"Yes, dewdrop! Yes!" He held her hands as she gave a slow flap along the ocean beach where there was less chance of running into any fairies. Or enemies. She needed to be able to fly for her own safety if the Alamur were coming. Lord Milori agreed to a half-hour break from battle planning to help her relearn how to fly.

Her wings were large and powerful. She gave a single, hard flap.

He blew backwards, buzzing his wings to catch himself as sand swirled up to create a sandstorm.

The air cleared, and Silvermist stood there with her hands over her mouth. "Sorry."

Cracking a smile, he flew back over. "Perhaps we should try this from the air first." He took her hands and lifted her up off the ground just a bit. "Flap enough to hover, and I'll let go. Keep below me for now so we don't fall."

She gave slow flaps that were still strong enough to blow the sand below. Looking up, her brow furrowed. "I can't hover without beating harder."

"Alright, we'll go up a little higher. When you take your own weight, I'll let go."

Her hands didn't pull as he took her higher and she beat her wings faster, so he let go of one hand and then the other. She bounced up and down a little as she hovered.

A smile lit up her face.

Distant voices broke the silence of soldier fairies approaching doing their extended border sweeps.

Panic washed over her face, and she started to close her wings to drop down to the ground.

"No. Come fly with me." He held out a hand. "I'll catch you if you fall."

Only a moment of hesitation, and then she gave powerful flaps that pushed her up toward the clouds.

With a smile, he zipped after her. Following where she disappeared, he came out on top of the clouds and spotted her hovering in the strong golden beams of sunlight.

"I've never been this high." Pure happiness made her glow stronger. She was the image of an angel.

Rolling onto his back, he dove into the clouds with a come-and-get-me smile.

She frowned and leaned to angle her wings. Then she disappeared as the clouds swallowed him up.

Popping back up revealed her trying out how to bend and fold her wings for different maneuvers. And then she found the one she wanted, looked at him with a grin, and dove down.

Laughter rang through the clouds as she barrel rolled, dove, turned, soared, and put her wings to the test, easily keeping up with him. The cloud mist swooped after her as she cut in and out, as if eager to follow this gleeful fairy and play alongside her. "Come on!" she called, zipping ahead.

Although his Alamur wings could keep up, it took concentration to use the precise aerodynamics while she effortlessly owned the skies.

Then she banked a hard right and threw out her wings for a fast stop.

"What is it?" He came up on her right, just out of the gust of her wings.

Cupping her hands to her mouth, she pointed. Dolphins jumped in the ocean. "Can we play?"

Glancing around, there didn't appear to be any danger. It was unlikely that Alamur were out here anyways. "For a few minutes."

"Race me." She grinned and then let herself arc backwards in a dive.

Her wings didn't falter. He had to ride her break in the wind to keep up, the air whistling past in pitches higher than he'd ever heard from the speed of the descent. "Slow down!" At this velocity, she could rip off her wings during a stop.

But she didn't seem to hear.

"Silvermist, no!" Despite flapping faster, there was no way to reach her before she got too close to the water.

Right before crashing in the waves, she threw open her wings and changed trajectory to skim right over the top, dragging her hand across the surface.

Slowing to hover above the water, he held a hand over his heart for a moment to calm the panicked beating.

She spun up in a loop to come back, so far away that her face wasn't visible.

"One."

A dark whisper.

Every muscle tensed. His sugar ran cold.

Drawing the sword, each sense sharpened again, just like the last time the attacker was near.

The slightest blur parted the ocean mist like something cut through the air. It was headed for Silvermist.

"Silvermist! Into the clouds!" The scream tore out, filled with terror as he shot toward her.

Without missing a beat, she flapped her wings hard and climbed into the clouds. The clouds promised protection. For the moment.

Rocketing up, he burst through the other side of the clouds, turning in circles. "Silver! Silvermist!" She wasn't anywhere. Maybe it caught her inside the clouds. Angling to dive down, something glinted.

There. The sun glistened on water in the sky. She had encased herself in a globe of water right at the surface of the clouds.

An Alamur darted around on the outside with a sword and knife drawn, unable to get to her without getting its wings wet. But it raised the dagger. A dagger throw would cut right through the water and right into her.

The distance was too great to make it to her in time.

