Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(19)
"Thank you," I barely managed to whisper, "but I think I need plain water, too."
I wasn't sure if his expression was sympathy or satisfaction. His lips ran a twisted line, his blue eyes glistened in the candlelight, his eyebrows pulled up just enough to cause small ripples in his forehead. His was always so beautiful, even when you couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Your throat sounds like someone scrubbed it raw with copper wool. I'll give you some water first."
Setting the teacup on a small table littered with religious figurines and candles, he moved behind me. I heard the water pouring into a glass before he rounded my head to hand it to me. "You'll need to sit up so you don't choke."
"I can't. My stomach, Elijah, it hurts so bad."
Elijah reached out to wrap his strong arms around me. Lifting me from where I lay curled, he watched intently as I tried to straighten my body, each movement even more painful than the last.
"That's the sickness, my love, the evil that is infecting you. It wants out. Wants control. But I won't let it take you from me." His voice was whisper soft, a feather of sound against my senses that was only a tease of what it could be when he allowed it to boom across a room. Always hypnotic, he had a voice that captivated his audience, regardless of whether it was stern or soft. I could spend all day listening to him and never grow bored.
"The tea I brought you should help. I had to heat the water over a small fire outside."
My eyes flicked to the unused fireplace by the platform. "Why didn't you just heat it in here?"
"You were sweating in your sleep. I didn't want to make the room warmer."
His palm caressed my face, the soft touch jarring and unexpected. Since moving back to the parish with him, he hadn’t treated me with kindness – only pain, only humiliation.
I couldn’t make sense of all the puzzles within this man who called himself my husband, couldn’t understand the subtle idiosyncrasies, the changes I’d witnessed in him firsthand. Perhaps it was the illness that made it impossible for me to think clearly, or maybe the demons had become more vicious in their game. I wasn’t sure of the cause of my constant confusion, but I had to believe it would end once Elijah had finally conquered the darkness inside me.
Why me? I’ve always wondered if my fate hadn’t been decided the moment Elijah had chosen me for a wife. He was so good – so pure – that perhaps I had become his weakest link, the only method the demons had to hurt him.
“Do you remember the time we spent here in this cabin, Eve? The days and nights that I fought so hard to free your beautiful soul?”
Shaking my head, I winced at the movement, my headache pounding even harder until I swore some hammer was chiseling away at the inside of my skull. “Yes and no,” I answered, finally taking a sip of the water he’d given me, the relief instantaneous as it slipped down and soothed my sore throat. “It’s a blur. I remember you fighting whatever it is inside me. I remember feeling ill all the time. But that week, those nights and days have blended together until only pieces are available to me. How did it return? Why am I infected again?”
He tsked his tongue against the top of his mouth before planting a soft kiss on my cheek. Standing up, he rounded the platform to retrieve the tea he’d brought in. Steam rose and swirled above the white cup, thinning out as a trail behind him as he moved to stand next to me.
Taking the water glass from my hand, he replaced it with the small cup of tea. “Drink up,” he instructed, his eyes studying me as I brought the rim to my lips.
The flavor reminded me of the time I’d spent in this cabin before, sweet, but also rancid. “What’s in this?”
“Some herbs I’ve found in the forest and dried. Did you know my mother taught me all about natural medicine? When I was a boy, we spent a lot of time studying the methods God has provided us for remedy of all that afflicts the body and soul. If you know where to look, you can cure almost any ailment without need of pills or other such medicines.”
I didn’t know that about him, didn’t know much about the man who I’d spent most of my life following. Taking another sip, I ignored the way it burned my tongue. It was good enough for me when it numbed my throat, when it chased away some of the pain in my stomach. “Did she also teach you how to fight against evil?”
His laughter wasn’t humorous, it was far darker than that.
“No. My father would have been the one to teach me that. He had to fight it in me when I was young. I can’t count how many times I was almost as infected as you. It seems evil knows exactly who to look for in this world, those people so good and pure that it wants to stop them from becoming what they will eventually be. My father told me I had a mission in this world and the Devil himself wanted to stop me.”
Caressing my cheek again, he placed his finger beneath the teacup and tilted it to my lips to encourage me to finish it all. “You have a mission, too. By my side, as you well know. It may be my fault you continue to become plagued by the evil forces keeping you ill.”
Once the last drop of tea had slipped down my throat, the pain in my throat and stomach subsided. However, the beat of my heart began to quicken in pace until it was a hard pulse against my ribs. Lightheaded, I reached to give Elijah the cup, almost dropping it in the process. He grinned as he took it from me, his blue eyes searching mine.