“I’m aware that I look a mess,” I said. “Have you seen Khalida, Nakoa, or Jelani? Or do you at least know if they’re okay?”
“They’re fine,” Quillen assured me. “I’m not sure where Jelani is—he wandered off a few minutes ago. But I know the others hung back to clean the battlement of gore and body parts.”
“Jelani’s probably somewhere near Layna.” Soule cleared his throat. “I didn’t see her fall, but I heard about it.”
I swallowed. “I’m sorry you lost a good friend.”
He cast me a sad smile. “It wasn’t the first time. I’d like it to be the last, but it probably won’t be.”
“You should go see to your wounds, Anara,” Quillen recommended. “The sooner you do it, the faster they’ll heal.”
And while I was still enduring the ordeals of Xalbia, the last thing I needed was to be stuck with not-yet-healed wounds—they would weaken and distract me. “I need to return the weapons first.”
As I took them back to the armory to be cleaned and fixed, many people did a double-take at the sight of me. Some even grimaced in disgust, which made me huff. They didn’t exactly look like spring chickens themselves. We were all a mess.
Leaving the armory, I lifted my tee to examine to slice on my side. My brows lifted. It had stopped bleeding and was already beginning to scab over. A quick look at my other injuries confirmed they, too, were healing well.
Still, some salve would help speed things along. I started making my way to the apothecary while also looking for some sign of Khalida. She was nowhere in sight, but I spotted Jelani crouched on the ground not far from the dead bodies.
My heart squeezing, I walked over to him, noticing how very deathly pale he was. He held a fist to his mouth, his expression a mask of stark grief.
I knelt beside him, silently wincing as the move caused the deep slice on my side to throb. I placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” I croaked, not knowing what else to say; wishing I could say something that wouldhelp.
He swallowed. “I can’t believe she’s gone,” he said without looking my way.
Neither could I. It was utterly insane how quickly someone could quite simply be plucked from the world.
“You were right in what you said. I put off going after what I wanted, thinking I had time. I should’ve known better. Shouldn’t have taken for granted that she’d—” He stopped, his voice breaking. “Fuck, Anara.”
I was about to insist he not torture himself with stuff like that, but then I heard footfalls coming our way. Mere moments later, a shadow fell over us.
We both looked up to find Talon stood there, the image of a conquering warrior. Blood—some of it red, some of it blue—dotted his skin and ripped clothes, and he had faint marks which were likely recently healed wounds.
Both Jelani and I rose, and I had to again bite back a wince as my side-wound protested.
A few inches taller than Jelani, Talon stared down at him, his expression hard but one of … commiseration. He clasped Jelani’s arm, conveying his compassion with his gaze alone.
His eyes watering, the Delphiae nodded and cleared his throat.
Talon’s attention switched to me, and his face darkened.
It was only then that Jelani looked at me. He blinked, flinching back. “Damn.”
“I know, right?” I muttered.
Talon’s brow creased at the tingly spot on my neck where I knew I’d been stung.
I lifted my hands. “I’m okay, the mark isn’t itching or burning; the toxin isn’t impacting me.” That didn’t ease his frown any.
“The spot isn’t red or swollen, so I’d say your system is fighting it off just fine,” said Jelani . “Still, there might be some concoction in the apothecary that helps combat toxins.”
And it would probably taste like ass, like most concoctions. “I’ll nab some when I grab some salve. I haven’t treated my wounds yet.”
Hearing that, Talon pointed in the direction of the apothecary, his expression sober.
“I’m going, I’m going.” I turned back to Jelani and gave his shoulder another squeeze. “You know where I am if you need me.”
Once I’d tended to my wounds, I moved toward the stables, meaning to nab some clean clothes to take with me to the bathhouse, but then I saw Khalida coming toward me. Her mouth curved in relief at the sight of me, but it didn’t quite reach her grief-filled eyes.