A war cry ripped out in a desperate attempt to draw the devil's attention, and he shot forward at full speed.

The Alamur froze and spun in surprise, darting to the side at the last moment.

Just in time to miss spearing the monster. He never missed.

A stab of blinding pain seared through the belly. A glance down. The dagger protruded from his stomach.

Silvermist's scream raked over the crash of ocean waves and her bubble burst. "Sleet!"

Her terror exploded energy that fed his glow. It would be enough to buy more time to kill the monster before bleeding out.

The Alamur screamed a war cry. Sword against sword clanged, the Alamur moving and sparring so fast that every move turned into defense to just survive.

Left. Right. Uppercut. Downward thrust. Left. Right. Block.

Sweat beaded. It made no sense. It hadn't been this difficult to cut down Alamur during the Pixie Hollow war.

A knick stung in the arm.

A slice burned on the thigh.

The beast toyed, all within the span of three seconds.

All he needed was one second to kill the threat. But that one second wasn't coming.

Then it dawned. The Kerval parasite. If an Alamur survived, side effects lingered for twelve hours. How could that important detail have been forgotten? It was a setup to ensure hand-to-hand combat victory if the Kerval failed.

"She's made you clumsy." A sinister laugh, and the Alamur stopped moving for a half second.

It was enough time for Alamur eyesight to catch a glimpse. "Guillotine," he breathed in shock, blocking another thrust. "I killed you in the field!" he roared, fury growing tenfold.

The Alamur stopped just out of reach and pointed to his own neck. "You didn't fully sever my throat. Always were too cocky, One. Is her neck as hard to part?" He shot at Silvermist.

"Noooo!" Fear gave a burst of speed, along with her scream. He plunged the sword under Guillotine's ribs at the same moment Silvermist shot out a spray of water.

Guillotine screamed and twisted in the free fall, grabbing Sleet's tunic to pull him down with him.

Sleet's wings were soaked, sending him into a deadly free fall through the clouds and toward the ocean. Closing her wings, she dove after them, riding their break in the wind to gain speed.

The Alamur grabbed the dagger in Sleet's belly and yanked it out. Sleet caught the Alamur's wrist, trying to force the dagger away from his own throat.

Something was wrong. Even when fighting the wolf and rat, Sleet was swifter and stronger than this.

The knife pressed against the side of Sleet's throat.

There was only one thing left to do.

Lifting her hands, the ocean rose in a giant crescent wave and swallowed them up. Taking a deep breath, she dove in full speed and squeezed her hands to force the water to send up Sleet.

There. Gold sugar floated through the water, trailing behind Sleet as he tried to swim up from deep in the depths. He shook his head at her.

Black dust swirled in the water around him. Alamur sugar.

Using her wings, she swam and broke through the surface to hover, squeezing her hands to push Sleet up faster. He popped up moments later, gasping and struggling to not drown with a mortal injury impeding his swimming.

"I might be able to carry you." She reached out.

An arm shot out of the water and wrapped around Sleet's neck from behind. Sleet disappeared under the surface before being able to get a breath.

And then the monster punched Sleet's wound. Air bubbles popped up from Sleet's silent scream, the last of his air.

Panic. Rage.

Raising her arms, the sea trembled. Her hands cupped the air, quivering with the massive energy from every drop of water in the ocean at her command.

Soaring across the surface, the ocean followed, creating a powerful wave that brought Sleet and the enemy to the shore.

They washed up on the beach, still locked in a struggle as Sleet gasped and coughed.

She dropped onto the sand. It sizzled and hardened into glass under each footstep as she stormed closer to them. Clenching her teeth, each breath heaved with fury. Fingertips tingled. Twisting her hand, a wave spun up to swirl high in the air, ready to take the monster out to sea to save Sleet.

Sleet was pale from so much sugar loss. The monster climbed on top of him and punched in the belly over the stab wound. Although Sleet screamed, he grabbed the Alamur's neck and got enough leverage to throw him off. In the blink of an eye, Sleet pulled his sword out of the enemy's side and plunged it through one shoulder, staking the Alamur to the ground.

"Why are you here?!" Sleet roared and climbed on top, locking a hand around the Almaur's throat. His head whipped to her, his wet face twisted with rage. "Get the General! Go!"

