“What happened?” I sped toward them, wiping my hands along my nightgown to rid them of lingering residue from my work.
Noam and Nohr exchanged a silent look. Their teakwood gazes mirrored each other down to the smallest of nuances. They shared the same slender build of boys on the cusp of becomingmen, their labor in the mines threatening to usher them into adulthood all too quickly. Seventeen and they’d already endured so much.
“Is that Alec?”
Nohr ran his hand back to front through his cropped brown hair. A poof of dust clouded the space above his head. “Yes.”
“He just collapsed,” Noam muttered.
I peered closer. Beneath the caked-on dirt and soot, Alec was barely recognizable. A sweaty sheen had broken out along his hairline, turning the grime on his skin into a damp sludge. With a strangled moan, he shifted restlessly on the couch. My brows drew together as I scoured his trembling frame. Something was wrong, and the pull of my magic immediately flared to life. Warmth rippled outward through my limbs, and yet I saw nothing. No visible injuries, no broken bones or bleeding wounds. I rushed to the pot in the kitchen and dampened a cloth with leftover water, returning quickly to wipe away the layer of filth clinging to his face.
The moment I finally caught a glimpse of his skin, I dropped the rag.
“You brought himhere? What were you thinking?” I couldn’t take my eyes off Alec’s sallow cheeks. Sprawling blisters climbed from his jaw to his forehead, and several had already ruptured to expose a sickening display of black mold and bubbling yellow froth. The edges of each lesion were rotted and brown like leaves withering in the presence of winter. My stomach clenched tight. The revolting odor of decomposing flesh and sour mulch bloomed from his skin, and I swallowed thickly to force down a gag.
Nohr’s face went pale. “We didn’t... I didn’t...”
Tearing away from the couch, I yanked my brothers together and dissected every inch of their stock-still forms. The durable fabric of their work trousers was still intact, carefully tucked into leather boots. Their long-sleeved shirts were more grime than cotton, but thankfully they were free of rips. Pulling their handsupward, I inspected their gloves. Worn and in need of another round of weatherproofing, but again, securely intact. The rising concern in my chest slowed.
Diseased land had started to encroach on the areas surrounding the mines, but it wasn’t an airborne affliction. My gaze drifted back to Alec, and I spied a small nick marring the space where his throat and jaw met. The risk of shaving was rarely the blade. A whisper of blight straight to the blood was all it took.
“We didn’t know it was blight. We just thought he’d hurt himself somehow,” Noam finally managed. Heavy tears cut pathways through the dirt on his face, and I looked away.
“I can’t help him,” I murmured softly, but Noam flinched as if I’d shouted loud enough to rupture his eardrums.
“You can try.”
I pinched my nose. “There’s nothing I can do. There is no medicine that can cure this affliction.”
“Not medicine, but maybe something else.” Noam refused to look at me. A cold chill swept down my spine, a direct contrast to the blooming heat radiating through my fingertips.
“No.” My gaze flew to the open windows. A peal of laughter from kids playing in the fields outside carried in on a breeze. Townsfolk were still out. If they saw me...
Nohr followed my tight stare and sprang into action, quickly latching the windows shut and drawing the curtains tight. As if eliminating the possibility of someone witnessing my power was the only problem. Sure, I didn’t want to be discovered, because that meant some brownnosing neighbor—likely an elder hoping to gain even more favor with the Evers—would alert the Ferngloves to my existence.
A sliver of anger wound through me. My brothers knew the cost to my magic. And still, they wanted me to try. To sacrifice a few years of my life for someone who wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.
“It’s not just about being seen. You know this,” I hissed.
Suddenly, Alec bolted upright on the couch, his gaze locked on something far away. And then he laughed. Not a normal laugh—not the pleasant, rumbling sound of warmth from deep within his chest. But a maniacal laugh that bubbled from the depths of a clouded mind. One steeped in sickness. His eyes rolled to the heavens, showing white to the world, and his teeth gnashed together. The soft squirt of his canine puncturing his tongue sent gooseflesh rippling over my skin.
“Edira,” Nohr said over Noam’s sharp inhale, “please. He’s our friend.”
“And I am yoursister.” My throat bobbed as I stared at Alec. “I’d only be risking harm to myself.”
My brothers’ gazes dropped in unison. Before I could take another breath, Alec let out a pained cry as his body began shaking uncontrollably. His hands went to his arms, his fingers raking against the rough fabric of his shirt.
“Alec, we’re here.” Noam knelt beside him, mindful not to touch him but hovering close just the same.
Alec turned to Noam, unfocused eyes searching for something to anchor him to our world. He kept twisting his neck back and forth, craning it in impossible directions, until he spied me. He stilled as a glee-stricken smile pulled at his lips. “I see her. I can really see her. She’s standing over there, and she’s got the biggest grin I’ve ever seen. Annabelle.”
“His sister. She died last year.” Nohr grimaced.
“He doesn’t have any other family,” Noam added, voice terribly soft.
Alec wouldn’t survive this. Again, I glanced at the drawn curtains. We were hidden from the outside world, and since Alec had no remaining relatives, there was no one to miss him or question his absence, save my brothers. I forced out a heavy breath. Slowly, I came around the sofa. Alec’s gaze never faltered. He tracked every step of mine until I crouched beside Noam.
“Hello, Alec.”
