wooden chair directly beside me. Cooper sat in a chair at the foot of the bed. Deacon, Emersyn, Royce, and Henley were leaning against the wall to my right.
“You’ve been through a lot, Saffie,” Tegan said softly from Riah’s side of the bed. She had her hand on his chest while Katherine poured vials of liquid onto his wound. “Katherine is the best healer that doesn’t live on Crone Island. If she can’t heal him, we will bring him to your mother. Okay?”
I nodded. My eyes watered and my pulse quickened. My mother.
Tegan’s eyes glistened. “I know. I promise as soon as you’re ready I will portal you to her. But you’re a blink away from Witch’s Shock. I need you to trust us. We will take care of him until you wake up, okay? You just need to sleep. Get some rest so your magic can heal.”
I tried to speak but my mouth refused to work, so I just nodded.
“I can make you dream anything you’d like,” Cooper said softly. “Just close your eyes and picture it in your mind…and I’ll take you there until you’re healed enough.”
Tennessee walked up beside me and crouched down so we were eye to eye. He smiled. “We owe you everything, Saffie. We may not know who this guy is or what he means to you, but I promise on a sea of spider lilies that we will treat him as one of our own and heal him. Okay?”
My eyes watered. I nodded.
The door opened behind him and Chutney came bouncing inside — with Olli in her arms.
I gasped. “Olli,” I managed to whisper.
His big droopy eyes widened and his tail wagged so fast and hard Chutney almost dropped him. He pushed off of her chest and tried to lunge for me.
“Olli. I said I was bringing you to her.” Chutney giggled and hurried over, pushing Tenn out of the way. “This is Olli. He threatened to howl nonstop if I didn’t bring him to her…so…”
Katherine snorted. She leaned over the bed and ruffled his ears. “Mister Olli, they need to sleep. Can you just lay beside her calmly?”
He thrashed and licked the air, his tail wagging as he looked at her with big eyes.
“He says he will sleep with them.”
“Well okay then.” Katherine grinned and shook her head.
Chutney sat Olli at the foot of the bed and it made my heart so happy. That had always been his spot for sleeping. He looked at me and licked my bare leg poking out from under my dress, then curled into a ball. I smiled and squeezed Riah’s hand. I wanted to speak, to say something to them, but sleep was claiming me. As my eyelids fell shut I pictured my favorite meadow in Salem, surrounded by my fairyflies…with Riah and Olli by my side…
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tennessee
Babe?
I sat up straight and looked around – and then realized Tegan had spoken into my mind.
Come up. Em made lunch. You need to eat.
I sighed. I wasn’t sure exactly how long I sat in the room with Saffie, her dog Olli, and this Riah guy but if Emersyn had made lunch then that suggested it had been a few hours. All three of them were sound asleep, they hadn’t moved an inch. Olli was snoring. Golden glitter kept sprinkling out of Saffie’s hands on the bed beside her.
Riah…he looked better than he had before. Less dead. There wasn’t a single thing human about him, aside from his physical appearance. The pointed ears made me not want to trust him. Savannah’s desire to throat punch him didn’t make me feel better about it. Cooper didn’t know what the guy’s deal was, but that he had protected Saffie from a demon attack in Hidden Kingdom – and several other times, according to Gigi. Tegan and Bentley’s coy smirks told me I didn’t need to kill the guy. Yet. The jury was still out.
But it was the way Saffie clutched his hand and curled into him that told me he meant something to her, and we owed her the chance to explain it to us. So until then, they would stay in this infirmary room we’d set up in the basement of Coven Headquarters.
BABE, Tegan yelled in my mind so loud I flinched. If you’re not up here in thirty seconds, I will tell your dad to carry you up. Got it?
I sighed. Tegan never made empty threats. Ever. I shook my head and stood. Olli, who had to be the