Little Fire: A Fantasy Romance (Warriors of the Five Realms Book 1) by Hollee Mands

Author:Hollee Mands [Mands, Hollee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780645141511
Published: 2021-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-four

“Railea’s tears, Lily!” Evangeline dashed forward to stop the girl’s convulsive thrashing. Lying prone on the bed, Lily lashed out, hands curled like claws, as though fighting an imaginary battle. Wordless cries escaped her lips as she scored Evangeline’s forearms. Evangeline didn’t release her, not even after the nurses pushed through to administer sedatives and the girl stilled with artificial calm.

“Another episode?” Mailin asked from the doorway with concern etched on her face. Evangeline could only nod, her throat a constricted tunnel as she continued to cradle Lily amid her twisted sheets. Her disfigured face slowly slackened. Evangeline murmured quiet reassurances as the girl’s eyes resumed a glassy state.

Like Surin, Lily remained silent. They’d never learned her name, but one day when Evangeline had brought in a bouquet of calla lilies she’d sourced from Jorge—who turned out to be a groundskeeper—the girl had perked up enough to caress the soft, dewy petals. Since then, Evangeline had taken to calling her Lily. The girl didn’t seem to mind.

Evangeline lowered Lily back onto the bed and moved aside so Mailin could channel healing energy into the girl. The scratches Lily had given herself knitted back together with preternatural speed. Eyes bright and skin flushed, Mailin reached for Evangeline’s arm.

“It’s all right. It doesn’t hurt,” Evangeline said. The halfbreed healed by expending inner energy. Every healing process, no matter how small, drained her, and Evangeline wasn’t willing to wear out a pregnant woman over a few scratches.

Mailin frowned. “Don’t be silly, Evie. It’s not going to take much energy, and besides, the sire will not be pleased to see you marked up yet again.”

Evangeline sighed. Mailin was right. She had been back for less than two weeks, and she’d already been kicked in the gut, scratched, and bitten. Every evening she met Declan for dinner, and he was already making a habit of examining her for evidence of Lily’s violent tendencies, expressing quiet displeasure with every new mark he discovered.

“Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all,” Declan had muttered darkly the previous night as he traced faint scratch marks on her forearms that had escaped Mailin’s notice.

Mailin’s healing energy flowed into her bloodstream, and Evangeline shut her eyes with a sigh as her body tingled from the warmth. Mailin, the only halfbreed in Declan’s employ, had healing energies distinct from the other healers in the castle. Perhaps it was the burgeoning friendship they had, but the healer’s magic somehow resonated with her.

They were walking out of the main ward into Mailin’s office when the healer blurted abruptly, “You’ve been hurt before, haven’t you?”

Evangeline blinked. “Huh?”

“You’ve been traumatized in the past. So badly your psyche bears scars.”

Startled by the unexpected remark, Evangeline stumbled into a stack of carelessly placed books, toppling the pile. Mailin caught her deftly by her forearm and winced. “I really should tidy up. And . . . I’m sorry, Evie. I shouldn’t have mentioned anything. It was intrusive of me.”

Evangeline brushed off her skirt before crouching to help Mailin with the books.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.