The Broken Elf King (Kings of Avalier Book 2)
The Broken Elf King: Chapter 3

My mind was an insatiable thing, and when I gave it something to chew on that it couldn’t figure out, it didn’t rest.

I lay awake in the early morning hours, unable to sleep all night. I tossed and turned thinking of Corleena. Blackberries. Vomiting blood. Why did those things feel connected? They shouldn’t, blackberries didn’t make you vomit blood. If they did, the mother and father would be too.

I decided to get up early for the day and hit the library. Maybe something in there could help me solve this riddle. I dressed in a pale pink chiffon gown with the back cut out, and braided my hair down my back, applying some pink lip stain to finish the look. I liked the status the title of my new job gave me, and dressing the part for it was important and fun. Every day a new dress arrived from the seamstress in a beautiful color or pattern and fit my body like a glove. It was any little girl’s dream.

Over the next hour, as the sun began to rise, I pored over books. The palace librarian wasn’t here yet but I was sure we’d become fast friends eventually. Reading was my favorite pastime. I dug into herbology, poisons, horticulture, bleeding disorders. It was only when I flipped to a chapter called invasive species that my entire body went rigid.

Corlia Mortifia or “nightlock berries” are invasive to Archmere and grow only in Nightfall. These berries look and smell similar to Archmerian blackberries but cause internal bleeding in children and mild stomach cramping in adults.

It was like my soul left my body in that moment; the shock of this truth rang throughout my being. The parents weren’t poisoning her. She was doing that herself! She must be eating berries from the field that weren’t blackberries.

Without another thought I burst from where I’d been sitting in a reading chair and ran across the small library, book opened in my hands to the page about the nightlock berries.

I barely remembered where the king’s private sleep quarters were when he’d told me, but luckily I had a map. Pulling it out, I consulted the giant palace floorplan and headed in the direction of his private wing. When I got to the giant double doors of his room, I noticed a Bow Man on either side. They gripped their weapons as I approached, which was ridiculous considering I’d just met them in the meeting yesterday. Cahal, the giant one with reddish hair and a beard, and Ares, the dark-skinned one with dreamy eyes, looked at me suspiciously as if my book would knock them out or something.

“I need to speak with the king. It’s urgent!” I told them, and rushed forward to knock on the door. They held out their arms to stop me, and then squeezed together to block my way.

“He’s not to be disturbed,” Cahal said.

“This is life or death!” I screamed. “If you don’t let me knock on this door, a little girl might die and then I will—”

The door wrenched open and the men moved out of the way, heads down. My eyes fell on the taut muscles of the tunicless king. His hair was fully down, scattered around his shoulders, and his trousers were hanging half way off his hips, barely tied.

Holy Maker of all things beautiful.

His skin draped over taut muscle; not an ounce of fat graced his trim, chiseled body.

Someone moved in the room behind him and I startled to see a woman with blond hair streak past behind him and into a washroom. She was fully dressed and looked like she was crying, which was weird.

Oh. Oh.

The king is not to be disturbed. Now I knew why. Heat crept up my cheeks as I realized I’d just interrupted him bedding a woman.

“Kailani, what is it?” His voice was gruff and thick with sleep… or arousal from the obvious lovemaking I’d just disturbed.

Maker, kill me now.

I couldn’t replace my words, so instead I handed him the book, page open to the nightlock berries. I watched as his eyes widened the more he read. A growl rumbled in his throat and then he looked at one of his Bow Men. “Cahal, saddle the horses. We’re going to Briar Ridge.”

Without another word, his lead Bow Man took off like a stallion down the hallway.

Then Raife looked at me, seemingly for the first time. His gaze ran the length of my pink gown and then back up, eyes hooding. “You ride horses?”

I just nodded, still unable to speak. I was afraid if I did say something it would be gibberish, or worse—I’d tell him how amazing he looked half naked.

“Meet me in the stables,” he said, handing me the book back and then shut the door in my face, breaking the hold his pecs had over me.

My chest was heaving as I looked sideways at the single Bow Man who now guarded the door. Ares. If he knew I was blushing, he said nothing about it. A true professional.

Pushing all thoughts of what I’d just witnessed out of my mind, I consulted my map and then rushed out of the castle and to the stables. I was surprised to see the king was already there. He must have a second exit to his room or an underground tunnel or something.

