His eyes go wide and he gapes at me. “Since when do you speak Drakian?”
“I’m learning.” I grin at him, earning myself a smile.
“That’s great, man.”
I make my way over to the line of potions by the wall. But before I can reach them, Jack startles, coming awake violently and shifting into his bird form again. He shoots off the floor, hits the ceiling and then, flapping his wings vigorously, knocks into the neat line of bottles, scattering them everywhere. He thenshifts in mid-air into his human form, landing heavily onto his back with a pained groan.
“Woah, what happened?” He peers down at his side and lets out another groan. “Damn seagulls are vicious.”
Reva gives me a look before asking me in Valmorian, “You focus on Kit while me and Torin check on Jack, and then we’ll switch?”
I reach out to touch her palm intending to spell out my answer before remembering I can just speak to her. I miss the moments of connection that we had back when I couldn’t speak. Plus, it was more difficult for her to realise how much of an idiot I am.
“Good idea,” I reply.
Jack’s raven knocked over nearly all of my potions, and some are already seeping into the floorboards. I grab a rag and hurry to clean them up, not wanting to see what happens if we mix a load of different potions together.
Kit helps me to swipe up the bottles, and he starts to set them side by side while I wipe up the mess. But we’re not fast enough to save most of the potions from becoming a sticky pool on the floor.
“Damn.” The final bottle that’s on its side is the blue liquid. The same blue liquid that took me two weeks to put together the first time.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
“Can you tell Kit I’ll make him something,” I ask Reva. “But it might take me some time.”
He claps me on the shoulder as soon as she’s finished translating for me. “I’d appreciate that.”
“You can also stay up here with me, if you’re worried about losing track of where you are,” I tell him.
Kit lets out a soft huff, shaking his head, and for a moment, I think he’s going to say no. “I don’t know why I didn’t come to you sooner. I was planning to, I just... got distracted.”
“There are enough of us to mean you shouldn’t ever have to be alone,” Torin adds. “If you want a permanent guard with you to make sure you’re not wandering around the woods willy-nilly, then one of us can stay with you at all times.”
Kit’s shoulders have lowered, and he rubs his eyes with a soft laugh. “I don’t want to impose, but that sounds really good to me.”
“No imposition,” Reva replies. “Never an imposition. We care about you, and you’re not the only one who feels like they’ve been missing things lately. Ever since we’ve been here, it’s felt like we’re all so disconnected. Like we’re all so wrapped up in our own thing, we’re passing ships in the night, except it feels almost purposeful the way we’re all dodging one another.” She gives a wan smile. “I don’t know about all of you, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“It’s helped me,” I admit, feeling my cheeks grow hot. “Having you sleeping in my room at night.”
I keep my head down so I don’t have to make eye contact with anyone as I move over to Jack to inspect the wound at his side. Thankfully, it’s already healing and just needs some cleaning up. Although that doesn’t explain why he’s barely clinging to consciousness.
“He’s just exhausted himself,” Torin murmurs. “It happens sometimes when he flies too far or too hard, or he switches form too many times.”
“Damn seagulls,” Jack mutters. “Nasty bitey buggers.”
Torin chuckles while Reva lets out a little giggle, and my insides glow with warmth at the sound.
“What else have I missed?” Kit asks, looking from one to the other of us.
Reva explains what we’ve been trying to do to fix her skin while Kit’s eyes grow wider and wider.
Today was the fourth time I’ve tried to push power from Torin and from me into her skin, and the same thing has happened. It’s like the skin absorbs it greedily, but it’s not quite enough to allow her transformation or for her seal to appear.
I really, really want to meet her seal. From the stories Reva told me, she sounds like a lot of fun. And considering I like all the parts of Reva that I’ve seen so far, I don’t see why meeting the other side of her soul would be any different.
I just don’t think I have enough magic to help her. Which is a horrible, impotent position to be in.
But a few days ago, right after the party, I asked Jack to get hold of something for me. And judging by the blood-stained bag he was carrying back, it looks like he’s delivered. I hesitate for a moment before rooting through an unconscious man’s belongings, but then he shoots up to a sitting position.
