Every moment near him only intensifies the feelings. Without the filter on my elfish powers in place, those feelings seem to have multiplied exponentially. If we make it through this excursion without me shamelessly throwing myself at him, it’ll be a miracle.
“Do you need any help with that?” I finally find my voice—and my manners—though it’s clear he has it under control.
“I’m good, princess.” He waggles his eyebrows at me, wordlessly conveying the double entendre.
Believe me, Saban, when I say I’ve already guessed that.
He puts the boat down at the water’s edge and turns to me with his outstretched hand. “Let me help you in.”
Although I don’t need help stepping into a canoe that’s halfway on dry land, I don’t want to deny him a chance to display chivalry either. When I take his hand, a devilish grin covers his face, and I’m whisked into the air before I can shriek in surprise. Cradled in his arms, snug against his chest, face-to-face with this handsome man, I feel my self-restraint nearly break. Our eyes are locked in an intense conversation all their own. If he instigates anything, we will not make it off the shore today.
He releases a long, pained sigh. “You’re killing me, princess.”
I’m more than a little disappointed when he puts me down inside the canoe on the front seat, but I hide it behind a happy smile. The next move is mine—when I fully commit myself to him. Until then, we’ll both suffer through cold showers and unmet needs.
He pushes off from the shore as he steps in then takes the seat behind me. With the oars in hand, we slowly paddle until we reach the middle where the water is the deepest. The lakes here are teeming with all kinds of flashy fish and multicolored coral—the kind I’ve only seen on TV in an exotic Caribbean island location.
“What are those statues on the bottom?” I lean over the side of the boat to get a better look.
“They’re statues of King Taerel and Queen Wren.”
My heart stops beating. My lungs stop drawing breaths. I’m not sure how I’m still conscious. I turn in my seat to gauge his response.
“Why did you put them down there?”
“There was a discussion among the leaders about destroying them because of what happened after the mage attacks. The leaders didn’t think we should still have their likenesses in the realm, much less in the palace. But I didn’t agree with them. I took the statues away before anyone had a chance to take matters into their own hands. When I come here to be alone, I swim a lot. They keep me company when I’m in the water, and they’re safe from anyone who would want to destroy them.”
“That’s incredible of you to do that, Saban. To save important artifacts from Easthaven Crest’s history without regarding them as contraband, as most people would. Not many have the extraordinary insight you do. You’re able to see past the extraneous information and find the most important points.”
He shrugs and averts his eyes, uncomfortable with the praise I’m heaping on him. For all the attention he gets for his dashing good looks, muscular physique, and status in the community, he’s not accustomed to being admired for his intelligence. But I find that attribute every bit as sexy as his physical characteristics.
“For what it’s worth, I believe you would’ve made a great king.”
His eyes snap to meet mine, searching for confirmation I’m sincere. I am, without a doubt. Gratitude floods his features before he swallows hard, pushing the ball of emotion back down where it belongs. With a slow, purposeful nod, he expresses his appreciation. Then he resumes paddling the canoe, but I sense a shift in his disposition. That little bit of encouragement filled him with confidence, something he could fake with the others but not with me.
“If you were so stoked to see the mermaids, I assume you haven’t seen a dragon up close and personal, then?”
“No, I haven’t. Are you saying there are dragons in this water too?”
“I’ve seen two or three here over the years. Not very often, but maybe we’ll get lucky today.”
“Are they dangerous? I mean, will they attack us on sight?”
“They can be dangerous, of course. But for the most part, if you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. They have a bad reputation because they’ve had to defend themselves from cruel people. If someone tried to kill or imprison me, I’d fight to the death too, so I can’t blame them for how they’ve retaliated.”
The sun is directly overhead, the hottest part of the day, and I’m beginning to glisten with beads of sweat. Unable to resist any longer, I lean to the right and let my hand glide through the cool water. I close my eyes, pulling the light into me and focusing on my new powers from my elf father, while Saban steers the boat by switching his oar from side to side. Then the unmistakable sensation of scales underneath my fingers snatches me from my thoughts.
When I open my eyes, we’re in the shallow water near an outcrop of rocks, on the other side of the lake from the cottage. A beautiful creature with the most vibrant purple and gold features watches me cautiously, unsure of my intentions. I gasp loudly, causing it to retreat from my touch.
“Don’t be scared. I would never hurt you.” I extend my hand with my palm up, letting it decide to return to me on its own.
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if they could talk to us? I’ve always wanted to be able to communicate with animals, especially dragons.” Saban moved closer behind me without me even realizing it. My focus is solely on the incredible dragon who still doesn’t trust me.
With a single touch, her thoughts flow to mine, immediately bringing tears of pure joy to my eyes. “You are absolutely the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. What’s your name, huh?”
My name is Fadryth. Are you Saraya?
“Let’s call her Fadryth. It means ‘the gentle.’ It suits her.” I gently stroke the side of her face and let the answer to her question flow back to her.
“That’s a lovely name. It fits her perfectly.”
I heard you were here. That’s why I came to meet you for myself. Will you really heal the realm, like the prophecy says?