A medium sized white female horse was already saddled and waiting for me. In Nightfall we had mostly motorized horseless carriages, negating the need for horses, but I’d still learned to ride for sport. Hooking my leg into the stirrup, I hoisted myself up onto the mare and sat sidesaddle, fanning out my dress.

“We have to get there before she eats any more of these berries,” Raife said, and I nodded in agreement.

We rode fast and hard through the early morning to the small farm village of Briar Ridge. I wasn’t used to riding for so long. My butt was numb and my legs felt bruised by the time we arrived. The sun was just peeking over the clouds as we pulled our horses up to a small blue farmhouse with a thatched roof. The sun cast illuminated shafts of light over fields of blackberries that spanned out as far as the eye could see.

I recognized the mother immediately, her white hair flowing behind her. She was milking a goatin in an open field, and must have just noticed us. She stopped what she was doing and stood, setting her bucket down as she realized she had guests. Wiping her hands on her apron, she ran over to greet us.

“My lord.” She fell into a deep curtsy. “Is… everything okay?”

She was no doubt wondering why the king of the elves was here. We dismounted and the front door to the farmhouse opened. Corleena’s father walked out to greet us as well.

“My king. We didn’t know to expect a visit,” the father said, dropping to one knee and dipping his head in the deepest bow possible. A true sign of humility and respect in the elvin kingdom. In Nightfall, one would go fully flat on the floor to gain the queen’s utmost respect.

The king launched right into the heart of the matter. “My assistant may have found what’s been making Corleena so sick.”

The mother went rigid, grasping her apron and looked up at me. “What is it?”

“Where is she?” I asked, praying she hadn’t eaten any of the berries in the last twelve hours since I’d last seen her.

“She’s in the fields, probably eating berr—”

I took off like a rocket, lifting my elegant dress to run for the blackberry fields. “Corleena!” I shouted her name in panic.

“Corleena!” the king’s voice came from behind me. Her mother and father had no idea what was happening but they began to scream her name in panic too. They clearly caught on that this was a serious situation.

I hit the densely packed rows of blackberries and slowed, my heart racing. What if she was passed out, bleeding in this very field? What if we were too late?

“I’m here!” a small voice called to my left.

I pivoted, turning and following that voice, coming upon her with a handful of black berries in her hand, one was raised to her mouth.

When she saw me, she frowned in surprise, and I reached out, lightly smacking the fruit from her hand.

“Don’t eat those!” I told her.

Tears filled her eyes and I instantly felt bad for scaring her.

“What’s going on?” Her mother, the king, and her father ran up behind me and stopped.

I pulled the book from my cloak pocket and opened it, handing it to the mother, spread to the page about the nightlock berries.

“We think she’s found some of these and been eating them instead of the true blackberries,” I said.

Corleena ran to her parents, clinging to her mother’s side. I watched as her mother’s eyes widened. The father read over his wife’s shoulder, mouth opening in shock. He spun from the book, looking at the bushes around us. He began to scrutinize them, then pulled a few off and inspected them. He moved to another bush, pulling off a leaf and a berry, bringing it to his nose.

His eyes went wide as he dropped them from his hands. “These aren’t blackberries.” He pointed to the bush to his right. “Those are.” He then gestured to the left. He shook his head. “My family has been growing the berries for five generations I… I don’t understand how I didn’t know.”

The king nodded. “You didn’t think to look too closely, it’s understandable. Have you mass harvested yet? Started making any syrup?”

The farmer shook his head. “Picking season just started, so not many. Thank the Maker. Just a few locals.”

“I’ll need a list of who they are so my staff can check on them and warn them,” the king said.

They both nodded. “Of course.” The wife looked near tears and kept holding tightly to little Corleena.

The father suddenly appeared stricken. “The fields… we’ll have to burn them and start over to be safe.”

My heart fell into my stomach. Their home was humble, their clothing worn; they did not look like the kind of people who could easily miss a whole season of income and start over.

The king inclined his head. “I have reason to believe this was an invasive species planted by the Nightfall queen. Therefore, it is my responsibility to take care of it. I’ll pay you for this season’s berries and cover the cost of burning the fields and planting a new lot next year.”

The mother grasped her chest, tears rolling down her cheeks, but the farmer shook his head. “My king, I could not accept that. Not after what you’ve done to save Corleena’s life. It’s too much.”

