Chapter 16

" N o." I kneel next to him, reaching out to touch his cold skin. "No, no, no, no," I chant, lowering my head to his chest to feel for a breath. No movement. I feel sick as panic envelops me. That's when I hear it—one slow thump of his heart. Sitting up, I lean across his body and grab his shoulders, shaking them roughly.

"Vaeril, wake up!" I shout, my voice breaking once again. "Wake up! You can't leave me alone out here!"

Watching his chest intently, I let out a cry of pain and frustration when his body remains motionless. I close my eyes, desperately searching for any means to keep him with me, and reach for that connection between us. Looking inside myself, I immediately find our link. Before, it was bright and glowing, but now, it's weak and faded. Grabbing it, I pull as hard as I can.

"No, you are not leaving me, Vaeril, not when we've come this far," I grind out, my eyes still closed as I wrestle with the link, my anger fuelling my actions. "I need you," I say softly. There's a noise in the cave, but I'm so focused on our connection that I don't open my eyes.

Slowly, oh so slowly, the light of the link starts to brighten, pulsing in my hands as I call him to me. "Come back to me." My voice is a whisper now as I feel my energy start to fade, almost as though the brighter his link becomes, the weaker I get.

A gasp fills the cave, the sound loud and desperate, like the person has been underwater for a long time. "Alina." Although his voice is quiet, the name echoes in my mind like someone has struck a bell. Opening my eyes, I look down at Vaeril and see some of his colour is returning, and although his eyes are closed, his chest is moving up and down as he breathes. A relieved laugh escapes me as I lean down and press my ear to his chest, laughing again when I hear his heart beating, slow and steady.

"You came back." I can't stop my smile as I pull away, my hands still resting on his chest. I don't expect him to answer, but when his eyes flicker open, he gives me his signature frown.

"Of course, you needed me." His voice is weak, and some might think his words are romantic, but he says it in a way that implies I'd be useless without him.

"Arrogant ass," I retort with a chuckle. Usually, I would be mad at the backhanded comment, but his teasing is music to my ears. I can tell he's about to pass out soon, so I quickly turn and pick up the forgotten nos weed. "You need to eat this, it will help you."

His frown deepens as he looks at the clumpy green plant in my hand, recognition flashing in his eyes. "Where did you get this?"

Sighing, I push it towards his mouth, determined he will eat it, even if I have to force him.

"Stop talking and eat," I order, and he reaches up to take the weed from me, eyeing it suspiciously before sliding it into his mouth. An expression of disgust immediately crosses his face while he chews the weed, his jaw working overtime as he attempts to chew his way through it.

Deciding to reward him for not throwing the weed back in my face, I take a seat, remove the pack from my back, and leaning against the cave wall. "Stix told me to speak with the kelpies, they got the weed for me."

He stops chewing for a second, his confusion evident. "Sticks?"

"Yeah, he's an imp," I start, but stop speaking when I realise he's not chewing the weed anymore. With a glare from me, he starts to chew again and I continue my story. "He and his friends helped me bring you here, and he told me about the nos weed." Searching through the pack, I remove all our various items, placing everything I would need to dress his wound to one side. "They do not think very highly of high elves by the way, I had to convince him that by helping you, he would be helping me."

I snort at that and lift the flask with the liquor, wincing when I feel how light it is now. We're going to be out soon, possibly with the next dressing change, so I just hope the nos weed helps. I have no idea how it works, but I have to trust that Stix was right.

"He sent you to the kelpies?" Vaeril queries, and I lift my gaze from the flask, noting his incredulous look.

"Yeah, they weren't so bad." I shrug and return to sorting our belongings. We're nearly out of food now, and although I'm very grateful for Stix's gifts of berries and nuts, I find I'm missing meat.

"How did you survive?" His shocked tone catches my attention again and I turn fully to face him. Why is he so surprised by all of this?

"Stix told me to tell them something, I did, and then they listened," I explain simply. I know they have a bad reputation from the images they showed me, and people fear them, but I was able to reason with them, so I don't really understand his disbelief. "They have a lot of anger though." I shudder as I remember that feeling of rage and their hunger as they dragged someone to the bottom of the lake.

Vaeril must be starting to feel better, because he pushes up with his elbows to look at me better. "Kelpies are impossible beasts to deal with, they only care about where their next meal is coming from."

Frowning, I shake my head. "I got more than that from him when he communicated with me."

"Those things can talk?" Astonishment colours his expression again.

"No..." Pausing, I search for the right words. "It pressed its forehead against mine and kind of sent images to me?" I explain, not sure how to describe what had happened when I've never experienced anything like it before.