Prophecy? No one has mentioned a prophecy to me yet. Another little talk with Ginevra seems to be in order.
I don’t know anything about a prophecy, but I’ll do my best to help the realm.
The dragons and vampires support you, Saraya. Call my name when you need my help. I’ll protect you with my life.
She lowers her head and leans forward. Our foreheads touch, and we remain in that position for several heartbeats. I can feel the tension and anxiety leave her body. Her muscles relax, and her tail slices languidly through the water. My hands are on either side of her head, affectionately rubbing her with long strokes. Similar to my bond with Laurelai, I feel a connection to this dragon. She’s not my spirit animal, but she is a kindred soul.
Without warning, an evil laugh that sounds like as a shrill scream fills my thoughts. It’s so loud, I snatch my hands away from her and cover my ears in pain. Through the noise, I try to focus on the source to pinpoint it. I know without a shadow of a doubt it’s the dark warlock trying to force me out into the open with any trick he can muster.
Fadryth hears it too and instantly recoils. Her enormous wings unfurl, and she lifts herself out of the water to perch on top of the rocky ledge. The sudden movement sends large waves rocking our small boat like a pendulum out of control. I’m thrown out of the opposite side of the canoe.
Saban moves to grab me, but the boat is still rocking violently from side to side. Even with Saban’s naturally athletic build, he can’t maintain his balance. His foot catches on the boat just before he’s thrown out, leaving a gaping hole in the hull. The sound of his head striking the rock is so loud, I can hear it from where I’m treading water behind the sinking canoe. His body goes limp just before rolling into the water, facedown.
“Saban!” I scream his name, but he doesn’t move.
Knowing I have no time to waste, I kick my feet as hard as I can. When I reach him, I qu
ickly turn him right-side up. I check his breathing. His chest isn’t moving. Then I try to find a pulse, but there isn’t one. There’s no physical way to perform chest compressions while in the water. I have to get him to solid ground.
With my arm wrapped around him, I kick hard, drawing on my elf strength, and power my way to the shore.
“Saban, come on. You can’t do this to me now. You have to wake up.” Tears sting the backs of my eyes, but I refuse to give in to the terror welling up inside me. That won’t save him. We’re out here alone. I’m all he has right now. “Think rationally, Sara.”
I send the light from me into him, coursing through his veins to keep the blood circulating to his organs. Then I focus on his lungs and draw out the water. When he inhales and begins coughing, I roll him onto his side. The gash on his head looks terrible, but I remember head wounds swell and bleed worse than other locations. I take the outward swelling as a good sign that he doesn’t have a significant head injury.
When he stops coughing and seems to be regaining consciousness, I roll him onto his back and use my wet shirt as a bandage to stem the blood flow.
“What the hell happened?” His hand goes to the giant goose egg already formed on his forehead.
“Shh. Just lie still for a minute. You hit your head on the rocks when you fell out of the boat. You nearly drowned, Saban. You scared me to death. We have to make sure you don’t have any other injuries I don’t know about.”
“I’m okay, princess. My head is throbbing, but nothing else hurts.” He looks around and realizes we’re on the shore on the opposite side of the lake. “How did we get all the way over here?”
How do I explain this? There’s no way human me could physically haul him out of the water.
“Umm, Fadryth helped us. She grabbed you, and I pointed to this shore. I wanted to be closer to the horse in case I had to get you somewhere fast for help.”
He stares up at me for a moment, both shocked and pleased with my concern for him. “You really do care about me, don’t you? You’re nothing like the others who have tried to catch my eye over the years, only thinking about what they can get.”
“Of course I care about you. This is not an act. I would never use someone like that, make them believe I cared when I didn’t. I can’t believe you’d even question that.”
A shadow of regret settles over his face, but it doesn’t belong solely to him. Isla put that notion about me in his head. She insinuated I only wanted Saban because I have nothing of my own. With him, my life would be easy, and everything would be given to me on a silver platter.
“I’m sorry—”
“Forget about it. Let’s see if you can sit up now.” I cut him off before he can finish his apology. It’s not that I’m not willing to hear him out, but I can tell most of this is coming from his sister. He shouldn’t have to apologize for her, too.
I help steady him when he lifts his back off the ground. After a few moments of sitting without feeling dizzy or sick, he’s on his feet and gingerly touching his head. That’s when he realizes the wet bandage is actually my shirt and his eyes fly to my exposed chest. Not that my bra covers less than a bikini top would, but the moment feels uniquely intimate.
“You covered my wound with your shirt?” His fingers link with mine.
“You needed a bandage, and I didn’t have anything else to use.”
He shakes his head, then immediately regrets it. “You never cease to amaze me. Come on, let’s find one of my shirts in the cottage for you to wear. There may be some first aid supplies in there too.”
Chapter 19
Saban and I walk to the cottage with our arms wrapped around each other. With each step, the full realization of what just happened strikes me like a hammer hitting a nail. If I hadn’t been able to restart his heart…if I hadn’t had the ability to withdraw the water from his lungs…if he hadn’t started breathing again. There are so many ways today could’ve had a much different outcome—one that didn’t end with Saban walking beside me.