The wife smacked him lightly in the back of the head and I had to hide a grin.

“My husband is a proud man,” the wife explained. “We humbly accept your offer, my lord, and next season we will be more watchful now that we know what to look for. We’ll spread the word to other farmers too.”

Raife nodded. “Very well. My castle treasurer will be in touch.” He then bent down to Corleena’s level. “Miss Corleena, have you eaten any of those berries last night or today?”

She nodded. “Just one.”

Raife reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. A purple glow emanated from his palm, and for a split second I saw a blackness travel up the vein of his wrist and into his body. He released her and winced slightly.

The mother reached out and held tightly to Corleena, shaking her head. “We didn’t know. How could we not have known?”

My heart felt for this family. To be farming blackberries for so long and not realize a fake was in your midst. Even now, I looked at the two different bushes that the farmer had pointed to and could barely see a difference. The points of the leaves on the fakes appeared a tiny bit rounder, the berries a bit plumper, but it was nearly impossible to tell the difference between them.

The king straightened. “Well then, I think you’re going to be just fine now.”

After another five minutes of the wife and farmer profusely thanking the king and I, we finally mounted our horses.

I winced as my sore muscles ground into the hard saddle.

Raife noticed. “Hurt?”

I blushed. “Not used to riding.”

He looked at me for longer than was socially appropriate and I cleared my throat.

“You saved her life, Kailani. Even after I gave up and told you to put her case out of your head. You should be really proud…”

It was as if the air charged around us. I could feel it as a tangible force.

“I’m proud,” he added.

Proud. He was proud of me?

It was a silly thing to say, something a teacher said to a student or a father to a child, and yet it unlocked something inside of me. It warmed my heart and made me choke up a little. I hadn’t really thought of it as saving her life, but we’d caught her eating the berries and so… I guessed I did.

“It’s something anyone would do. If you have the chance to save a life, you should save it.”

He chuckled, displaying his handsome smile. “It’s not always that easy.” He was staring at my forehead and I wondered if there was a bug on it or something. “Your mind works in a beautiful way, that’s why she’s healed,” he said.

Did he just call my mind beautiful? Because that was doing warm things to my insides.

“Have you ever heard of the healing caves?” he asked.

“No.”

He kicked his horse and then took off, Cahal following after him, and then myself a moment later, wincing as my butt pounded the hard saddle.

Not another word was spoken. We rode for an hour in a direction I didn’t recognize, and I was ready to prop up on my feet to give my backside a rest when the king pulled his horse up to the base of a large mountain. Cahal tied up his horse and went to the mouth of a cave, disappearing inside.

I raised one eyebrow at the king and he dismounted, looking up at me. “Come on.”

I sort of loved how informal we’d become over the whopping three days we’d known each other. It would be exhausting to Yes, my lord, No, Your Highness every sentence for the next five years.

I slipped off my horse just as an old elvin woman stepped out of the caves with a towel wrapped around her.

Were we at the healing caves he’d mentioned?

The old woman saw the king and bowed deeply before scurrying off some stone path that led away from the cave opening. I peered past her and noticed a village just beyond it.

Cahal came out and nodded to him. “It’s all clear now, my lord,” he said.

My mouth popped open. “Did you just kick that sweet elderly lady out so you could go in?”

Raife gave me a mischievous grin. “She could be an elderly assassin.”

I moved to playfully slap his shoulder but then thought better of it.

“The village benefits from use of the healing pools. Each time I go in I leave a hefty donation.” Raife gestured to a small stone bowl by the opening of the cave. It held copper and silver coins, even a few bottles of honey. The king placed a stack of silver coins inside and then stepped through the opening.

I swallowed hard, looking back at Cahal to see what he was doing. He stood like a sentinel on the side of the door, an arrow nocked in his bow.

“Am I supposed to go in?” I whispered to Cahal.

“Kailani,” the king beckoned, and I charged forward into the darkness, unsure what I would replace.

After stumbling in the dark a few feet and then turning a corner, I noticed a bright light ahead, which outlined the king’s body. He disappeared from view and then I walked into an open cavernous space.

“Holy Maker,” I gasped, after moving into the hidden oasis.

The top of the cave was actually open to the outside, so sunlight shone down onto the turquoise liquid. A stream of water trickled down the sides of the mountain rock, filling the pool below.

