“Help him!” the familiar female voice says.
The fire gets worse. I’m burning, burning, burning, until...
A strange pain fills my chest. Something washes through me, dousing the flames. They extinguish slowly, leaving me in thecold. Clouds come and cover the stars. They blink out one by one. The feeling of wrongness intensifies.
“Please, keep him alive,” the first voice says. It’s growing fainter, or maybe I’m fading away.
“We’ll do our best.”
Time passes. The endless night remains, and the only source of light is that golden glimmer in the distance.
I’m sure it’s my salvation, but it’s so far away.
And I’m so, so tired.
“Please.” The first voice is back, and it’s quiet. “Come back to me.”
And there’s something about that voice, the way my body strains towards it, that has me forcing myself onto unsteady feet. I take several steps, stumbling towards the rope. Walking isn’t grounding anymore. Each step hurts.
I walk and walk until a pain blooms in my chest. My arms. My legs. There isn’t a part of me that isn’t affected.
I try to keep moving, but my feet slip. I crash headfirst against the ice. A sickeningcrackfills my ears before the darkness swallows me whole.
26
I’LL STAY WITH YOU
WREN
“We have to leave the mountain.” Skyler stands in the doorway, twisting the end of her braid through her fingers.
I’m perched on the edge of the mattress, a damp cloth dangling from my fingertips. Moments ago, I was using it to wipe down Gabriel’s forehead. He’s lying on the bed, unmoving. His condition hasn’t changed since the attack three days ago.
“Leave? No, Sky, we can’t. Gabriel still hasn’t woken up.”
My friend drops her braid, frowning. “I’m sorry, Wren. It’s not my decision, but we can’t remain here any longer. The mountain has been compromised.”
I look at Gabriel’s broken, unmoving body, then back to Skyler. “But...”
How can we move someone who has been sleeping for days?
“We’ll bring him, too,” she says softly as if she read my mind. “But we are leaving today. I need to go, but I’ll be back for you both in an hour. Be sure to collect everything you want to bring. I don’t know if we’ll be coming back.”
Skyler’s mouth pinches, and my gut wrenches. Of course this is upsetting for her, too. She’s being forced to leave her home.
Before I can ask where we’re going, she’s left.
I slowly turn back to the bed. Gabriel looks so frail, lying on the white sheet. He’s pale, and there’s a grey pallor to his skin that won’t go away.
Setting the washcloth aside, I pick up his icy hands.
“I really need you to wake up, Gabe.” I press my lips against his cold fingers. They don’t even twitch. “Please, wake up.”
The responding silence is so loud I shudder. I can’t look at his vacant eyes for long, so I put his hand down and scan his chest. Clean bandages wrap his torso, courtesy of the rebel healers Gallan and Eva. They’re both Marked, and they’ve been here daily, taking care of the wounds Gabriel received during the fight.
After he collapsed, Gabriel was brought to our room, not the common space with the other wounded, because it was already full. The healers had politely but firmly asked me to give them space while they changed Gabriel’s bandages and worked on healing him. I’d argued, wanting to stay by his side, but they’d stood their ground.
“It’s our policy to keep loved ones out of the room while we’re working,” Eva had explained quietly, the green Mark on the inside of her wrist pulsing as she steered me away from the bed. “Our magic isn’t always gentle, and we work better alone.”
