The cave lights up with the glow of flames, and I scoot closer to Fen to examine his wounds. He's still without a shirt, and his skin is on fire, not cold as I expected. "What did he do to you?" I ask.
Fen places his hand on my face, his blue eyes locked on mine. "Nothing that some rest won't fix. I'll be okay. You shouldn't have come. How did you even find me? Why didn't you escape with the city like I told you?"
"Baron came for me, and I knew something was wrong. I knew you were in trouble."
"You stubborn, stubborn woman. You could have gotten yourself killed."
I touch the stubble on his cheek, my eyes filling with tears. "But I didn't. You were the one who came too close to dying tonight."
He laughs, then coughs for his effort, covering his mouth as he does. When he pulls away, his palm is covered in blood. I grab it and stare, horrified. "Coughing up blood is really bad, Fen. What did they do to you?"
He wipes his hand on the ground and straightens himself. "Fae blood is poison to vampires. It won't kill us. Very few things will actually kill us. But it weakens us and makes us very sick, often for a long time."
"How do you treat it?"
He looks away. "We have to feed on a human to cleanse our blood from the Fae."
I don't even hesitate. I offer my wrist to him. "Then do it. Drink my blood and heal."
He shakes his head. "Even if I was willing to feed from you, which I'm not, it's been forbidden. None of us can feed from you until you've taken the Blood Oath."
"Then I'll find a vampire you can feed on."
"You would freeze to death in this storm, firstly. And second, while vampires can feed on each other, it doesn't give us the nourishment that human blood gives us. It can help us heal from certain wounds though, which is useful, but not something like this."
"Then you need to feed on me. Who forbade it? It's my blood and my right to give it to whom I choose."
"Let's talk about this in the morning," he says, his body too limp under my hands. "You need to rest."
"Now who's being the stubborn one, huh?"
"I'm not being stubborn, there are just things at play here you don't understand." He flinches as he adjusts himself against the stone, and I grab the bag Kayla prepared. "Your wounds need tending. Stay still."
He grabs my hand. "They will heal in time."
"But they aren't healing now," I say. "So I need to clean and bandage them so they don't get infected, or whatever happens to vampires when they are injured."
I pull out bandages and a cream meant for cuts, scrapes and burns. We get a lot of those at the forge. Fen doesn't show any expression as I inspect the wounds on his chest, my fingers prying gently to make sure he's not getting an infection. I use some snow and an extra cloth to wipe away any extra debris from the forest and then apply a thick layer of cream over each wound before securing it with a bandage. "So what things are at play that I don't understand?" I ask as I work.
"You ask a lot of questions," he says.
I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah, I'm irritating that way, always wanting to know things that have a direct impact on my life and well-being. Must be a silly human thing."
"You're right," he says. "It does affect you. And you'll need to be careful. My brothers and I have been around a very long time. You couldn't even fathom how long if you tried. We have seen the rise and fall of many empires and kingdoms and we have fought many wars. We have killed more than you can imagine. We have done horrible things, deserving of our demon curse. These are the men you will be spending time with in the coming months. These are your choices for the next king. We are dangerous, Ari. More than you know. And there are some who would stop at nothing to become the next king. When you are dealing with an immortal species, you don't often see change in leadership except by violence, and even then, we are hard to kill, as I've said. What is happening now is unprecedented. And you are at the center of it all. The High Council decided on rules to keep you safe."
"Like no feeding from me."
He nods. "Yes. However, other things were left open. And that's where you have to be careful."
"Other things like what?" I ask, securing the last bandage.
"There are no limits on physical intimacy," he says, glancing away.
My hand freezes on his chest. Our faces are just a few inches apart. Outside, the snow falls so fast and hard it turns the world into a cacophony of shrills and howls, dimmed only slightly by the crackling fire in our small cave. Baron sleeps next to us, his body close to the flame for warmth, but his head facing the cave's entrance, presumably to keep guard. All of this registers in an instant, but none of it matters, because all I can feel is the pressure of this man's hand on my hip, his fingers gripping me harder than necessary. "So anything goes then?"