The dark look in his eye...it paralyzed every muscle. It was the terrifying look of a predatory Alamur about to kill a Bright Fairy. The pupil was a slit, like a cat. Never had he looked like one of them before.

The wave collapsed back into the sea as her hand went limp. Fear.

"Go!" Sleet yelled, the Alamur struggling under him to get free, reclaiming his attention. "Why are you here?!" He twisted the Alamur's other arm until it made a sickening crack and sat at an unnatural angle.

Startling hard, her breath grew choppy. The violence. He broke bones and stabbed, not in self-defense and with hesitation. And Sleet's glow grew almost painfully bright, feeding on the fear, violence, and pain.

His eyes flicked back to her, somehow knowing she was still there despite being out of his line of sight. "Get out of here!"

With a start, she shot toward Pixie Hollow. Sleet was turning back into an Alamur.

Her wings were strong enough to get there in less than two minutes. Lord Milori stood near the border inspecting soldiers at attention.

Crash landing, it was hard to stop shaking to be able to walk without stumbling. Tears streamed down. "Lord M,Milori!"

Several soldiers can over and helped as Milori trotted over.

"The beach. An A,Alamur and Sleet. He,he,he's…" The words wouldn't come out between the panic and the sobs.

Lord Milori's eyes widened. "Is Sleet hurt?"

She nodded. "It's not him. The sugar. I think he's turning into one of them," she sobbed.

A piercing whistle and Lord Milori's owl landed. Dozens of hands helped her up to sit behind Lord Milori.

"Corporal! Lock down Pixie Hollow! Notify the Queen's guards! Six soldiers come with me!" He took off.

The owl circled the beach.

A fairy lay sprawled in the sand, black sugar giving the illusion of molten rock underneath him. Just steps away was another fairy in black on his hands and knees.

Panic. The two fairies looked alike from this far up, the only hope being the black sugar was the dead attacker.

Lord Milori jumped off the moment the owl landed.

Sleet. He was on his hands and knees, holding the belly wound. Gold sugar dripped on the sand beneath. He was covered in black Alamur sugar.

One soldier helped her down while the others ran over to the scene. They spoke in muted murmurs.

Wrapping her wings around herself helped ward off shivers, even though it wasn't cold. Inching closer, the need to see if Sleet was alright won over the fear of him if he'd turned into an Alamur. Barely.

No one touched him, but Lord Milori knelt on one knee and talked to Sleet. After a moment, Sleet stood, with a great deal of effort. Soldiers parted, giving him a wide girth as he approached.

His eye looked normal again, but he was nearly white from sugar loss—where black and gold sugar wasn't splattered all over him. He held the belly wound. Gold sugar trickled over his fingers and dripped onto the sand. "Go to the palace where it's safe," he panted.

"You need to go to the hospital." Tucking down her wings and stepping forward, there was nowhere to touch him that didn't have Alamur sugar.

He nodded. "Probably a sugar transfusion." Because of the Alamur sugar contamination. "Healer Spruce will come check that you didn't get exposed." Three soldiers flanked him, but when he took another step, he landed hard on his knees in the sand.

"Sleet." She rushed forward.

"Don't touch," he panted.

"You can't get to the hospital on your own."

"I'm fine," he breathed, struggling to get up.

Pulling the water closer, she raised some over him. "Everyone, back." As soon as they stepped away, safe from the splash, she dropped it to wash off the Alamur sugar.

In the next heartbeat, she pulled his arm hard to help him up. "I think my wings can carry us, but I'm not strong enough to hold you. I need you conscious long enough to hold onto me."

He started to sink to his knees again. She grabbed his arm. "Sleet, hold on as tight as you can."

"Neverland, Silvermist. Get as much height as you can," Lord Milori ordered. "He won't be conscious for long, so you can use the height to glide to get as close to the hospital as possible. I'll follow."

Fear gave strength, making it to the hospital within seconds just as Sleet fainted.


She sat on the exam table, wrapped in a blanket that the fireflies had heated.

"Your tests are negative for Alamur sugar exposure. I think it's just shock making you shake yet." Healer Spruce examined the bruises on her hips again.

"I need to go—"

"My colleague still has Sleet in surgery. Let me finish with you."

