After a few minutes, they sit back and release Crimson. She yanks her arm free, pulling it to her, rotating it back and forth.
“Him next.” I nod at Ten.
Clare looks down at him and repeats the process. This time, we wait longer for them to finish. Minutes drag on, and I flash my gaze between their hands on him, and his eyes watching me.
Tentatively, I push a strand of thought towards him, hoping to find our connection still intact.“Are you okay?”The words reverberate inside my skull, but I see the reaction on Ten’s face. He heard me. Thank the Stars.
“Yes, but you sound far away.”
“I know.”
“I couldn’t reach you earlier. I’m sure it’s just being here. Being forced to do whatever I just did.”
Clare removes her contact with Ten, and he sits to inspect the wound. It’s still red and angry, his skin puckering around the cut.
“You should have stayed in Kirrasia to train instead of running off,” Crimson snaps.
“Hey, they’re helping us,” I argue back at her.
“The bone is set wrong. I’ve had numerous breaks growing up, and none of them felt like this after they were mended. Perrin would never have done such a poor job.”
“Perrin isn’t here. It’s done, Crim.” Ten shuts her down. “Now, heal her.” He nods to my shoulder, where the blood has stopped seeping.
Clare looks straight ahead and makes no eye contact before she reaches and puts her palm over the wound.
As soon as she does, I realise what the other two meant. It’s not the gentle hum and tug that you felt when Perrin healed you. It’s painful, as if she’s pulling the skin out of shape to close it together. It feels unnatural. Forced.
“No.” I stop them. “It’s fine. It’s just a scratch.” Still, Clare doesn’t make eye contact. And the three of them—a Triune of sorts, I guess—leave us. They retreat and vanish into the woodsaround the training ring, and for a moment, I could be fooled into believing we’ve been left alone.
“Ever, you’re hurt.” Ten reaches for me.
“It’s nothing.” I duck out of his reach, not wanting to cause any reaction that neither of us can shield or protect against. I’m not strong enough to keep my eyes away from his, though. That’s a step beyond my restraint, and I happily drink in the familiar deep brown that’s always been a source of comfort.
He steps closer, and I lift my head to keep our gaze locked together.
“What I’d give to be alone with you right now, Little Siren.”
I smile beside myself, and feel a rush of heat at his words, even after everything we’ve just been through.
My mind drifts to the waterfall—The Opal Falls, where we first kissed, before everything started to unravel. And I see it in his eyes, too. The longing to be just us, to be safe, and have time for ourselves.
The spark that’s always been there helps kindle the rage and burning glow of my anger, which is fast replacing the cooling and calm well of water at my centre.
“If you two have finished,” Crimson interrupts, “there’s nobody here. We should leave. Run. Now.”
We both turn to her, but she has her sights on the trees around us. And then she’s just a blur and a cloud of dust.
“She won’t leave you, will she?” I ask Ten, suddenly relieved that he’s not here alone. “We need time to build a better plan. I can get stronger so I can get us all out.”
“She’s scouting. She won’t leave.”
“We can’t try what we tried last night again, Ten. It was foolish. And I can’t risk you any more than you already are.”
“Fine. But tell me what happened between the two of you. You and your brother. You didn’t need touch, yet your magic,it…” He takes my hand in his, gripping it tightly, as if that will give him the answer he’s looking for.
“I don’t know what I did. I just… Fenix has a way of making me madder than I’ve ever felt, and it triggers something inside me.”
He studies my eyes, as if he’s looking for whatever he saw earlier.
