As his body began to respond to my attempts at first aide, I sighed. The bleeding began to ease, and some wounds began to close. There was no way I could heal him completely—that was an ability reserved for the Twin Flames.
Elijah needed proper medical attention with surgical instruments and medicine, not a musty cottage and a Natural who only knew basic flesh manipulation.
“You’ve got blood on you.”
I met Elijah’s gaze and grunted. “It’s yours. You’re torn apart, if you haven’t noticed.”
“It’s not all mine.”
“Oh, I…” I glanced down at my T-shirt and rubbed my palm across the stain. I wasn’t sure if it was mine or Rhys’s blood. “How can you tell?”
“Demons have a knack for all things blood,” he replied.
Right. That wasn’t creepy at all. “Yeah, uh…I got into a fight.”
“About?”
I made a face and sat beside him. “You want to know right now?”
“Humour me.” He wanted a distraction. Couldn’t blame him, considering.
“This guy… He accused me of being a demon.”
Elijah snorted. “Technically, he’s right.”
I screwed up my face. “Do you want me to leave you here?” I made to stand, but he grasped my wrist, despite the pain moving must have caused him.
“No.”
My heart leapt and I swallowed hard. “I won’t go.”
Relief flashed through his eyes and he sank back against the pillows.
“What happened to you?” I murmured.
“They tried to kill me,” he whispered, his eyes fluttering closed. “The Balan…”
“He found out you helped me escape, didn’t he?”
Elijah nodded and I curled my hands into fists. I knew what this meant. He’d been working with the Balan all this time. I began to regret breaking out of Camelot to save him.
“You were working with him all this time, weren’t you?” I asked.
“It’s not what it looks like…”
“Then it means you’re playing both sides.”
“It isn’t so bad,” he said with a smirk.
“Someone with split allegiances isn’t to be trusted. One minute they’re your friend, the next, they’re putting a knife in your back if it gets them what they want.”
He scowled and turned his head.
“You have to give me something, Elijah. I just threw away my entire life to save you. It can’t have been all for nothing.”
His expression faded and he returned his gaze to mine. “What?”
“Camelot was my last chance,” I hissed. “And I just blew everything. The Dark captured me, I started a fight that got me locked up, and I just broke out against the direct orders of my superior officer…and I used my mutation to do it! Your chance at finding a cure just went up in smoke and I betrayed my people.”
His hand found mine. “Madeleine…”
“I can’t help you.” I shook my head. “I can’t even help myself. If you want your cure, I have to take you to Camelot and beg Ramona to help you. It’s that simple.”
“But if you go back—”
“I’ll be stripped of my arondight blade and charged with consorting with the enemy. I’ll be thrown into the prison under Glastonbury and left to rot.”
He sighed, his brow creasing. “I’ll take my chances out here.”
“It’s not just your cure,” I said, my grip tightening on his hand. “Your wounds—”
“Will heal or they won’t,” he snapped.
“Do you want to die that much?” I swallowed my frustrated tears before they betrayed how deep I was in this strange relationship.
The question seemed to be one step too far for Elijah and he remained tight-lipped.
What was I going to do? I’d lost everything the moment I’d left that tent. Dangerous as it was, Elijah was the only person I had left, and I wasn’t even sure I could trust him.
“Whose side are you really on?” I asked.
“Mine.”
I sighed. It was harder to get answers out of him than blood out of a stone.
“You do know that every time you think about me, I feel a little tug.”
I groaned. “That doesn’t sound dirty at all.”
He coughed, his brow creasing as he held onto his pain. “Admit it. You’ve got the hots for me.”
“In your dreams. You bound me to you, remember?” I hesitated. “What will happen to me if…”
“Nothing,” he told me. “If I die, you’ll be free.”
I didn’t understand. He was lying there, vulnerable, and he’d just told me how to free myself from his tether. There was nothing stopping me from taking his life and leaving him here to rot.
“Why would you tell me that?” I demanded.
He grasped my wrist and pulled me close. “There are shades of grey in this world, Madeleine. It’s not all Darkness.” My breath caught. “They took my colours, you know.”
I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. Pressing my palm against his forehead, I felt the heat radiate off him. Not only were his wounds not healing, they were showing signs of infection. That meant I wasn’t going to get many coherent answers tonight.
“Shh,” I murmured, “you need your rest.”
“You could free yourself right now,” he raved. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did. Go into hiding and save yourself. Go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I wet another washcloth and dabbed it against his forehead. “Despite my better judgement, you’re stuck with me.”
He studied me for a long time. When it was getting unbearable, he said, “The Balan wants something in Camelot.”
“I already know that.”
“I think he’s using us to get to it. If you take me there…”
“The world will not implode if we go to Camelot, Elijah. It will suck for us, but the Earth will continue to spin.”
“It won’t…” he whispered. “Lately, I feel drawn there.”
Dread began to rise inside me. The mysterious room Aiden uncovered…
“One last chance,” I said, taking his hands in mine. “Whose side are you on, Elijah?”
His gaze met mine, and for the first time it was clear. “Yours,” he said. “I want to be on yours.”
13
The long fingers of dawn stretched across the cottage and filtered through the window.
I jerked awake, my eyes gritty with sleep. The armchair was
