Page 62 of The Sunbound Princess
There was no time to ponder his restraint. “This way,” I told Ezabell, hurrying to a gap in the worn fence that circled the village. The inn waited at the end of a row of squat, crumbling buildings, its flaking sign barely legible.
“It’s not a brothel,” I murmured to Ezabell as I ushered her inside.
The common room was deserted except for an old man asleep behind the bar. His snores followed us as we climbed a creaking, narrow staircase to the second floor. Worry climbed with me, visions of Dain’s ashen face filling my mind.
My hand shook as I tried to open the door, the key rattling in the lock.
“Here,” Ezabell murmured, putting her hand over mine. “Let me.”
I stepped aside. She opened the door, and I rushed into the room. Dain lay on his back on the narrow bed, his face pale andhis lips cracked. His eyes were closed. The curse webbed all the way to his chin, its glow brighter than the sun coming through the window.
“Gods,” Ezabell breathed. She rushed to the bed and smoothed a hand over his brow. The moment she touched him, light snapped between them. Magic shoved me backward, my shoulder slamming into the door frame.
“Again,” I croaked, my heart pounding and my gaze fixed on the bed.
Ezabell pulled the sheet down to Dain’s waist. She pressed both hands to his bare chest, magic crackling as she made contact. He jolted, a barking cough erupting from his throat. His eyes flew open, his gaze wild and unfocused. Color rushed into his face as he sucked in a deep breath.
Relief buckled my knees, and I caught myself against the door.
Dain gazed up at Ezabell with wonder in his eyes. “Are you real?” he croaked. “Or am I dead?”
“You’re alive,” she said, sitting on the bed. She took his hand, and light flared between their palms. The sickly yellow rivers retreated beneath his skin.
I fumbled with the buttons of my shirt, tipping my head down to examine my own chest. The curse receded in my veins too.
Dain shifted, struggling to sit up. I crossed to the bed and stuffed pillows behind his back. He was still warm, but not burning. Purple smudges darkened the skin beneath his eyes, but the glassy, feverish look was gone. With his hair loose around his shoulders, he looked like one of the pirates who terrorized the Iron Sea.
“How did you find us?” he asked Ezabell in a rasping voice.
She hesitated. “Nikolas found me. He said you were dying.”
Dain looked at me, his blue eyes dipping to my chest still visible between my opened shirt. “How did you know this would work?”
“I didn’t,” I said honestly. Relief loosened my knees again, and I rounded the bed and leaned a hip on Dain’s other side. Taking his hand, I kissed his knuckles. “I had to try. I won’t lose you.”
A flush rose beneath the golden stubble shadowing his jaw. He rubbed his thumb over mine. “Well, you didn’t. You’re stuck with me.”
Ezabell watched us. Quiet settled over the room. Accusations hovered in the air.
“I think you might be stuck with us, too,” I said, meeting her eyes across Dain’s body.
Her expression didn’t change. “Is that supposed to be a jest?”
Damn.I was messing everything up. “A poor one,” I said. “I’m good at those.” When she merely stared at me, I drew an uneven breath. “I don’t know how you healed us, but you did. If I had to guess, I’d say your Dokimasi wants us with you. Elven magic must be stronger than Viraxes’s curse. For better or worse, Dain and I have some kind of role to play in your quest.”
“And now you’ve got the protection you need,” she said, her tone letting me know she’d already guessed why her connection with Dain healed him. Her slight smile didn’t reach her eyes. “How convenient.”
Pain flowed underneath her words. She hid it well, but I still heard it. Dain always said I was good with words. Really, I was good at reading people. I’d made a career out of observing—of waiting until the right moment to pick a pocket or cut a coin purse. People were easily distracted by smiles and pretty words. If I charmed them well enough, they never noticed me lightening their pockets.
For once, I wanted someone to see me—and stay.
Rising, I moved around the bed. Ezabell’s eyes flared when I sank to one knee at her feet. “I wanted the sunstone,” I said. “That part was true. But Dain didn’t. He’s been on your side all along.”
Her jaw tightened. “And yet he went along with your plan anyway.”
“Because I’m a fool,” Dain muttered.
“He’s not,” I said, looking up at Ezabell. “And he didn’t. Dain would have let Viraxes’s curse eat him alive before he betrayed you. You have my word on that, Princess.”
