House of Caliban

Chapter 29

Blaise's eyes felt heavy and crusted at the corners. It took great effort to finally open his eyes but the bright light in the room made him groan in pain and quickly close them again.

"Blaise? Are you awake?" A familiar voice asked nervously from his right side near his head.

Blaise tried to open his mouth to speak but coughed instead, the inside of his mouth and throat felt like he had tried to swallow cotton balls. Strong hands helped Blaise sit up and brought a cold glass of water to his lips to slowly drink. Blaise tried to open his eyes again and found the light more bearable.

"Take it easy my love. You are still healing." Haylan murmured making sure Blaise didn't drink too fast and accidentally choke himself.

"You saved me." Blaise managed to rasp out.

"I wasn't going to let that woman keep you, my love. My only regret was that I didn't get there sooner to keep you from being hurt." Haylan's voice was heavily tinged with guilt and Blaise wouldn't let Haylan take that burden on himself.

"You did save me, Haylan. And I'm sorry you had to see me hurt like that. But I'm here now, and we can focus on moving forward together," Blaise said, reaching out to take Haylan's hand.

Haylan squeezed Blaise's hand tightly, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I love you, Blaise. More than anything in this world. I don't know what I would do without you."

Blaise smiled weakly, feeling a warmth spread through his chest at Haylan's words. Despite everything that had happened, he knew that he had Haylan by his side, and that was all he needed.

"I love you too, Haylan. And I'm not going anywhere," Blaise said, settling back into the pillows and closing his eyes.

Haylan stayed by Blaise's side, watching over him as he slept. He knew that there were still many challenges to come, but with Blaise by his side, he felt like he could face anything. He would do whatever it took to protect Blaise, even if it meant facing the darkness within himself. Because in the end, there was nothing more important than the love that they shared.

When Blaise woke next, he was looking less pallid. Narcissa and Goldvein had done good work in healing everything that had been done to Blaise over the short time he had been taken. It would still take time for the last of his tremors to abate but they were significantly better. Narcissa had recognized the curse that had cut Blaise open and had been able to heal the cuts quickly before replenishing Blaise's blood levels.

Blaise had automatically reached for Haylan's hand when he woke up. Haylan gave him a small smile, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on the back of Blaise's hand. They sat in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. Blaise was grateful to be alive, and even more grateful to have Haylan by his side.

"How are you feeling?" Haylan asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"Sore, but I'll live," Blaise replied, wincing slightly as he shifted to get more comfortable. "What happened after Joanna took me?"

Haylan's face darkened as he recalled the events of the last few hours. He recounted everything to Blaise - the duel, Joanna's death, and his own struggle with the Black Madness. Blaise listened intently, his expression shifting from concern to relief to anger and back again.

"The Black Madness had never presented in you before though did it?" Blaise asked in confused concern.

Haylan sighed heavily, looking exhausted and worn down from stress. "We have some theories that my healer is trying to confirm currently. However, based on some evidence that Bella found while searching for Joanna's accomplices we have strong reason to believe whatever it was I was injected with when you were taken from me was created to enter my bloodstream and activate any latent or recessive genes in my blood. To include the gene that we believe holds the 'curse' for the Black Madness."