Atone: A Fairytale (Fairytale Trilogy) (22 page)

She felt two pairs of cool hands on her, helping her slide off Nicholas’s back. The next thing she knew she was laying on the floor, her head cradled in Alex’s lap.

“It’s all right,” Alex said softly, her hand brushing Becca’s clammy forehead. “It’s all right.”

Becca could feel her friend’s magic, warm and white and comforting, flowing into her and she didn’t feel as sick. “Hi,” Alex smiled down at her when she saw Becca’s eyes open.

“Hi,” Becca managed. Her throat felt dry. She swallowed. “I guess the next time I decide to take on a couple of fae I should call you guys first.”

“I think you did great,” Lilia said from over Alex’s shoulder.

“I feel like I’m the one who got my ass kicked,” she admitted.

“I know. But if you’d waited for us, Nicholas might not be alive,” Alex reminded her softly.

“Where is he?” Becca sat up too fast and looked around the room. Her head swam.

“He went back to get the stone. He said he’d left it in the alley when he brought you back,” Alex answered.

“Oh.” Becca wasn’t sure why she felt disappointed. He’d left without making sure she was okay.

Alex was looking at her intently. Too intently. “I asked him to go,” she said. “He needed something to do. He was….pacing.”

Lilia snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

“So,” Alex continued, ignoring her, “I had him go back for the stone after he tossed the fae back through the mirror for me.”

“He did?” Becca bit back a grin. She would have liked to see that.

“He wasn’t very gentle with them.”

Becca’s grin finally broke through at Alex’s dry tone. “I imagine not.”

Alex smiled back at her. “You’re feeling better.”

“Yeah. Being with you guys makes my magic feel less…used up.”

“I suppose it’s pointless to ask you to come home with me?” Alex shrugged as Becca shook her head. “I have to ask, but I think you’ll probably be fine after some rest.”

Lilia rubbed her forehead. “Can you at least promise us you will call if you’re not feeling well, as opposed to racing through the city on the back of a beast?”

Becca nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Alex giggled. “Nicholas told us he didn’t give you much choice. I can’t see you stopping to argue with him when he tossed you on his back. But for now, let’s get you to bed, at least.”

“Are you going to tuck me in too?” Becca teased.

“You must be feeling better if you can sass me.” Alex stood up and offered Becca her hand. “And yes, I’m going to tuck you in. No complaining.”

~ Chapter Fifteen ~

B
ECCA DRIFTED OFF
after Alex and Lilia left, sleeping fitfully, her dreams filled with images of the fera breaking her protection spell and killing Nicholas. She gasped, sitting up in bed, her magic firing to life in response to her dream.

She heard a soft rustling noise and looked up to see a large shape silhouetted in her open door. “Nicholas,” she whispered.

He turned toward her. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. Have you been there long?”

He nodded.

“Are you guarding me?” she asked, a smile tugging at her mouth. It was silly how thrilled she felt at the thought that he wanted to protect her.

“Yeah.” There was chagrin in his voice. “Though you’re the one who was protecting me earlier. I just wanted to be able to wake you if anyone came through the mirror. And to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’ll survive. I guess I didn’t realize how much that’d take out of me.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and Nicholas darted forward as if he was afraid she’d fall and he was ready to catch her.

“I’m okay, just stretching out,” she assured him.

“Sorry,” he said gruffly, turning back toward the door.

“No, stay!” She reached out a hand and then stopped midair as she realized how desperate and awkward she looked. “I mean, um, you don’t have to go.”

Nicholas turned back to her, his deep blue eyes searching her face. He took another step, close enough now that she could run her hand through his mane if she wanted. And she did want. She reached out past the little space that separated them and trailed her fingers through the soft fur.

“Becca.” There was a strange hitch in his voice. His eyes were still focused on her face. She couldn’t quite look at them and fastened her gaze on the silky strands of his mane as they slipped through her fingers. “Why did you save me?”

She ran her hand through his mane again. She couldn’t bring herself to look at his face. “I think you know why.”

“I’m not worth saving.

She winced at the raw rasp. “That’s not true.”

“I won’t have you risk yourself for me like that again. I can’t let you.”

Her hand stilled, her fingers buried in the warm strands. “Why?” she asked softly.

When he didn’t say anything, she finally tore her gaze away from where her hand rested in his mane and looked into his eyes.

“I think you know why,” he whispered roughly.

She stared at him. It felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff and the slightest push would send her over. And then she was falling. The sensation was so real she tightened her hand in his mane, holding on for dear life. Her stomach rolled over and she felt the nausea rush through her once more.

“Becca?” Her name was a question.

“The stone,” she gasped out. “We should close the portal.” She shot to her feet and then swayed back and forth. The room seemed to invert and she blinked rapidly, trying to right it.

“No.” He pushed up against her, letting her lean onto him, steadying her as she grabbed at his fur with both hands. “Lay back down. You’re not well.”

“But we should do it as soon as possible. It will break the spell.” She knew her protests were in vain.

“Tomorrow morning is soon enough. You need to rest.”

Becca unclenched her hands from his fur as she slid back onto the bed. “First thing in the morning,” she promised.

“Sleep.”

Becca nodded with her eyes closed and then popped them back open when she felt him move away from the bed. “Stay.”

“I was going to guard your door again.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“Guard from here,” she instructed, reaching out a hand for him. It settled onto his back as he took up position by the side of her bed. The warmth emanating from his body relaxed her and her eyelids dropped. “Stay,” she whispered.