“It’s incredible.” There was a splash to my left and I startled, turning to see the king poke his head up out of the water. He was without his tunic but wearing his trousers; the water was crystal clear and I could even see his bare toes. A huge sigh escaped him as he slowly treaded water.

“The only place I can heal,” he muttered.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

He looked my body up and down. Heat crept into my cheeks every time he did that—which was often I was noticing. “Come in.”

I blushed. I was wearing a beautiful and expensive silk gown. There was no way I was getting in the water with this on, and wearing just my undergarments would be inappropriate. They were white and totally see-through when wet.

“You can wear my tunic,” he said, and then turned to give me his back. “Trust me. You won’t feel any pain riding home after a dip in these pools.”

Would it heal my sore butt? Now I was curious, and that got me moving. Unlacing the back of my dress I slipped out of it and folded it onto the rock nearby. I looked up to make sure he was still turned and padded over to his dark tunic, slipping it over my head to cover my small bralette and cream undershorts.

“O-okay,” I told him, and then dipped my feet into the water, sitting at the edge. A small tingle worked its way up my legs and I sighed. “Oh wow.” It was like the weight my body normally felt from carrying my own skin and bones around all day had left. I just felt… nothing.

“Come all the way in.” He was suddenly before me as my legs dangled over the edge, and I chewed on my lip.

“I… never learned to swim and it looks deep.”

Reaching up, as if it was no big deal, he hooked his hands under my armpits and plopped me into the water before him. “I’ve got you.”

I’ve got you.

Those three words did something to me. They worked their way into my soul and I was starting to get really confused about how I felt about my new boss. I swallowed hard, at the same time trying to tread water and also experience the utter and deep relaxation the waters provided. His hands left my armpits and went to my wrists, keeping me above water as my feet kicked around a bit frantically.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you drown,” he told me.

Being this close to him, to those blue eyes and his long blond hair, his tunicless body, I instantly wondered what it would be like to bed him. I also wondered who he’d been bedding this morning when I interrupted him. Maybe he was a serial seducer just hoping to bed me casually over the next five years I worked for him while he also bedded half of the castle! All while married!

“What are you thinking right now?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

Oh Maker, tell me he can’t read my thoughts.

“I’m wondering why you said the pools are the only thing that can heal you,” I lied.

His eyes narrowed further at the lie but I didn’t care. A woman was entitled to her own thoughts!

“I’m the greatest healer in the realm. There is no one who can match my power. That’s how elvin healing works. Someone inferior to your healing power cannot heal you. It’s why I’m brought in to the hardest cases and the smaller ones are left with the less capable healers who still need wands.”

I’d seen the healing wands and wondered why he didn’t use one. I guessed he didn’t need to.

I frowned, treading water more slowly now that I knew I wasn’t going to drop to the bottom of however deep this pool went.

“So if you fell ill? A palace healer couldn’t help you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t even have a palace healer for that reason. If my staff falls ill, I heal them.”

Shock ripped through me. “I didn’t know that. Is that well known?”

He eyed me curiously. “No, I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

That stung a little, but I knew what he meant.

“How’s your backside?” he asked. “Still sore?”

It wasn’t. I felt amazing, truth be told. “No, but you could have healed it,” I told him.

He smirked. “Would you have let me?”

No. No, I wouldn’t have. I would have said I was fine and then suffered. He knew that? Such little time together and already he knew how I worked? Was that why he came here? For me? Surely not, surely for himself as well.

“It didn’t hurt that bad,” I lied, and then regretted it, forgetting he could tell.

He shook his head. “Two lies. Shall I start keeping count? We might rack up quite a few over the next five years.”

I sighed. “Sometimes lies are good. You don’t want to know what I was thinking earlier.”

That intrigued him; an eyebrow raised and his lips curled. “Oh, I most certainly do.”

Okay, he wanted the truth, he could have it.

“I was wondering about the woman you bedded this morning and if you did that often to many women,” I said boldly. “If you were going to get married and continue to do it.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “You’re right, some lies serve their purpose,” was all he said.

He wasn’t going to answer me and that was okay, he wasn’t entitled to. I opened my mouth to speak when he cleared his throat.

“I would never bed another while married. Dara is a friend that I had an agreement with,” he said plainly.

A bedding agreement? I suddenly wanted a male friend who looked like he did to have an agreement with.