"Hurry. Is he getting a full sugar transfusion? Last time it almost killed him."

"Yes, but we're going to try doing it faster this time. It won't be pleasant, but I think part of the trouble last time was the transfusion was too slow, so the Alamur sugar was destroying the Bright Fairy sugar faster than we could get it into him."

Biting her lip, she drew a deep breath and blurted, "Is he changing into an Alamur?"

He looked up and frowned. "There's not really a change, per se. Why?"

"His eyes. When he was fighting the Alamur on the beach, his pupils were like slits. Like the Alamur. He's never done that before."

"Ah." A smile tugged up the corner of Spruce's mouth. "No, he's not changing. Alamur's eyes are like that when they hunt. I suspect you've just never seen it in him before, and he probably doesn't feel it to notice. It allows for better night vision, like in big cats."

"But when he made me rabbit skin blankets—"

"From the rabbits that were already dead?"

She frowned. "What about when he killed the rat in his cabin—"

"That happened at night when it was too dark to see his eyes?" He smiled. "Silvermist, I assure you that he's not changing back into 'an Alamur'. There isn't really anything to change, besides his sugar. It's not like a female transitioning to become fertile or gain new wings." He shrugged. "His senses dulled a bit with Bright Fairy sugar and he lost the ability to smell Alamur versus Bright Fairies, but that's it. Sleet is physically a full Alamur, aside from the sugar. Sleet is still Sleet and always will be Sleet."

Her eyebrows rose. "Oh." That made it all seem less frightening.

"If you promise to not touch him until the transfusion is complete, I'll take you to his room. My colleague should be done with the stab wound surgery and have the arm and thigh stitched up very soon. But I'm sure Sleet would appreciate some mate healing after the transfusion is done." He smiled like all was right with the world. "While we wait for Sleet to finish, Lord Milori wants you back at the beach. He said you have a way of cleaning up Alamur sugar without touching it?"

Purifying the water, like she had the Creature's blood. She nodded.

Waiting to hear if Sleet was alright was too stressful. Having a task would help pass the time.


The Queen stood at the far edge of the beach with Lord Milori and several other guards when she landed.

"Is Sleet alright?" Queen Clarion approached.

"Still in surgery. Clean up the sugar?" Being here now gave an anxious feeling of needing to be back at the hospital.

Lord Milori came over and nodded. "If you can safely do so. Sleet mentioned before about how you purified the Creature's sugar."

Just hurry up and get it done. Flying high over the ocean, it began to quiver as she took control. Sweeping an arm out made the waves follow and lap up the Alamur sugar on the beach until the sand shined clean again.

Swirling her hands in, her body started to tremble as the sea began to sweep all the Alamur sugar into the water directly below.

Queen Clarion and Lord Milori flew up nearby and watched.

The water was heavy, and it took both arms to swirl circles upward, forcing the Alamur sugar to the top.

Waves crashed and the winds picked up as the entire ocean tried to obey rather than just the water below. "Where do I put the sugar?" she called.

Lord Milori pointed to where the soldiers started a fire on the beach.

One final heave up of her arms, and a massive ball of water as large as the Pixie Tree broke free from the ocean. The sea and wind quieted.

She dropped down under the weight as the water fought to escape from the Alamur sugar. Beating her wings harder to gain more height, a rapid flip of her wrists sent the water ball spinning as it hovered. Squeezing the air so hard that her arms shook, clean drop of water rained back into the ocean.

Although the ball of water rapidly dwindled to the size of a house, it grew more and more difficult to control the energy. The more concentrated the Alamur sugar became, the harder the water fought to escape contact.

Exhaustion grew, and she sank lower and lower toward the water.

Arms wrapped around, but let go with a hissing sound and yelp of pain. "Clarion! She's too hot to sit on Blizzard!" Lord Milori called from where he hovered on the owl just below.

The Queen flew over with Pixie Dust swirling in her hands. "You're too hot. You're burning through your dust. I can't touch you, so I have to shoot dust into you. Do you have a good hold on the water?"

Gripping the ball of water tighter caused coughing, a sign that pixie dust was almost gone from the body.

"Brace. It's going to hurt," Lord Milori warned.

