Stupid Girl

by Mary E. Twomey

  Draper shot me an inquisitive look that was laced with apprehension, but I shook my head to tell him now was not the time. “Whatever you need, Master Kerdik. Our home is yours.”

  “Of course your home is mine. I can have anything I wish,” Kerdik grumped.

  “Man, you suck at being helpless. Slow your roll. He meant that our home is yours because I love you, so you’re welcome to stay here as a guest, not as a tyrant douchebag who takes what he wants.”

  Kerdik swallowed his pride. “Oh, that is better. Yes, I should like to stay as a guest, then.”

  We made it up two more steps before I prodded him with a gentle, “Tell Draper ‘thank you for the offer.’”

  Kerdik glared at me, but I refused to shrink.

  My fingers tightened on his hip. “Thank my brother, or you sleep on the floor.”

  Finally, Kerdik caved. “Thank you for the offer, boy.”

  “His name is Draper,” I reminded him.

  “Why should I care what his name is?”

  “Oh, you are such an asswagon right now. You care because he’s helping you up the steps, and if he gets fed up with your attitude, then you could fall. I know I talk a good game, but I’m a little beat still. We actually need his help here.”

  Draper warned me with a glance that I was pushing too hard. “It’s really fine.”

  “Thank you for the offer, Draper,” Kerdik finally managed. There was too much attitude laced in to be truly indicative of gratitude, but whatever. His legs were rubbery, and the right one started dragging when we reached the third floor where my room was.

  “Almost there, sweetie. Don’t worry.” When we finally made it into the bedroom and shut the door behind us, I heaved a sigh of relief. “No one else saw. Now let’s get him to the bed, Drape.”

  “What’s going on, Rosie? I mean, what broke his magic this much? You two have been gone all night and part of the day, and you come back like this? What happened to him?”

  I shook my head, unsure how much I was allowed to spill. We were almost to the bed when Kerdik collapsed. I closed my mouth through a bleat of distress, panic welling in my throat as I scrambled to test his pulse.

  Of course, I couldn’t remember if Kerdik had a pulse to begin with, so I tried not to freak out even more when I couldn’t find one. “Get Remy!” Draper ordered, hefting Kerdik’s body up in his capable arms, and depositing my friend on my bed.

  I bolted out of the room and stumbled down the steps, calling for Remy. He poked his head out from Reyn’s room down the hall, shooting me an inquisitive look. He was probably saying something to me, but I couldn’t hear him. My magic wasn’t totally healed yet, but no one needed that information. “I need help in my bedroom. Grab your doctor bag, quick!”

  I tripped as I moved back into my bedroom with Lane hot on my heels, asking questions along the way. I shut the door with the four of us in there, gawking at Kerdik, who was still unconscious. My hand went to my forehead, trying to decide what needed doing first, and which secrets were worth divulging. “Okay, something happened to Kerdik when he was trying to wake up my dad.”

  Lane let out a gasp of hope. “Did it work? Is Urien awake?”

  “Not yet, but he’s closer than he’s ever been. Kerdik stole his body from Morgan and hid it somewhere in the mansion here. Draper, grab Reyn and quietly search every room until you find my dad. Just the two of you, no one else. Don’t try to move him or touch him, just find him, make sure his body is comfortable, and lock the room. No one can know he’s here.”

  Draper made to move, but stayed in the doorway. “Why not? The whole kingdom will want to throw a party.”

  I cut the flat of my hand through the air. “No one can know. Promise me. It would start a war between Province 1 and us if Morgan found out, and we’re in no position to fight her right now. The staff can’t know. Only us.” I looked around the room. “Where’s Bastien and the guys?”

  “Damond rode out with them. They split into two parties to search Province 9 to try and find you. Bastien’s a little out of his mind.” Lane chucked my shoulder. “Well done on nabbing yourself a psychotic protector. I sent him into the province just to get him out of here. He was driving me nuts.”

  I rubbed my temples, trying to part with only the most useful information. “Okay, first, can you send someone out to let the guys know we’re back?”

  Draper nodded. “On it.” My sweet brother gave me a squeeze before disappearing out the door.