Had, he said had.

“Had?” I raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. “I’m looking for a wife now, so when Dara came into my room this morning and woke me, I told her the agreement was over.”

Jealously flared to life inside of me so strongly I was shocked by it. She woke him for sex? That meant she had access to his room and did that on a regular basis. That also must have been why she was crying. Oh how I wished I could smell a lie!

“Would you like to interrogate me further about my private life?” he asked stonily.

Oops. I’d forgotten I was talking to the king of the elves. I did that often. He just seemed so normal.

“So,” I went for a change in topic, “were you always the greatest healer of your family?” I diverted to hopefully a safer topic, but instantly knew I’d done wrong when I saw a storm brew in his gaze.

Hades! Why did I bring up his dead family? It was just the first thing that I thought of and I was trying not to ask him any more sex questions.

“I was not,” he said softly, looking far off at the cave wall as if trapped in a memory. “My sister Trini was, then my father, then me.”

The royal family had the most potent healing bloodline. It’s how they became royal in the first place.

Pain and sorrow slammed into me so harshly then that I gasped. A vision of dead bodies littering the dining room floor with white foam coming from their mouths flashed into my mind and I whimpered. The elvin king, the queen, Raife’s siblings, all with their moonlight-colored hair and fancy clothing. They littered an elegant dining hall, clutching their throats as a young Raife screamed, shooting bursts of purple healing magic at each of them. But it wasn’t enough, he wasn’t strong enough, and there were too many. I felt his sanity slip away as darkness took him, and now it took me.

In the healing pool, the king’s hands ripped away from me and I immediately started to sink, the water coming up to my ears and then covering my face. I kicked my feet frantically but was forced to hold my breath as my head submerged. Just when I thought I might drown, the king dove under the water and grasped me by the waist, pulling me upward.

I breached the water and gasped for air, coughing.

“Hades!” he cursed. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry,” he said, pressing my body to his as he rapped on my back and I sputtered for air.

“I’m fine,” I muttered, my heart hammering in my throat as he held me smooshed against him. My breasts were pressed against his chest with only a thin piece of material separating us and we seemed to realize it at the same time. He pushed me away from him, holding me at arm’s length but not letting me go.

His face looked panicked and I felt his disappointment seep into me. “You trusted me and… I nearly drown you. I’m sorry, I was trying to give you space because I knew you were feeling… my emotions.”

“It’s okay,” I told him again as he dragged us to the edge of the rock grotto. Once I reached it, I tore away from him and gripped the edge for dear life, hauling myself up over. I lay on my back, panting as my frazzled nerves settled.

He pulled himself out in one elegant move and went to stand but I grasped his wrist, forcing him to look down at me.

When his eyes reached mine, they were steel gray, thinned to slits.

“Tell me what it is.” My voice shook.

I didn’t need to explain. He knew. I had just felt what he was feeling through touch. I saw his family dead for a split second in my mind. This wasn’t normal.

He sighed, removing my grip from his, and seated himself next to me. I sat up, turning to face him, and decided to stare him down until he unloaded the entire truth.

He watched me as if wondering how much to tell me.

“This will be like helping Corleena for me,” I warned. “I won’t rest until I know everything. No book about empaths will go untouched in the library.”

A halfcocked smile pulled at his lips and my stomach did a summersault. “Are you threatening to read all the books in my library?” He shook himself. “I’m scared.”

I scowled at him and his smile faltered.

“Empaths are extremely rare,” he said. “So rare in fact that it’s believed only a few live at any given time. Like a magical force that the world cannot handle too much of.”

Chills broke out onto my arms. “Well, if they are so rare, how do you know about them?”

His whole body collapsed inward and I knew the answer would be painful. “Because my mother was one.”

The breath was stolen from my lungs. Even sitting a few inches apart and not touching, I felt the grief from here. He loved her the most. He would never admit that out loud but he did. She was everything to him, his protector and nurturer, his inspiration. The grief was all-consuming, cutting into my heart like a physical blow. A tear wobbled in my vision and spilled onto my cheek; he moved to scoot away from me but I reached out to stop him. “Let me take it. Even if only for a moment, let me take the pain,” I told him.

He gazed up at me then with such a confused vulnerability I wasn’t prepared for it. It was like he was begging me to take it but didn’t want to hurt me. Without overthinking it, I leaned in and took him into my arms, hugging him.