The Queen moved to her front, just below the gust of her wings. And flung her hands, shooting a trail of dust.

A cry of pain as she jerked backwards before flapping harder to stop. Tears blurred everything from the burning in her chest, but the exhaustion faded.

Another hard squeeze of the ball forced it to the size of a dandelion head. Flying over to the fire, rotating her wrists caused particles of Alamur sugar to fall out, hissing as they burned. Slicing one hand caused the water ball to cut in two. She flung a hand and sent the clean ball back into the ocean. Repeating it over and over until there was only a bead the size of her head, she dropped it into the fire. It sizzled away.

And she dropped onto the beach. Steam rose as the sand turned to glass under her.

"Water! She needs to cool down!" The Queen ordered and grabbed a large seashell, scooping up water and dropping it over her.

It hissed before it had time to cool.

More soldiers used canteens.

Lord Milori landed and held out the hilt of his sword. "Grab and I can pull you to the water," he ordered.

So she grabbed one side of the hilt and he grabbed the other, his legs flexing hard to pull her along.

The sand barely scratched her legs as it turned into glass almost instantaneously upon contact with burning hot skin.

The moment the water hit, steam rose. He pulled her out waist deep.

Water finally clung from being cool enough, but coughing hit again. He sheathed the sword, bent down, and scooped her up. "Clarion! She needs dust!" Lord Milori plowed through the waves back to shore.

Queen Clarion felt her brow as Lord Milori laid her on the beach. "Breathe deeply, dear." The Queen leaned down and her lips hovered as she blew out a breath of pixie dust.

Gasping it in, it took three breaths before the Queen sat up and set a hand over her heart. "Your glow is better. Do you feel better?"

Sitting up, she nodded but winced. Glancing down, her chest was purple and red.

"Sleet will be able to heal that," Lord Milori said. "It's just bruising from where the dust went in."

"Thank you," she said softly and pushed herself to her feet. "I have to go check on Sleet."

"Thank you for cleaning up the sugar so no one is hurt," the Queen said.

With a nod, she gave a curtsy and ran a few feet away from everyone before opening her wings and taking off, leaving a mini sandstorm behind.

But not fast enough before Lord Milori's voice followed. "Neverland, Clarion, I think she's almost as powerful as you."

Spruce was in the hall when she returned to the hospital. "Ah, he's out of surgery, so I'm on my way to see him. How did it go at the beach?"

"It's all cleaned up." She hurried to follow him.

Sleet's breathing was labored and a sheen covered his body as he reclined in the hospital bed. The faintest smile touched his lips for a moment when she entered. A leaf bandage wrapped around his left bicep, and a garden snake was wrapped around the other for blood pressure readings. A large white bandage covered his stomach from surgery, and a beetle sat on his shoulder, giving a cardiac readout through antennaes attached with honey to Sleet's chest. A thick tube ran sugar under a bandage below Sleet's collarbone. And a cannula ran under his nose to help him breathe.

He looked exhausted and on the verge of death.

Her sharp gasp of panic made Spruce spin around.

"He's alright." He set a hand on her shoulder and led the way to the bed. "As soon as the transfusion is done, he'll look much better." Then he turned to Sleet with a smile. "I've brought you someone. How are you holding up?" Sometimes Spruce was too cheery for a hospital healer.

Sleet simply grunted and gave a slow blink, as if he struggled to stay awake, but his eyes remained on her.

"The eye patch?" She nearly choked, trying to take deep breaths to calm down.

"There's only one other healer and nurse allowed in here. They have to know about him being an Alamur for medical reasons. He's safe to have the eye patch off. It's in the closet with his clothes." Spruce adjusted the garden snake.

"Why is there a tube in his chest?" She stepped closer, keeping her wings tucked around. Sleet would worry if he saw the chest bruises, and he didn't need more worry.

Spruce listened to Sleet's heart and glanced at the vitals readout from the bee and beetle. "Chirp, a little louder so Honeycomb can hear," he ordered. The beetle was a hint louder. Spruce watched the bee use his stinger to draw the EKG readout, and he nodded, apparently satisfied with the adjustment. Then he turned.