  I latched it behind him, my voice low as I spoke to Lane and Remy. “Our magic isn’t quite back yet. Kerdik took me to a safe place so no one would hurt our bodies while we healed. He was getting better, but then he transported us back here, and it sapped him dry again. He needs to rest, and he’s afraid someone’s going to mess with his body while he’s out, so I’m not going anywhere for a while. Remy, can you help him at all?”

  Remy stared at me without moving toward Kerdik, and it dawned on me that he was probably trying to talk to me the entire time.

  I shook my head in dismay. “I’m sorry, Remy. My magic’s not quite back yet. I can’t hear you.” A wounded look crossed his face at losing the one connection he’d needed so badly. I couldn’t hold myself back, but flung my arms around his neck to let him know that I wasn’t leaving him, and our special link hadn’t deserted us for good. “It’s temporary,” I assured him. “Can you help?”

  Remy’s face twisted into a grimace of uncertainty after I released him, but he moved to Kerdik’s bedside to give the all-powerful being a look.

  “What are we supposed to do to help him?” Lane whispered. I detected notes of dread in her voice I hadn’t expected. “Rosie, what happens if he dies in here? Can he really die?”

  I patted her hand, doling out what I hoped wasn’t the last of my optimism. “He’ll be alright. Just give him some time.”

  Kerdik stirred when Remy touched his wrist. An angry whine escaped his lips, and I knew no good could come from this. I darted to the bed, climbing atop the mattress next to his supine body so he could see me if he opened his eyes. I smoothed back the haphazard blue hair from his sweaty forehead, relieved when he leaned into the touch. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m right here.” A smile played on my lips when his tension seemed to dissipate, his exhale relaxing his torso in a gust.

  “Rosie,” Lane cautioned. There was so much she wasn’t saying, but I heard it all in her anxious tone. “This is… Master Kerdik is… Be careful.”

  I didn’t tear my gaze away from Kerdik, but took my opportunity to study his features up close. His black lashes contrasted dramatically with his sky-blue hair and green skin. He didn’t look so authoritarian in sleep, but more like a younger man who’d worked too hard that particular day. I felt the strangest desire to trace the outline of his curvy lips with my fingertip, but wasn’t sure that was something friends did. Instead I drank in his face, hoping that he awoke to better things. “Everything will be alright,” I told myself more than Lane.

  I cooled Kerdik’s heated cheek with the back of my hand, hoping all would be well when he opened his eyes again.

  You’re my Home

  “Where is she?” Bastien demanded, his voice booming through the mansion. My spine stiffened, and Lane manned the door to make sure only members of our close-knit circle came through.

  I wanted to get up and run to him, but Kerdik moaned when I moved toward the other side of the bed. I slunk back to his side, holding his hand to my chest to reassure him. He stirred infrequently, but always reached for me in his lost moments to anchor him. It was the best kind of precious, so I tried to treat our friendship tenderly. There was also the added concern that he might get worked up and accidentally bring the house down on our heads with his oft-swinging temper. Lane was acutely aware of that possibility, and reminded me of it often.

  Lane called Bastien upstairs, and he didn’t bother taking his filthy boots off as he charged up to my room. Lane let him in before he broke the door down, warning him to calm d
own. Bastien gripped the doorjamb as if using the frame to hold himself back. His desperate eyes pored over me, taking in my features as if searching for a severed limb or something horrific. “You! What happened? Where were you?” Before I could answer, he thrust his body into the room, beelining for the bed. He was covered in mud, but that didn’t stop him from scooping me off the bed and wrapping my legs around his waist. He didn’t pause for decency, or hesitate because of the company. Bastien kissed me as if he’d thought he never would have the chance again.

  Guilt washed over me that I’d been shooting the breeze and playing baseball with oranges while Bastien had been freaking out.

  His kisses were hard, almost painful, and filled with earnest devotion. He was frantic to get me near and keep me in his arms. Even after I assumed he would deflate and set me down, he only held me tighter, mashing his body to mine and squashing my belly to his. “Never again!” he roared between kisses. “I blinked, and you were gone!”

