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He nodded at Soltor, and the skin began to knit together on Cavis’s face. I kept my expression blank, hiding the relief that swept through me. Soltor let out a breath of his own, turning his attention to my wounds. But this time, they didn’t heal all the way.
His power wasn’t limitless.
My gaze met Cavis’s. His eyes had cleared once more, and his calm, steady stare helped me rebuild my shaky defenses. We just had to hold on a little longer.
* * *
The forest was cool. Towering pines crowded close, branches intertwining to blot out the sky. Weak sunlight slid between the branches, creating dappled patterns on the lush ferns. I planted one foot in front of the other, footsteps muffled on the carpet of shed needles from those pines, my wounds slowly healing as I walked.
Demos and I had taken turns carrying Asinia until she’d woken a few minutes ago, insisting she could walk. Her movements were unsteady, and she weaved as she moved, her eyes unfocused. Since she’d just vomited, it likely wouldn’t be long until she was being carried once more. But she was just as stubborn as Prisca.
My mate.
My gut twisted violently, as if an invisible hand had reached in and was squeezing my insides. Each day, the hollow in my chest grew deeper, the void threatening to swallow me whole. To be so far from her, to know she was in mortal danger… There was no greater torture. Perhaps this was my punishment for the blood on my hands after all these years.
The gods knew exactly where to strike. I would give anything to take her place.
Asinia muttered a curse as she tripped on a branch. Demos and I were silent. There were no words left to say. We’d sold our horses in the closest village before making our way into the caves, unwilling to risk the horses starving or being taken by our enemies if we found ourselves trapped in the caves. But the village of Hemiarath was still several hours away by foot.
“Hawk,” Demos grunted. I turned to find him gazing up at the sky.
Aquilus dropped down, skimming the trees, until she landed on my shoulder. Relief trickled through me, like frigid water on a burn.I stroked her, and my mind cleared enough to focus.
“I’ll send a message to Galon and the others,” I said.
Asinia nodded, placing her hand on Demos’s arm to keep her balance. Panic and helpless rage glimmered in Demos’s eyes as they met mine. Yes, we needed a healer.
“They’ll be watching for us in Hemiarath,” Asinia said. “Regner will have spies there just in case we survived.”
“I know.” Thankfully, I had another option.
“We can’t stop there. We have to keep moving. Pris—”
Demos slowly turned his head, and nothing human remained in his eyes. If I hadn’t known for sure that he was a hybrid, I might have thought he was fae in human glamour. “We will stop in Hemiarath, and you will see a healer.”
She hissed. “You’re not in charge here. If we make it into the village, only to be arrested by Regner’s guards, who will find Prisca?”
“You’re outvoted,” I said mildly, leashing my temper as I dug deep into my pocket, finding a scrap of parchment, which I ripped in half.
“But—”
I raised my gaze, and she flinched. Demos went very still, slowly maneuvering her behind him. His eyes blazed with fury as they met mine.
“You should drink some water,” Demos muttered, handing Asinia a waterskin. She stepped away from him, gulping it down, and I scrawled my messages.
One message to a fae woman who lived on the outskirts of Hemiarath. She wouldn’t be pleased to hear from me. But she owed me.
The next message was to Galon. I couldn’t tell him about Cavis. Not like this. But I told him of Prisca’s kidnapping, writing to him in the fae language. We would spend one night just outside Hemiarath. And then I would begin questioning guards in every village and town in this kingdom until I learned where they were holding Prisca.
I stared into Aquilus’s eyes. Tying the first message to her right leg, I tapped it. “Valdoria first,” I said. She angled her head, and I tied the next message to her left leg. “And then Galon,” I said.
It had been a long time since Aquilus had taken a message to Valdoria, so I gave her a moment to remember.
Then I tapped her right leg again. “Valdoria.”
I tapped her other leg. “Galon.”
She gently touched her beak to my cheek.