As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard him whisper, “Always.”

~

Early morning sunlight filtered through the window in Becca’s room. She opened her eyes and squinted into the brightness. For half a second she thought that Nicholas had broken his promise and left her during the night. Then she reached out and felt him, right by her bedside, his warm fur brushing against her seeking hand.

“Good morning,” he said roughly.

“Morning. Did you sleep at all?” She rolled over and looked at him. He was standing straight as a sentinel. A smile crept across her face at the thought.

“I’m not tired.”

“Hmmm.” Somehow she didn’t buy that, but she wasn’t going to argue with him. She sat up, trying not to make a face at the weird, plummeting sensation in her stomach. This was getting old.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She wasn’t sure why she lied to him. Actually she was; if she said she was still feeling sick, he wouldn’t let her get up and try the stone. And she desperately wanted to go grab the stone—she could still feel it calling to her from the other room—and place it in the mirror’s frame and close the portal.

She could tell he didn’t quite believe her. “You need to eat.”

“Fine. I’ll get breakfast after we close the portal.”

“Before,” he insisted.

She hugged her midsection in frustration. “Don’t you want to break the damn spell?”

He growled, a low rumbling sound that sent shivers down her back. “More than almost anything. But I don’t want you messing with more magic when you haven’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours.”

She thought about arguing, but she knew he was really concerned for her and outweighed her by a good couple hundred or so pounds, so she rolled her eyes and agreed to breakfast.

Thirty minutes later she was attacking the shipping box containing the stone with a pair of scissors. “How much tape did you use on this thing?” she grunted.

“Stand back.” She scooted out of the way as claws slid out of Nicholas’s paws. They were curved and deadly looking and reminded her of the frame of the mirror. She gasped as he sliced open the top of the box with one swipe.

“Well,” she said.

“Yeah,” he answered, looking sheepish.

Becca pushed past him and examined the contents of the box. The pinging in her mind was at a fever pitch, so she ignored the rest of the artifacts—something that looked kind of like a small scepter and a circlet that was probably a crown of some kind—and focused in on the mid-sized stone.

“Of course it’s Tiger’s Eye,” she said.

“Cut
en cabachon
too,” Nicholas responded dryly.

“To maximize the cat’s eye effect. I guess these fera like even their gems to remind them of animals.” Becca’s hands warmed as she held the stone. “It’s definitely it.” She stood in front of the mirror and glared up at the space in the spell where the gem would fit. “I can’t reach it, I need a chair or—Oh!”

Nicholas placed both paws around her waist and lifted her up. She thought about protesting, but she kind of liked being held by him as if she weighed next to nothing. Plus, if the mirror decided to kick back at her in anyway, it’d be much more comfortable to fall back on him than onto the floor from a chair.

She was eye level with the gap in the spell now. The golden frame of the mirror glinted in the light streaming in through the windows; the violet-covered claws looked both menacing and delicate. She tried to ignore the changes to the mirror. The flowers that bore testimony to her having tangled with the spell, though it was disconcerting to see her emblem flower as part of the spell.

She focused on the space in the portal spell, she could see the spell flowing around, gold with strands of violet that hadn’t been there before. Biting her lip, she slipped the Tiger’s Eye into the gap. Except it didn’t fit. She pushed harder. Still the stone wouldn’t nest into the mirror frame. It belonged there; she could see where it should go; she could feel the magic emanating from the stone, knew that it should fit. She tried turning it. She tried forcing it. She pushed with all of her might—sweat popped out on her forehead from the effort—and still nothing.

She was close to tears when she finally said, “Put me down. It’s not working. Put me down.”

Nicholas set her gently back on the ground and she turned to him with wide, tear-filled eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on. I know this is the stone. I can feel it inside my body like it’s part of..” she wiped furiously at her eyes. “Oh my god,” she said. “I did something…when I tried to change the spell. I don’t even know what…I, oh my god, I’ve ruined it.”

“Becca, it’s okay, we’ll—”

“It’s not okay!” she screamed. “It’s not okay! I have to call Alex and Lilia, I have to...” she looked down at the stone and then back up at him. “I’m so sorry.” And then she rushed back to her room.

~ Chapter Sixteen ~

S
TUPID ROCK.
S
HE
glared at the Tiger’s Eye sitting at the end of bed as she waited for Alex and Lilia to arrive. It wasn’t an emergency, so they were driving.
No, not an emergency, just my entire world falling apart, and it’s all my fault.

“Hey, sweetie, how’re you feeling?” Alex asked as she walked into the room. Becca looked up in surprise. She hadn’t even heard the front door open and close, which bore testament to how much energy she’d focused on the rock.

“Okay, I guess.”

“You’re still feeling unwell, I can tell,” Lilia said as she swept through the door, obviously not having heard Becca’s response. Becca grimaced at her. “What?” Lilia asked defensively stuffing her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.

Alex grinned at Lilia. “She was just telling me she was okay.”

Lilia raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at Becca. “
Tsk tsk
.”

“Oh my god, I forgot you were supposed to be going to Magic Mountain.”

Alex shrugged. “We decided to postpone it after the incident with the fera coming into the city.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault that crazy fae are coming through a magic portal.”

“It might be,” Becca admitted. “And now this damn stone isn’t doing its job and closing the portal.”