How he wished for a do-over, wished he could summon Rumpel and demand his prince give him the answers. He’d even pay the price if it meant he could figure this mess out.
It bothered him more and more each day the thought of her plight. He’d run scenario after scenario through his head. Wondering if maybe he could figure out a way to take her back with him to the castle and help her find a mate among one of the other members of the staff.
But the moment he’d thought it a burning fire of fury had wormed its way through his gut. He clenched his jaw just to think about anyone else touching her divinely soft skin, smelling the sweetness of her earthy scent, discovering the radiance of her beauty when in the height of her afterglow.
His nights were consumed with thoughts of her. Of what they’d done. How she’d laughed as his fire had swept over her. Only a true mate could walk through the heat of a demone’s flame and not be burned.
He’d always wanted children, someone to pass his name on to, a small face that he could look at and see not only himself, but his spouse, too. Someone he could teach and pass on his vast stores of knowledge to.
If he took Lilith as his he’d never know that.
And yet…
He glanced back up at her. She was panting mightily as she veered toward a fast-moving stream of crystal clear water.
The terrain had shifted three days ago. No longer were they in forested land, now they moved through a vast network of rocky mountains. Sturdy trees thin as arrows shot through cracks and crevices in the rock, shooting straight up into the sky.
They were in the heart of dwarf country. Which was good and bad. So far they’d managed to traverse the landscape without detection, building shelters from branches and twigs to help them blend into the scenery at night. This far north into Kingdom there were no towns or villages.
Nothing had been brave enough to settle so close to the flesh-eaters. The only good thing about where they were was that as of last night they’d finally spotted the tip of Fyre Mountain poking like a steeple above a bank of ominous gray clouds surrounding it.
Sitting, Lilith called her shifting light and frowned down at her feet.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, getting to her side in three quick strides.
Never glancing up, she grabbed her left one and winced as she pressed down on it. “I stepped on a stone and it hurts like holy hell. I’m afraid I may have cracked something in there.”
“Here, let me see.”
Kneeling beside her he attempted to grab her foot, but she wiggled it out of reach.
“I’m fine,” she snapped.
“Lilith, don’t be so obstinate. Let me check it.”
Lips pulling back, she snapped her teeth at him. In her human form it was more adorable than menacing. Her angelic face was covered in sweat and grime, her skin was pinkened from the exercise, and her hair clung to her forehead.
He wanted to tell her to take it easy. That they were making brilliant time, but she’d probably not believe anything he said now anyway.
Gods, to do this blasted thing over again. It was beginning to prick at his consciousness how badly he’d messed everything up with her.
She tucked her foot under her cloak.
“Please,” he asked again softly.
He could see her internal struggle and for a second thought she’d tell him no again, but finally she gave a tiny sigh. “I hate you.”
It wounded him to hear her say it. More than he could have imagined, her silence for the past week had been deafening. To say that he missed her spunk and verve would be an understatement, it vexed him to think he was the cause of it, but all he could do was try to get better.
“No, you don’t,” he said, giving her a ghost of a grin. “Now, let’s fix this.” Reaching under her cloak where she hid her foot, he pulled it out and winced at the sight of it.
Not only was it bruised, but it was blistered and weeping. “Lilith.” He inhaled sharply. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He gently brushed his fingers across her heel.
She hissed and dropped her head to her chest, visibly trembling from the touch. “Because we need to make haste. I’m fine, really.”
Disgusted with himself all over again, he gently set it down. “I know of a salve that will work wonders. I’ll need to make it first. You sit here and rest.”
She stared at the rock face behind him. “I do not like being this close to the mountainside. We’ve done well avoiding them by keeping away.”
“Aye, but you need to drink, and if you keep walking on this foot you’ll do permanent damage to it. We have no choice.”
“Giles, I’m sorry for this. Sorry I’m slowing us—”
“Lilith.” He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look in his eyes. “Never apologize for something like this.”
Her blue eyes glimmered with unshed tears.