"That tube is because we're using an artery to deliver the sugar to get it done faster. Well, Captain, you're under a little bit of duress, but we're one-third of the way done with the transfusion. I suspect the second half will go better. Do you think you can make it to keep pushing through? I'm hesitant to add in a transfusion through your arm I.V. I don't want to shock your system."

Another grunt and a slow nod. He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed hard.

"Nauseous?"

His brow wrinkled and he blew out a breath, shaking his head only once.

"Ah. Surgical pain. Belly wounds are not pleasant. We can add in a little more pain petals." He dug a syringe out of the drawer and drew up medicine.

"Can I touch if I put on gloves?" she blurted. It was difficult to see him suffer so much.

"I suppose so." He pulled surgical gloves out of the drawer and handed them over before injecting the I.V. line.

While Sleet's eyes were still closed, she pulled on the gloves and slipped her hand into his.

He immediately held fast, like he needed help to get through this. His eye cracked open. "You're alright?" he whispered, as if even speaking caused pain.

"I'm fine."

"Since we're in the same room, let me check your hip bruise again, Silvermist." Healer Spruce pulled on a glove and walked over. When she eased up the edge of the dress, he laid his hand over the handprint. It was a bit larger than his hand. Then he turned. "Captain, put your hand up against mine."

Sleet's hand was noticeably larger.

Healer Spruce grinned. "Elementary, my dear Watson! Foul play is afoot!" he said in an accent. When they blinked at him, he rolled his eyes. "No one appreciates my humor, not even my mate Lily." He pulled off the glove, a grin on his face. "Captain, you didn't bruise your mate."

Sleet's eyebrow rose.

"My theory is that whomever put that parasite on you," he said with an enthusiastic point at Sleet, "also drugged you both and then put the bruises on Silvermist."

Sleet's eye widened in alarm and he struggled to sit up.

"No, no, lie back down. She wasn't assaulted. The bat did a full-body echo on her earlier, as that kind of evil would show as darkness on such a scan."

She frowned in confusion. "A salted what?"

"Violated," Sleet croaked, relaxed again.

"Your toxicology tests came back positive for belladonna, which in a small enough dose, is a sedative. So!" Spruce held up a finger and paced. "I tested Silvermist today, and she came back positive for it, too!" He clapped his hands together. "Neverland, I should be a detective." Clearing his throat, he looked at them. "I'm going to see if I can test this Alamur's body for traces of belladonna on his skin. And, I'm going to measure the handprint and compare it to see if he is our culprit!"

Lord Milori and the Queen walked in at that moment. "Who's a culprit?"

Spruce filled him in.

Milori raised his eyebrows. "That's a very intriguing theory."

Queen Clarion nodded. Then she looked at Lord Milori. "And we have a lot to discuss as to how an Alamur got in again." She looked at Spruce. "Were they injected with belladonna? How did they get drugged without knowing?"

"Aha! Elementary, my dear Watson!" He grinned. When Lord Milori and the Queen simply blinked, his wings and shoulders slumped. "Really? You neither?" With a sigh, he moved his hands to talk. "No one was home all day on Friday. Someone sneaks into Sleet and Silvermist's home, puts belladonna in the...what do you drink? Wine? Milk?" He looked at her and Sleet.

She frowned. "On Friday we only had water from the sink."

"Yes!" Spruce shouted it so loud that everyone jumped. Poor Sleet groaned and held his stomach. "Sorry."

Spruce's wings buzzed with excitement. "The drinking well was drugged! Everyone got belladonna, so nearly the entire village slept through an Alamur getting in and out!" He grabbed Lord Milori and the Queen and pulled them out. "I'm testing everyone! I'm a genius!"

When they disappeared out the door, she blinked as the energy sucked out of the room. An awkward silence. Those nervous feelings from seeing Sleet look like a deadly Alamur crept back. She lowered herself into the chair.

"You're frightened," he rasped with a frown.

Refusing to lie to him, she stared at the white bedsheet and changed the topic. "You knew that Alamur?"

He held her hand tight. "From a long time ago. I thought I killed him in the Pixie Hollow war." He drew a couple quick breaths, as if speaking made him breathless. "You're afraid of me." His voice wavered, as if her fear broke his heart.

Sliding to the edge of the chair, she held his hand with both of hers as tears welled. "On the beach…"

A soft squeeze answered. "I had to question him and didn't want you to see that."

