A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 92

Chapter 92

ALEXANDER

I don’t know how long I had been asleep when the heat started to press against me. At first, it slipped into my dreams…like flames licking at my skin, fire curling around me. But when I startled awake, my breath heavy and sharp, I realized it wasn’t a dream at all.

The fire was real.

Faye.

She was lying beside me, her body twisting slightly under the sheets, her skin burning so hot it seared even through the damp cloth of her nightwear. I touched her arm and it was as though I’d pressed my hand to molten steel. She was shivering–violent, uncontrolled tremors that made her lips part with tiny, broken sounds.

“Faye.” My voice cut low. I shook her gently, but her eyes didn’t open. “Faye, wake up.”

No response.

I cursed under my breath and pushed off the bed. My instincts screamed to get her cooled down immediately, but I remembered my mother–Helen was just down the hall.

I hurried into the corridor, my footsteps echoing against the quiet. I didn’t bother knocking; I threw her door open. She was already awake, as if she had sensed something.

“What is it?” she asked sharply, rising from her bed.

“It’s Faye,” I snapped. “She’s burning up again. Worse than before.”

Without another word, she grabbed a small wooden case from the table, and followed me.

Back in the room, she moved to Faye immediately, touching her forehead with the back of her hand. Her lips tightened, but she said nothing. I stood uselessly at the foot of the bed, fists clenched at my sides. She pulled Faye’s eyelids up…one after the other. Then she finally pulled away.

“Help me sit her up,” my mother instructed.

I slid an arm behind Faye’s back, lifting her carefully. Her head lolled against my shoulder, hair damp with sweat. She was still trembling, the heat rolling off her in waves.

Helen opened her wooden case, pulled out a vial of thick liquid, and poured it into a small cup. She brought it to Faye’s lips, tilting gently until some of it trickled into her mouth. At first,

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Chapter 92

it dribbled down the side of her chin, but then, mercifully, she swallowed.

“Again,” Helen murmured, coaxing her until half the cup was gone.

+25 Points

Within minutes, the trembling slowed. Her breath evened, the sharp erratic gasps softening into deeper, steadier rhythm. The unbearable heat seemed to dull, leaving her skin still warm but no longer burning.

She sagged against me, her lashes fluttering, then stilled into sleep.

I eased her back onto the pillows, pulling the blankets loosely around her. My hands lingered at her sides, reluctant to let go until I was sure she was steady. Finally, I turned to my mother.

That was when I noticed it–the strange look on her face.

Her expression was composed, but her eyes were sharp, too sharp. They studied Faye as though seeing through her skin into something hidden. She looked concerned for a moment before she masked it, but I had already caught it.

“What is it?” I demanded.

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she turned back to her wooden case, methodically wiping the cup clean, setting the vial back in place.

“Mother.” My voice dropped lower, firm. “What’s wrong with her?”

Helen exhaled, a quiet sound, then sat down at the chair by the bed. Her hands folded neatly in her lap, but her eyes never left Faye.

“I know what this is, but I’ve never thought it was possible,” she said finally.

My chest tightened. “Then say it.”

She turned to me, her gaze steady. “It is not illness, Alexander. Not in the way you’ve thought. It isn’t something medicine or rest alone will cure.”

I frowned, my jaw tense. “Then what?”

Helen’s eyes softened slightly, as though weighing how much truth to give me at once. Then she said, “You told me she is a twin.”

The statement caught me off guard. “Yes,” I said cautiously. “Sage is her twin. But what does

that have to do with…”

“It has everything to do with this.”

I stared at her.

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She leaned forward, lowering her voice, though the room was empty except for us. “Twins are rare in our kind. Rare, and never without consequence. When twins are born of strong lineage, their gifts are divided. One gift to each…balanced, complementary. That balance is what keeps them whole.”

I said nothing, just waited.

“But Faye…” Helen’s eyes returned to the sleeping figure on the bed. “For some reason, she absorbed both. Both gifts. Both powers. They have been lying dormant within her all this time, hidden beneath the surface. And now…” she paused, “now that dormancy is breaking.”

The words sank in slowly, heavy, each one pressing into me.

“You’re saying…” I forced the words out. “That she’s carrying two powers inside her?”

Helen nodded once. “And they are fighting for dominance.”

I stared down at Faye, her face finally calm in sleep, her lips parted slightly with the softness of rest. The thought of unseen forces tearing inside her, powers battling within her body…it churned my stomach.

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