By the time we reach the door, my entire body is shaking after coming down from the sudden dump of adrenaline. Now that the rush of excitement from being in the moment is over, reality is biting me in the ass. I’m supposed to be taking care of the man who almost drowned, not falling apart from the stress of everything.
Apologies filter into my thoughts from Fadryth, but I assure her she has nothing to be sorry about. I would’ve backed away from that evil laugh if I’d been capable of getting away from it. Everything that happened afterward was simply an accident, one she shouldn’t feel guilty over.
I’ll be out here, guarding the cottage, in case his location spell worked.
Thank you, Fadryth. I feel safer already.
“You’re shaking. Are you cold?” His eyebrows knit in confusion.
“No, I’m not cold.”
“Are you hurt?” He grabs me and starts checking for wounds, turning me around and looking over my head.
“No, I’m okay. Where’s that first aid kit?” I’m trying to get my mind focused on something else. The task of patching up his head should work.
He narrows his eyes at me for a moment but finally relents. “In the bathroom. This way.”
With the supplies arranged on the vanity, I instruct him to sit so I can get a good look at his wound. I carefully unwrap my shirt from around his head. I’m relieved to find the blood has clotted and it hasn’t swollen more since I last looked at it. After cleaning it and putting antibiotic ointment on it, I find the largest adhesive bandage in the bag to cover it.
“You’ll be as good as new in no time.” I try to smile, but the fear attempts to rear its ugly head again.
“Thank you, princess.” He strokes my cheek with his fingertips, and I step closer to him, between his legs, and wrap my arms around his neck.
My practically bare chest presses against his, absorbing the warmth from his skin. Funny, he should be the cold one—not the other way around. I didn’t even notice until this moment. Now all I can seem to think about is how close I came to losing him forever.
“You are cold. Why didn’t you tell me? We need to get out of these wet clothes. Come in here with me.”
We walk into the bedroom, and he rifles through the closets and the drawers until he finds something that will work. For me, he picked a long tee and a pair of lounging pants with a drawstring. His shy smile as he hands them to me makes him look so sweet.
“I know these will be way too big on you, but they’ll have to do for now. I’ll go to the other room to change and give you some privacy.”
Before I can object, he’s out the door and closes it behind him. The silence is usually my friend—I’ve always found solace in it before, when I was at home with Nana, wandering through our forest. But now it taunts me, reminding me I have nothing else to focus on except everything that’s gone wrong in the last couple of months since I’ve been in Covis Realm.
He’s been one of the consistent bright spots in my life.
I work the wet pants off my legs and take off my bra too. His T-shirt swallows me whole, but it feels comfortable and cozy. The lounge pants are way too big around my waist and too long on my legs, but I figure out a way to make them work, regardless.
When I step out of the bedroom, he’s waiting for me in the hallway. At first, I look up into those gray eyes and feel a swell of peace come over me. He’s alive. He’s relatively unharmed, just a bump on the head that will heal in no time. He’ll have one hell of a story to tell his friends—he nearly drowned in the lake and was saved by a dragon.
Then my eyes drift downward to what he’s holding.
My blood-stained shirt is in his hand, and suddenly, I can’t breathe.
Literally. Not metaphorically. Not an exaggeration.
My lungs have seized, and all the oxygen has left my body. My chest burns, my eyes lose focus, and my entire body shakes uncontrollably.
“Sara, talk to me!”
I hear the urgency in his
voice. I feel his arms encircle my waist before lifting my feet off the floor. Then I’m enveloped in the heat radiating from his body and the softness of the mattress beneath me. This is the serenity I’ve needed—to feel safe, sheltered, and loved.
“Come on, princess. I need you to tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”
“I’m sorry, Saban.” I manage to get the words out through my chattering teeth. “You shouldn’t be taking care of me. It should be the other way around. I just keep seeing you lying on the ground, lifeless, and it’s hitting me all at once. You had quit breathing. I didn’t think I’d be able to save you by myself. But there was no one else around to help, so I didn’t have a choice. The ‘what-ifs’ are killing me.”
He tightens his arms around me, squeezing me closer.
“Are you sure I quit breathing?”
I nod. “You didn’t have a pulse either.”
“But you brought me back—without any medical equipment? How?”
I want to tell him the truth—all of it. I want to tell him who I am, what I am, and how I was able to save his life. Maybe knowing the truth about the light and the dark magic will help settle his mind about mages and wizards. But I can’t…too many lives are at stake, and revealing myself now could put us both in more danger than we’re already in.
“It was nothing short of a miracle, I can assure you of that much. I couldn’t stop until I knew you were breathing normally again.”
He’s silent for several heartbeats. I know, because my head is lying on his chest, and the lub-dub rhythm of his heart thumps against my ear.
“I owe you my life, Sara. I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for you.”
“No, you don’t owe me anything for that. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d lost you.”
The connection between us grows even stronger. It’s not as if I could deny it before, but now it feels like a living, growing entity tying us together. The gravity of the situation begins to set in for Saban, and his longing to hear me say the words hits a fever pitch, but he doesn’t want to feel as if he’s forcing me.
Cloaked: Easthaven Crest, Book One Page 14