She shook her head and finally looked at him. "Your eyes...I was so scared that you were turning into an Alamur."

His brow furrowed in confusion.

She sniffled. "Your eyes were slits like theirs. I've never seen you like that…" Her face crumpled. "I w,was scared of you," she hiccupped.

He reached up and then seemed to remember at the last moment to not touch. He held both of her hands in his and brought them to his lips for a kiss. "No, sweetheart. Never be afraid of me." After a couple more breaths, he added, "It never occurred to me to tell you. When hunting—"

"Spruce explained." She pulled a hand free to brush at her eyes with her wrist. "For an instant when you looked at me, I thought…" she choked on a sob.

"Thought what?" His brow furrowed like seeing her cry made him want to weep.

"I thought you were g,going to c,come after m,me." Pulling her hands free, she pulled off the gloves and got up to get a tissue and try to stop sobbing.

"Dewdrop, bring me gloves and come here." He tried to push himself up.

"Don't be moving." With a sniffle, she dug out two larger gloves and sat in the chair, soaking the leafkerchief.

He put them on, and then caught her hand and pulled until she sat on the edge of the bed. Then he took the leafkerchief and cupped her face while dabbing at the tears. "Never, ever would I hurt you." His voice grew thick, as if he might weep. "Even if I did get enough Alamur sugar for a full transfusion, it doesn't change my personality. Lord Milori knew me from before. You can ask him. If I'm different now, it's because you've domesticated me." He tried to crack a smile, but then his eyes squeezed shut for a moment.

"Sleet, you hurt. We don't need to talk—-"

"We do," he said between clenched teeth. "I just need a moment." He held his breath and then slowly relaxed. Holding her eyes again, he stroked her hair and dried the tears. "How do I make you feel safe again?"

She caught his hand, giving it a kiss, and held it. "I just...I didn't know that could happen and it scared me. Do your eyes change other times?"

"I don't think so. But I can't tell when it happens, so if they do, don't be afraid of me."

With a nod, she let out a shaky breath.

"It frightened her so much that she went into shock," Spruce's voice cut in.

Standing quickly, she spun to shake her head to keep him quiet. She turned to look at Sleet as Spruce stepped over to check vitals again.

Guilt swept over his face. "I thought you were afraid on the beach because you saw me hurt him. It didn't dawn that I terrified you."

"Sleet, I thought his sugar got in you and it changed you. I'm not scared of you. I just didn't understand." She threw Spruce a glare.

"Don't look at me like that," Spruce chuckled and adjusted the sugar drip. "It's good for mates to have these candid discussions. Your trust was shaken, and he needs to know that to help you through it.

"Your vitals are coming back up. I think all the Alamur sugar is out." He grabbed Sleet's hand and pulled off a glove with a smile.

Sleet didn't even wait to get the other glove off. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down for a hug. "I love you, dewdrop." But he cried out when she tumbled on top of him.

She frowned when it didn't hurt to touch him. Then she pushed his shoulders to sit back. Her jaw dropped in realization. "You took dandelion seeds again?!"

He held his stomach and breath, paying for pulling her down unexpectedly. "I wasn't going to not touch you, and I didn't want you to hurt," he panted.

"You're the biggest idiot."

"One more thing." Spruce interrupted. "Let's get that tube out. It'll leave a good-sized hole, so she'll be able to heal it." Spruce gathered supplies. "This is minor surgery. Should I knock you out fully or do—"

"No, just do it," Sleet ordered.

Spruce stared for a moment. "Alright, local anesthetic it is."

Sleet rolled his eyes. But he was sweating and panting minutes later as Spruce stitched it up.

Healer Spruce scooped up the supplies quickly. "Alright, Silvermist, I turn him over to you. Be careful with that wound—he could easily bleed out." Then he left and closed the door.

Sliding down the left shoulder of her dress, she eased onto the bed.

But he caught her shoulder and pushed her back. "What happened?"

She glanced down. The bruising looked worse than a half hour ago. Giving a very quick recap, she then pressed her heart to his.

When it grew difficult to bear the heat, he held her shoulders and eased her back.

"Neverland," he sighed and sagged against the pillows. "That feels good to not have stabbing pain." He slid her strap up and gave a soft smile, no longer looking like he'd drop dead.