  “I know,” I worked out, his lips smearing to my cheek before he was drawn back to my mouth like a magnet. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Are you alright?”

  I nodded, inhaling sharply when he bit down on my lower lip.

  “Then never do that again! What happened?” Before I could answer, he covered my mouth with his again, not bothering to taste me, but conquering me with his tongue, taking no prisoners. Then he pulled back to study my features. “Don’t tell me yet; I’m too angry.” His hand squeezed my thigh roughly, making me yelp in his arms.

  “I’m here now. I’m okay.”

  “I’m not okay!” he bellowed, taking his hand from my thigh to give my backside a smack. I jumped in his arms at the slight sting I hadn’t been expecting.

  That was right about the time that Lane decided we’d carried on enough. “Other people are in the room, Bastien. Put my daughter down.”

  Bastien seemed to come to himself gradually, slowing the kisses down from their frantic pace until they melted into a languid tasting he couldn’t cut himself off from. “You scared me,” he admitted, his eyes closed as he pressed his forehead to mine. He finally let my feet touch the floor, and lifted my hand to press it to his chest. “Never scare me like that again.”

  I nodded, rubbing my hands across his chest so I could give the taut pectoral muscles a covert rub. My back was to the audience, who vacillated between averting their eyes and peeking like naughty children at our display. “I’m sorry, Bastien. I’m home now.”

  “I’m your home,” he told me, staking his claim on the heart we both knew couldn’t deny him for long. “Tell me.”

  “You’re my home, and I’m your safe place.”

  Lane cleared her throat. “Go clean up, Bastien. You can use the tub down the hall. Rosie’s going to use this one.”

  Bastien shook his head. “No. I’ll wait here. Not out of my sight, Rosie. I won’t risk it.”

  Lane huffed, like Bastien was being dramatic, but really, I couldn’t blame him. I’d been abducted too many times for either of us to feel secure when we were apart from each other. I leaned up on my toes and pecked his cheek. “I’ll be quick.”

  When we were clean twenty minutes later, and food had been brought up. I munched on my dinner while the search party huddled quietly in the bedroom. Through much indignation and fear, everyone was brought up to speed. Draper was firm that Damond not be welcomed into our secretive circle, to keep him safe. I was resolute that Roland not be allowed anywhere near me or my secrets, and though I could tell Reyn and Bastien didn’t like discluding their friend, they let it be my call. Lane had moved him into the grand house next door after I’d been brought to live here, ruling that though she’d forgiven him, Roland wasn’t to live under the same roof as me after all he’d done.

  Kerdik was still in and out of consciousness. Each time he came back to us, he fumbled around like a blind man for me, settling down only when he found my hand. His body was hot, and no matter what herbs and spells Remy used, Kerdik continued to sweat.

  Madigan stood at my open window, arms banded over his chest as he stared out into the darkness. “The sun should’ve been up a while ago.”

  Link crossed the room to peer out into the midnight. “Aye. I thought so, too. But it doesn’t even look near dawn. The cattle are getting restless. They know something’s amiss. But at least the rain stopped.”

  My eyebrows pushed together, wondering if there was yet another ridiculous thing I was supposed to be worrying about. “Is that normal for Avalon?”

  “About as abnormal as it would be in Common. I don’t understand.” Lane moved to the window to stand between the Untouchables, and shook her head. “It’s Kerdik. It’s got to be. He’s the only one in Avalon who can control most of the elements, though I’ve never known him to have power over the sun. I’m guessing this is his doing. Are we any closer to waking him, Remy?”

  “How should I know? This is way beyond my expertise. Treating someone who never gets sick? A man on the brink of death who can’t die?”

  I perked up, my head whipping around to Remy. “I heard that! Remy, my magic’s starting to heal.”

  Remy gusted out a tornado of relief. “I thought I might never be heard again! You can really hear me?”

  “Oh, thank God. How can I help you?”

  “No one can do much, but you need to stay near him. You’re the only thing that’s keeping him calm. His body is going to work this out, hopefully. There’s nothing else that can be done for him right now. Just keep him peaceful, as much as you can. Otherwise, I fear the mansion might come down on our heads.” Remy sighed contentedly. “How I missed you, Princess.”