"You should be dead."

Shrugging again, I turn back to sorting our belongings. "I should have died many times during my life."

He falls silent, and I go through the process of cleaning and redressing his wound, which looks worse than ever. The injury is a deep, angry red colour and is leaking a greenish pus, and the skin around it is tight and shiny. The black lines track from the wound and up his body, and a couple are dangerously close to where his heart is. Thankfully, he passes out while I'm cleaning it, and I use the last of the liquor in the process. That worry plagues me again, but I'm just finishing wrapping up his wound when a shadow falls over the waterfall and the sound of the water changes, like something has disturbed the flow.

Heart pounding, I spin around, reaching for one of the weapons Vaeril packed in the bag, not that I have any idea how to use it. Although, when I see what it is, I start to lower the weapon.

"Don't," Vaeril commands, his hand shooting out and grabbing my arm. "Don't lower it." I don't take my eyes off our visitor, but I can see Vaeril pushing up into a sitting position.

The kelpie has his snout pushed through the water from the fall, his angry amber eyes glowing in the darkness of the cave. It glances between us, its eyes narrowing when it falls on the elf, and a deep rumbling comes from its chest. I want to know why it's here, why it's back, and to do that, I need to get closer. Handing the weapon over to Vaeril, I stand and slowly walk over towards the kelpie.

"Clarissa, no! It will drag you into the water, it will kill you!" he shouts, and I can hear the sounds of him trying to stand to pull me back, but from the cursing, I guess he doesn't have the energy or strength to do that yet.

The kelpie does not like that comment, baring his teeth which, unlike a horse, are needle-like fangs held in a horrifying maw. It makes that deep rumbling sound again and I freeze as it lunges forward, snapping at the elf. I'm pretty sure it's a warning shot, since he's nowhere near the elf and I know that if he wanted to, he could easily reach Vaeril.

"Stay back, he doesn't like you," I order, hoping he'll do as I ask. The kelpie turns back to me, his expression instantly smoothing out as he hears my voice.

"You came back, are you okay?" I ask softly, my mind spinning over why he could be here.

Is he hurt? Does he need help? Has he come to give me more nos weed? Or perhaps he's just come for an evening snack? The questions play out in my head, but I push them aside, sure he isn't here to hurt me.

As soon as I ask the question, he seems to pause, as if reassessing me. I even hear Vaeril's shocked murmur behind me, but I don't turn to see what has him so surprised. The kelpie moves a little farther into the cave so his front hooves are on the stone. Placing one out before him, he bends the other knee and bends his head, and I realise he's bowing to me again. This time, I return the bow—I don't know why I feel compelled to do it, but it seems right.

With a whickering noise of a horse, he rises before disappearing from the waterfall. Confused, I stand straight and begin to turn away when, as quickly as he went, he reappears with a splash. My eyes go wide when I see what he's carrying in his mouth—the largest fish I've ever seen. Pushing into the cave again, he stretches his neck forward and gently drops the fish at my feet.

Glancing from the fish to the expectant creature, I realise he's brought us something to eat. A huge smile spreads across my face, and before Vaeril can do anything to stop me, I place my hand on the kelpie's forehead. "Thank you."

With a nod of his head, he shoots one last death glare at Vaeril, then backs out of the cave, throwing himself into the water.

"He brought you food." I finally turn to Vaeril, who is staring at the fish at my feet, his face dumbstruck. It's not an expression I'm used to seeing on his face and it makes me chuckle.

"Don't be jealous, I'll share it with you," I joke, before looking at the fish again and trying to decide what to do with it.

"Those creatures have an insatiable hunger, they never give away food." He still sounds confused, like he's trying to convince himself he isn't hallucinating.

"Well…" I don't know what to say to him, because the opposite of what he's saying just happened. I also notice how he rarely calls them kelpies, but ‘creatures' or ‘beasts,' and that gets to me. "Have you ever stuck around to see what they might do?" I challenge gently, but that seems to snap him out of his fixation with the fish.

He frowns up at me. "What do you mean?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I try to determine how I can word this without insulting him. "Have you ever spoken to a kelpie?"

He looks at me like I've said something particularly stupid. "No, they are vicious."

"Maybe not always." I gesture to the fish as proof of what I'm saying. He's frowning again, and I can tell this is going to turn into an argument, which is the last thing I want right now. He nearly died earlier, and although the nos weed appears to be working—thank the Mother—he's still weak, so I come up with something to distract him. "Do you know how to cook fish?"

Pausing whatever rant he was about to bestow upon me, he looks between me and the fish then nods.

