9
CERRI
The next morning was hell on earth. I couldn’t bear to open my eyes. With the way my head throbbed, I knew that the morning light would be worse than any other pain I’d endured to date. Which said a lot after what I’d been through.
My stomach rebelled. It clenched tight in vicious anger at what I’d done to it the night before. I pressed a hand to my forehead and groaned. A bit of light sliced across my eyelids. Grimacing, I turned my face into the sheets.
They didn’t smell of lavender, like they did at home. Instead, I caught the familiar scent of moss and hidden forests. The pain in my head vanished when my heart raced. I cracked open one eye and took in the unfamiliar brick-red sheets beneath me.
A woven tapestry, soft from long use, covered my body. I ran my fingers over the threads before looking to the rest of the room. It was stuffed to the brim, but nothing about it seemed over the top. Instead, I saw Rhoan’s long years in all the things covering the walls and furniture.
There were glints of metal here and there. Several moments passed before I realized I was looking at weaponry, hanging beneath layers of pennants, climbing vines, and other things. One pennant had a rising sun embroidered across it. Another had a collection of stars with little lines sewn between them.
I kicked off the tapestry so that I could get up and get a closer look at the pennants, but my head throbbed once again. Hissing, I grasped at my skull.
“Yeah, it can be like that the morning after,” Rhoan said nearby.
Cracking open an eye, I glared at the man standing in the doorway. The rest of his small home sprawled beyond him. It was just as heavily decorated as the bedroom. Thin layers of fabric had been draped over the windows. It blocked out just enough light to let in a gentle glow and nothing else. The glow caught on tiny crystal beads hanging against the fabric.
“I feel like I’ve been dragged into a crow’s nest,” I grumbled.
The dark haired fae warrior with glinting beads woven into his long braids looked around. Perhaps crow had been an accurate description of him. It was easy to imagine him with massive black wings that glinted with oil-slick colors in the light.
All at once, I was reminded how beautiful he was. The man radiated effortless beauty in a way that I never could. I caught a glimpse of myself in a half-buried mirror and saw just how out of control my curls had become.
“You know,” Rhoan began. “I’m not sure where you got the curls from. Your mother’s hair was straight as can be.”
I had no answer for him. The woman from my vision flickered in my mind’s eye again. I shoved it away the best I could because I had no time for a trip down memory lane right now. Just thinking about it made my stomach clench tight and churn.
Instead, I lurched towards the bathroom and emptied the last of my stomach’s contents into the toilet. It was a glamorous sight; I was certain of it.
With a groan, I started to rest my head on the toilet seat before I remembered myself.
Ew, Cerri. Just…ew.
“Here we go.” Rhoan ran a washcloth under the faucet before kneeling to press it to my forehead.
He gently wiped at my mouth while holding my chin in the palm of his hand. It was tender and too much for my lonely heart. I had to turn away before I developed more feelings for this unattainable man.
“Let’s get you something greasy to eat, then you can take a shower. I’m sure I have some ladies’ clothing in here somewhere.”
The prospect of food almost made me want to throw up again. How many times could I puke in front of this man? Surely, he thought I was absolutely disgusting by now. He didn’t bat an eye, though. I was willing to bet that he’d seen worse on the battlefield. What was a little vomit when you’d seen the insides of people?
The thought didn’t comfort me. In fact, panic slammed into my heart. That’s what they wanted me to start. Both Rhoan and Feri were begging me to incite a war. I thought of the people we lost when we pushed back against Alvin. The old pack Alpha killed three people in his warpath.
I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Couldn’t they understand that? Was it so bad that I wanted to spare lives, to keep blood from being spilled upon the earth?
Rhoan led me over to the small table for two tucked in the corner of his kitchen. The air smelled of bacon and eggs. To my surprise, my stomach started begging loudly. I glanced down at my own lap in awe.
The man chuckled before returning with a sandwich bigger than my fist. I lifted a single brow when I looked up at him. If he thought I would be able to fit that in my mouth, he was going to be sorely disappointed. The English muffin had been stacked high with a small omelet, thick slices of bacon, pepper studded cheese, and…
“Is that avocado?” I asked as I lifted the top of the English muffin.
Rhoan nodded. “Why are you surprised?”
“I don’t know. You don’t strike me as an avocado kind of guy. You seem more like a…like a bacon-flavored toothpaste kind of guy.”
Rhoan’s laughter soothed every small ache plaguing my body. My muscles relaxed, and a soft, content sigh slipped out of me. I looked up at him in astonishment. How could a sound do something like that to me? I felt disarmed.