  I smiled at my official healer and unofficial knight from my spot in the middle of the mattress. Though everyone had assured me my gifts would return, I’d had my doubts, and was relieved to have my old self back. “I missed you too, Remy. You’re the best knight I ever had.” I was sandwiched between Kerdik and Bastien on the bed, though every now and then Bastien would inch closer to me, so now I was practically on his lap. He’d gone from Mr. Boundaries to Mr. I’ve-Never-Heard-of-Boundaries.

  Remy burned his fifth bundle of herbs over Kerdik’s body before packing up his bag. “I need to go back to Draper, Damond and Reyn to check on King Urien.”

  “Be careful, Remy. Kerdik said a lot of Morgan’s magic that was used to keep my dad frozen had fail-safes built in. It’s how he got so hurt in the first place. Just try to keep my dad comfortable and healthy, if you can. Nothing more. I don’t want Morgan’s magic making you sick like this. If it can do this to Kerdik, you need to tread lightly.”

  “I need to go out into the village,” Lane said while Remy packed up. “I have to be present when people start to realize that the sun isn’t coming.”

  “I’ll go with ye,” Link offered. “T’won’t do to have ye getting snatched at. Can’t afford to be down a duchess right now.”

  “Thank you, Link. That’s very kind of you.”

  I thought Link would be out the door, but he paused by the bedside, leaned over Bastien and kissed my cheek. “Stay with Bastien,” he said quietly, a note of concern in his voice at the prospect of leaving the mansion.

  “I will. Be safe out there.”

  He shot me a wide grin. “Now, what’s the fun in tha?”

  Mad didn’t say a word, but followed his friend, offering my Lane protection without being asked. When they left with Remy, Bastien and I were alone with Kerdik, who was basically not really there.

  Bastien’s kisses were slow, and looked like they caused him physical pain. His eyes were squinched tight, pleading silently for me to stay with him in the dim flicker of the lamplight. Though I was twisted in his arms, lifting and turning my chin to kiss him over my shoulder, it still wasn’t close enough. He pulled me more fully onto his lap, thumbing my jaw and brushing his knuckle across my cheek.

  I was completely entranced by his scent, his body and his earnest need for us. It wasn’t just me he wanted – it was u
s. The two of us were finally working in synchronicity instead of fighting, as we usually did without hesitation.

  “I love you, Daisy,” he murmured, making my heart stutter in my chest. I knew without a doubt that I loved him, too. That no matter how many times I tried to deny it, to separate my heart from his, I always came back to the steady thrum that drew me in. Oh, how I loved the draw he had on everything that was me. Though Kerdik was right next to us, it felt like we were on our own personal island.

  His fingers moved from my jaw down my throat, cascading over my shoulder to grip the skin possessively. Goosebumps and anticipation broke out over my flesh, thrilling me and setting my body on fire. I kept my lips locked on his, arching my back to get as close as I could to him.

  The heat in my body balled itself up in my stomach. As our kiss morphed from good old American into French, the growing inferno rose into my chest. I was warm all over, so much that I didn’t recognize the heat for what it was until I started choking.

  Lueur

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I cried between bouts of gagging on my lueur. I hadn’t meant to conjure up that bit of dormant light in my belly, but it was straining to get out of me and into Bastien as I coughed.

  Bastien’s eyes flashed with a breath of panic before they cooled into a bold determination that fixed his gaze on mine. “I want to be your Guardien, Daisy. Don’t be afraid to give me your lueur.”

  I turned my head and coughed into my fist, sitting up so I could move onto all fours on the mattress, hacking away like the sexy beast I was. “You don’t know what you’re saying. I didn’t mean for this to happen! Just give me a second.”

  Bastien rubbed my back while I coughed, rousing Kerdik. “Rosie? Are you alright?” Kerdik promptly fell back asleep after his hand found my ankle. Worst threesome ever.

  Bastien leaned over and spoke low in my ear. “Let me be yours. I already am. This would make it easier for me to watch out for you.”