He sits up and gestures for me to bring the fish to him, which he then begins to fillet. I look away and pack everything back in the bag in case we have to leave the cave quickly for any reason, it's always best to be prepared. Glancing over my shoulder, I see he's almost finished preparing it, using the large leaves we used to store our food in as a surface.

"I'll go and get us some wood to start a fire," I tell him, and make my way towards the waterfall before glancing through a gap in the cascading water. The sun has almost completely set now, and I don't relish the thought of leaving the cave in the dark, but I like the idea of eating raw fish even less.

"No need."

Frowning, I turn from the water to look at him. "What do you mean—" I stop when I see the fish hovering between his hands in a greenish globe. He's using magic, I sense it. His type of magic feels strange, so different than the magic the magicians use. It's not bad, just different. I wait silently as he concentrates, his eyes closed, but I can see the toll it's taking on him, his breathing coming in rapid pants.

The cave fills with the smell of cooked fish and my mouth waters. He drops his hands, the now steaming fish lowering with the movement.

"I thought you couldn't access your magic," I comment, as I watch him portion it out onto the large leaves.

"The nos weed is helping, the poison must have been blocking it," he replies, handing me one of the leaves, and I notice he's given me the larger portion. Accepting it, I sit down with my back against the rock wall, picking my way through the hot food. It's delicious and I can't wait until it's cooled, licking my fingertips to make sure I get every last piece.

I feel his eyes land on me, and as I raise my gaze, I see he's watching me with an amused expression. "Thank you," I blurt, embarrassment tinging my cheeks. I tell myself I'm embarrassed because I didn't thank him for the food rather than the fact that he saw me gulp down my meal like I was still a starving slave. He just nods and leans back against the wall.

We sit in companionable silence for a while, but once our food has settled, we start making up our sleeping spaces. It's almost completely dark in here, since no moonlight streams into the cave like I am used to from sleeping in the trees. I'm pleased to be sleeping on solid ground again and not having to tie myself to a branch, and this also means one of us doesn't have to stay awake to ensure we don't fall. Besides, I don't think anyone would dare disturb us with kelpies guarding the lake. I'm not, however, relishing the thought of sleeping on hard rock. Sure, I managed for the last twelve years, but even though I spent a short time with Grayson, my body has become used to the soft pillows and mattresses. My heart pangs at the thought of Grayson and the guilt I feel because I didn't get to say goodbye or explain why I left.

Rolling up one of the spare pieces of clothing as a pillow, I settle myself on the hard ground, using my cloak as a blanket while Vaeril does the same on the other side of the cave. Closing my eyes, I try to sleep, but I soon discover a problem. It's freezing in here.

Vaeril was right when he told me it was warmer in the forest. Up in the trees, once we were wrapped in our cloaks, it was quite cosy, but here, near the large body of water, it's much colder and the chill from the stone is seeping into my bones, making my body ache.

"Either come over here or stop moving around so much," Vaeril barks, as I roll over onto my side again for what seems like the hundredth time.

"It-it's s-so cold," I say between chattering teeth, my arms wrapped tightly around my body in a desperate bid to keep myself warm.

"Then. Come. Here," he demands, and although he sounds annoyed, I can hear a note of concern in his voice. "You humans are so delicate," he mutters, as I gather up my cloak and makeshift pillow. I use my hands to feel out the ground in front of me until they land on something warm.

Grunting, he makes some comment about poor human eyesight, and I know I've reached him. I set down my pillow, drape my cloak over my body, and slide my hand along the floor, feeling for the edge of his cloak. My hand brushes warm, bare skin and I pause for a moment until I realise it's his arm.

"Just lie down," he grinds out, his other arm reaching across and pulling me half across him. I gasp in shock as I lie sprawled across his chest, thankfully not pressing on his wound.

I freeze, my mind slow to process what's just happened. His body is all hard edges and firm muscles, but also gloriously warm. My fatigue and the stress of the day finally hits me, overriding my logic as the primal, survival part of me takes over, and I snuggle into the warmth.

He lets out a hiss when my cold fingers press against any bare skin they can find. A sigh of contentment escapes me, the link between us practically humming in pleasure. It's still not back to the way it had been, but it's stronger than it was before he'd eaten the nos weed.

My mind is drifting into sleep now, my breathing evening out and becoming deeper, but I don't miss the small, contented hum that rumbles through his chest as his arms tighten around me before I fall into blissful unconsciousness.