Unbearable sadness seeped into me then, but the sigh of relief that escaped him made it all worth it. I had to bite down the sobs that wanted to rip from my throat.

So. Much. Guilt. He felt so guilty for being left alive; it ate at him every second of the day. He’d rather be dead with them than alive alone. Tears flowed down my cheeks unchecked, my throat hurting from trying to keep the wailing inside of me. I wanted to scream, I wanted to pound my chest, I wanted to murder someone. I was so filled with rage.

Life wasn’t fair. I wanted to die. How could one go on living in a dark world like this where six-year-olds were poisoned?

It was at these desperate thoughts that the king pulled away from me and cleared his throat. “We should get back. I have a lot of meetings.” He stood, grabbed his boots, and walked out of the cave, taking his sadness with him and leaving me in a tumultuous emotional whirlwind.

What the Hades had just happened?

As I peeled off his wet tunic and slipped into my dress, one thought struck me.

He’s so much more broken than I thought.

AFTER OUR LITTLE EMPATHIC EXCHANGE, the king totally closed off to me. He barely looked at me in our meetings later that day. After I tasted his food he asked to dine alone, and now he was getting ready to usher in his first dinner date.

Yes, I was ashamed to admit that while I was thinking of bedding him in the healing pools, I’d forgotten I was also supposed to be helping him replace a wife.

After tasting his amazing dinner, I moved to leave the kitchen and return to my room to eat alone.

“Miss Kailani, you have been summoned,” one of the waiters called to me.

I frowned, nodding, and then entered the dining hall. The king summoned me? Was he worried I hadn’t tasted the food?

When I entered, my gaze immediately went to the woman with the red hair and overly showy cleavage. I recognized her from the photo her mother had brought. She was talking loudly and I had to force myself not to cringe at her annoying laugh.

Bonnie.

“My lord, is there a problem?” I asked Raife, and curtsied deeply for good measure.

He looked annoyed, all but rolling his eyes. “Miss Harthrop would like her food tasted as well.”

I froze, my eyebrows shooting up.

Bonnie nodded. “I am after all an important person in the king’s life, and maybe soon the most important person. I don’t want the Nightfall queen to poison me either.”

She shoved her plate over to me and I tried to conceal my shock and disgust for her over-importance of self.

“We wouldn’t want that,” I said dryly.

Reaching out to one of the empty place settings, I grabbed a clean fork. Instead of doing my best not to disturb to food, I stabbed the middle of the meat and cheese pie and came away with a huge bite. Putting it into my mouth, I moaned. “It’s divine.”

Bonnie frowned, looking from me to Raife. I glanced at the king to replace he was barely suppressing a smile at my display.

“The roll too,” I told her. “I heard the queen likes to bake her poisons in.”

Her eyes bugged and she nodded, scooting the roll over to me.

I tore it in half, taking a large bite and relishing the flakiness of it.

“Butter?” she asked, grabbing the small cube of butter from her plate.

I took the entire thing, mushed it into my other bite of roll and downed it.

“Water please,” I asked her. “The queen’s poison is tasteless.”

Bonnie handed me the water with a shaking hand and I drank half the thing in one go.

After setting it down I endured an entire minute of the scared girl watching me and waiting for me to grab my stomach. I was half tempted to, just to mess with her, but would never put the king through that. Not even for a joke.

After my watch showed I was in the clear, I reached out and patted her arm. “Food’s safe, my lady.”

She all but collapsed into the chair and then looked at Raife. “I don’t know how you do that every meal! It’s frightening.”

I looked down at her plate. It looked like it had been mauled by a catin, and I had to keep myself from smiling.

“Goodnight.” I grasped the edges of my dress and curtsied again.

The steel gray-blue eyes watched me all the way back to the kitchen doors.

A mere hour later, I was about to take a bath when a note slid under my door.

Bonnie is a No.

-Raife

For some reason, I felt happy about him immediately rejecting her. She was annoying. Who could live with that laugh forever!?

As I was trying to fall asleep, I couldn’t get one image out of my head. The dead people on the ground with foaming mouths, Raife’s family. Just thinking of it, and the accompanying guilt that had rushed through me, made my stomach churn. How long could a person live with that guilt before it consumed them?

It was a long time before I slept.