it for them and he gritted his teeth as he lifted his left foot and the wound above his hip burned. Concern danced across her eyes and she looked as if she wanted to say something, but a glance at her mate had her holding her tongue.
He could understand her reluctance to put voice to her worry about the state of him. Vail was holding it together, but the corruption was strong in him, forged by thousands of years of abuse by another witch who had held him under her spell, forcing him to fight his own people.
And his own brother.
Thankfully, Prince Loren had disobeyed his advisors’ orders to eliminate Vail and had ended up saving him instead when he had discovered a witch was controlling him against his will. Prince Loren was now working to convince his council to allow Vail to return to the elf kingdom, but Hartt had the feeling Vail was happier here.
And he couldn’t blame him.
This pocket of nature was beautiful, serene, and calming. Hartt felt deeply connected to the goddess here, could feel her strength flowing into him by simply being inside this magical bubble Rosalind had created. He felt sure that if he could just laze in the garden here, could close his eyes and listen to the birdsong, feel the warmth of the sun on his skin and breathe deep of nature, that he could purge the darkness just as Vail was.
And Fuery was too.
He smiled tightly, amused at his train of thought.
He had forced Fuery to continue his visits with Vail even when Fuery had felt they were no longer benefitting him. Maybe he should have stuck around whenever he had dropped Fuery off. Maybe passing time here would have helped him too, would have prevented the darkness from stealing control from him when he had been wounded.
Hartt frowned as someone settled him on a worn leather chaise longue in front of a roaring fire, looked around at his new surroundings and couldn’t remember how he had gotten to the drawing room.
Rosalind nudged several stacks of books aside with her booted right foot, clearing a space that she dragged her green velvet armchair into. She settled on it and Vail came to loom over her, a grim edge to his expression and darkness threatening to devour the amethyst of his irises.
“Little wild rose,” he murmured, his voice thick and low.
She smiled up at him and lifted her left hand, brushed her fingers across his palm in a gentle, soothing caress. “Just a little magic. Perhaps you would like to walk around the garden with Fuery? You could show him the work you’ve been doing at the bottom near the field.”
Vail’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked between her and Fuery, a war erupting in his eyes.
“You don’t have to,” she whispered to him. “If it becomes… It’s always an option.”
His face crumpled and he shifted foot to foot.
Fuery had told Hartt that Vail was undergoing something called exposure therapy, where Rosalind would use spells around him in a controlled environment to help him overcome his aversion to magic and the violent responses it provoked in him. Fuery had also told him they had hit a bump recently.
Well, apparently, it had been more like a solid wall.
Vail had turned on Rosalind and had come dangerously close to hurting her. She had been forced to use a spell on him to contain him and that had only made things worse. Guilt flickered in Vail’s purple eyes and his mouth opened, and then closed.
Rosalind stood, tiptoed and curled her hand around his nape. She drew her mate down to her, hugged him tightly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He buried his face in her neck and seized hold of her, dragged her against him and clutched her.
“Take a walk. Find out what this spell Fuery mentioned is… for me.” She dropped a kiss on his throat.
Vail nodded stiffly, released her and stepped back. He moved past her without looking at her, his shoulders tight beneath his jumper, and Fuery lingered, staring at Hartt.
“Go with him.” Hartt didn’t want Fuery talking about the spell, but it would do both males good to be alone for a while.
Because Hartt had the feeling this was going to hurt and that seeing him in pain would tip Fuery over the edge.
He locked his senses on Fuery when he lost sight of him, tracked him as far as he could manage while he was weak, and looked at