The sound of a horse neighing wakes me, and as I peel open my sleep encrusted eyes, I groan at my sore and aching limbs. I do not miss sleeping on cold, rocky floors. Sitting up, I stretch out my arms, enjoying the feeling of everything settling back into place as I look down at my companion. At some point during the night, I must have moved off his chest since we were lying side by side when I awoke. That's when it hits me.

I slept on an elf's chest. My breath catches in my throat and I have to take a large, calming breath. No, you've slept next to him before, pressed up against each other in trees. It wasn't an issue then, why would it be one now? I justify. We've been on the run together for a while now, so it can't be that I'm worried because he's an elf. The only reason it would be an issue is if you have feelings for him. My eyes widen at the realisation.

Mother above, is that it? I have feelings for him?

I stare down at the still sleeping elf. Sure, he's stunning in an exotic way, and we have this pull between us. I think back to the looks shared between us, and the fact he wouldn't leave the castle without me even though he could.

No, he was just being kind, I theorise, shaking my head at the thought he could care for me in that way. He hates humans, and I don't blame him for that, but I also can't change who I am. Then I remember how I felt yesterday when I thought I had lost him. It was like someone had ripped my heart from my chest and the world would never be the same again.

What about Grayson? What about Tor? They've both made their feelings clear about you, you should stick with someone from your own race. As soon as I have the thought, I frown. It doesn't sit right with me. Race shouldn't matter when it comes to love. Love. Whoa, slow down. I'm working myself into a state. I know for sure I don't love Vaeril, or Tor or Grayson for that matter, at least not yet. Who knows what could have developed if I'd had more time with them?

Groaning at the direction my thoughts have gone, I raise my hands and rub my face, wishing I could scrub the thoughts away with the motion.

The neighing noise catches my attention again, and I frown towards the cave entrance, about to get up and find out what's going on when Vaeril groans. Frowning, I turn to look at him again and realise he appears pale and sweaty. I place my hand on his forehead and curse at the heat rolling off him.

"Vaeril, wake up," I call, shaking his shoulder, but he just groans and rolls his head towards me, his eyes scrunched tightly shut. "I'm going to check your wound," I inform him as I lift his shirt. I don't know how well he can hear what I'm saying, but I don't want him to pull away while I'm looking at his injury.

Seeing the state of his chest, I close my eyes tightly as despair fills me.

"It's bad?"

My eyes fly open and I see Vaeril watching me with a frown. I take a deep breath and plaster on a fake smile, shaking my head. "We just need to move a bit faster, get you to your people," I say quickly, racking my brain for ways to make this better. "I'll get more nos weed, that helped before."

"Clarissa—Alina," he calls when I don't look at him the first time, and his expression makes my face drop.

"No, we don't give up, we're so close. I'll go speak with the kelpies—"

As soon as I say it, I hear another loud neigh, and something connects in my mind—it's not a horse making that noise, it's the kelpies. Why would they—

A shadow falls over us as someone enters the cave entrance, and when I glance up, thinking it's the kelpie again, I see two elves wearing some kind of armour as they point spears at us.

The one on the left is saying something in elvish, gesturing with his spear. My heart is racing, and I put up my hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you. Please, help my friend." I gesture towards Vaeril, who has chosen this moment to pass out again. The elf on the right slowly moves over to Vaeril as the one closest to me raises his eyebrows.

"Show me your ears," he orders, in thickly accented Arhavien, and with a nervous swallow, I do so with shaky hands. "Human!" he shouts with disgust, his spear jabbing towards me as I scramble away, my back hitting the cave wall behind me.

"Please, just help my friend. He's an elf, and he's sick," I plead, hoping they listen to me. At this point, I don't care what happens to me, I just want him to be safe.

"Martok!" the other elf shouts, pulling our attention to him, his eyes wide with shock. He says something quickly in elvish, and the guard pointing a spear at me looks down quickly at Vaeril. They exchange a glance before the one at Vaeril's side calls out, and I hear the sound of more approaching feet.

"Why are you here?" the guard pointing his spear at me demands.

"My friend needs help, we escaped together," I answer, but his expression doesn't change so I don't know if he understood me or not.

An older-looking elf enters the cave and looks around with an air of disgust, frowning when he sees me. The elf at Vaeril's side speaks to the older elf in elvish, and his repulsed mien turns to one of surprise, then joy, and then concern. Turning back to the cave entrance, he announces something urgently in elvish. More elves enter the cave, hurrying to Vaeril, and one of them carries a board which I assume they will attempt to slide him onto.

"Will he be okay?" I ask, instantly wishing I hadn't when the older elf turns to me. He doesn't stare at me with contempt like the others do, but his anger is obvious.

"You are coming with us. You are now a prisoner of the high elves."