The chest wound sealed over nicely, as did the arm and thigh cuts.

Bending over, she peeked under the bandage on his stomach. "Oh, Sleet," she frowned. The wound had healed enough to barely seal with blue scar tissue, but it still looked quite fresh. His chiseled belly was distended, too. "What…?"

"Dewdrop, it's fine."

"Why isn't it healed more? Why are you swollen?" Getting off the bed, she pulled down the sheet and peeled back the bandage before he could stop her.

The knife wound as long as her finger ran parallel to his hip. But another new scar ran from his naval straight down to disappear under the blanket. Staples rather than sutures sealed both wounds. "They cut you open for surgery?! I thought they just had to stitch up everything!"

"Shhh! The kidney and intestines were damaged, so the healer had to—"

Her eyes flew to him. "You told me to leave you alone on the beach when you were that injured?! I was too far away to tell how big the knife was or exactly where you were stabbed!" This time she did shout.

"Dewdrop, it's better."

"Don't 'dewdrop' me!" Yanking down her dress again, her own bruises healed, she pushed his arm aside so she could lie down and not be so easily pulled away. "You're worse than a squirrel! You're a, a...a whatever is an idiot animal!"

He burst out laughing and then whimpered as he held his belly.

"Serves you right," she huffed and pressed her heart to his.

"I don't understand why it's not working better." She sat up for the third time and checked the scars. His chest, arm, and thigh wounds looked more than two weeks healed, but the belly wounds looked less than a week old.

"It was probably a lot of internal damage. They're healed enough."

"You're trying to be all stoic." She got up and ran a fresh leafkerchief under cold water.

"I've had much worse—"

Whirling around, she flung her arms down at her sides. "I don't care! It's not like before! I'm here now, and you're going to be quiet and let me take care of you!" Then she bit her lip, as surprised by the outburst as Sleet looked.

"Alright."

"I don't know why I yelled at you." She opened up the leafkerchief, avoiding his eyes.

"I think you do," he said gently.

Her shoulders slumped and she walked across the room. "I was…" she had to clear the lump from her throat and couldn't meet his eyes. "I was scared you were going to die, and then I was scared of you, and then I was scared with how long surgery was taking, and then it scared me to see you're hurt worse than I thought." She eased down the blankets.

"And you need to feel like you have control." Understanding filled his voice.

"I need to feel like I can do something to keep you safe," she corrected, meeting his eyes.

A soft smile touched his lips, and he stroked her cheek.

She laid the leafkerchief across the incisions. His eyes closed.

"Too cold?"

"No," he sighed in relief.

Scars, many of them faded to light blue over time, but still quite visible, covered so much of his body. There were barely any areas untouched. She stroked beside the other recent one that ran down the middle of his chest, the open heart surgery from when he took her darkness into himself to save her. She swallowed hard.

"Don't," he said softly, his eyes open again. "They don't bother me if they don't bother you."

"They don't bother me. I just hate how much you've suffered."

"I'd hardly call two hours of pain during the transfusion suffering when you heal me." He winked and tried to tease. When it didn't draw a smile, he sobered.

Gradually lowering her weight onto the edge of the bed so as to not disturb his incisions, she leaned her forehead to his and cupped his cheek as she closed her eyes. "I love you so much," she whispered.

His arms wrapped around, and his head tipped forward, brushing a kiss over her lips. "I love you, too, dewdrop."

"I need you to let me fret and take care of you," she breathed, a teardrop gliding down her cheek.

"Alright," he replied in soft tones and stroked away the tear with his thumb. "I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. You're stuck with me for a very long time."

Drawing a shaky breath, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight.

"My dewdrop, it's alright." He cupped the back of her head and held tight as she quietly wept. "It's alright. There's something else. What has you so afraid, my Silvermist?"

"What do the Alamur want with you? Are they trying to take you back to be their prince?" She sniffled.

"They don't want me to be their prince. Don't you worry, dewdrop. I'm staying right here with you."

Telling her Guillotine's confession right now wouldn't do anything but terrify her. The King of Horrors worried that his throne was threatened by the Prince of Darkness, now being mated to a powerful siren. The King of Horrors wanted him dead.