Guardian

Chapter 21

My eyes fluttered open to a room I was unfamiliar with. It was large and gothic, making me think I was still at Lilith's. The walls were a deep red and the curtains had a layer of black lace over top. The sheets were dark gray satin and smooth beneath my body. I pushed myself to a sitting position but groaned when the movement made my head pulse and let myself flop back down. There was a fireplace to the right of the bed but it was empty of any fire or wood to light.

The thought brought a chill to me and I lifted a hand from the bed to pull fire to it. I pictured the heat like I had done a million times but nothing came. Maybe my emotions were going haywire again? Or it was because I had just woken up. Before I could contemplate anything else, the door on the opposite side of the fireplace opened and Holden came in.

"You're awake," he said, surprise in his voice.

"Yeah," I replied, my voice raspy. "How long was I out?"

"A few days. How do you feel?" he wondered, coming to sit next to me on the bed.

"My head hurts," I admitted, rolling to face him. I reached inside myself for my magic but failed to find it. Panic spread through me but was replaced quickly with a wave of calm. "How are you..." I trailed off, feeling Holden's grip on my emotions.

"It's okay," he assured me. "You were using magic in your sleep. Lilith found a way to temporarily bind your powers. Without them, I can influence your emotions again. Lilith wanted to keep you asleep, but I told her not to."

"Bind my powers?" I questioned. "When will they come back?"

"Later today. Maybe tomorrow. Don't worry about that now. You need to rest," he said, running the back of his hand along my cheek.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You don't remember?" His face was puzzled.

"I remember the compulsion," I supplied.

"Long story short, we fried your brain trying to force something out of you when you were compelled to not talk about it. Lil said you started healing as soon as it happened. Maybe the little potion you took helped, but I think you healed a lot on your own too."

I didn't know how to respond so I just laid there, trying to keep my teeth from chattering.

"You're cold?" he asked. I nodded against the pillow. He pulled the sheets up and climbed under, wrapping me up in his arms. I slid my icy feet between his calves, and he shuttered. "Your skin is ice," he said.

"It's been like that for weeks. You're just now noticing?" I almost laughed.

"It's worse now. Maybe it's your magic," he supplied. I shrugged, running my hands under his shirt and soaking up his heat. He sighed deeply and held me closer.

"It must have been bad if you had to bind my powers," I said into the silence. He chuckled.

"You should see my room. It's a jungle," he replied.

"Once I get a hold on this earth magic, I'll fix it," I assured him. My body already felt warmer from his heat. We fell back into silence, just laying with each other. Both of us knew it would come to the elephant in the room eventually, but it wasn't going to be me that brought it up.

"Are you still mad at me?" he wondered out loud into the silence.

"A little," I replied. "I wish you would stop lying to me."

"I never meant to. I just didn't know how to tell you when everything came out."

I slid my hand up further to rest over his beating heart. His arm curled around my waist and tugged me closer, not that I could get much closer than I already was. I forced my eyes to lock with his and found sadness and pain sitting in them.