whispered, and I froze.

The shock of those three words, even if they were not aimed at me but his fever dream, hit me hard. It was something my mother and father had said to each other countless times. I love you. In the end, the I love yous meant nothing.

I tossed the rag in the bucket and stood, working to clean up the space a bit more and hunt for food in the cupboard. After finding some dried meat and canned fruits, I fed myself and poured some of the fruit syrup into Adrien’s mouth.

By the time night fell again, I was exhausted. Adrien’s fever was still high and I’d given him three sponge washes. I was starting to worry this love spell detox might kill him. If he wasn’t better by morning I’d have to leave and search for a healer, risking Elisana finding him. I lay on the floor next to the couch where Adrien slept fitfully and ran the cool rag over his face as long as I could before sleep took me.