'A fae certainly,' Lia mutters quietly, but nothing more.
‘That doesn’t make sense,’ I say. ‘The Underhill needs Bryn for the next mission to try to get Fiana. Why would she be attacked like this?’
A fury begins to bubble inside me.
‘She should have been safe!’ I half-yell.
Lia startles at my tone and her jaw clenches in anger that isn’t directed at me. 'I don’t know, Locke.’
Grim enters the room and hands Gwen the vials.
‘Keep her still again,’ Gwen mutters and grips Bryn’s chin gently, pouring the first one into her mouth.
Bryn coughs and splutters, and Gwen puts her hand over Bryn’s mouth to stop the potion from dribbling out.
‘Swallow, Bryn. This will help you heal,’ she says.
Bryn does what she’s told. Her body goes limp and I loosen my grip as Gwen administers the rest of the vials.
‘I have to go,' Lia mutters suddenly. She puts a hand on my arm. 'Your human is in safe hands with Gwen. I’ll find Morgan and Jak and let them know she’s here with you.’
And then she’s stalking from the room. I hear her leave the house, I assume to open the Breach outside.
Gwen brings the final vial, making Bryn drink it, even though she flails about. Her breathing is erratic, her eyes wide as she looks around the room in a panic.
'Wrap your arms around her,' Gwen says. 'Carefully, while the vials do their work.'
But Bryn scrambles away from me. She lets out a sound of upset when she realizes she has no clothes on, lunges toward the other side of the room, hits the wall, and then sinks down into a ball on the floor, breathing hard.
'Bryn,' I say gently, but it's like she doesn't even hear me.
'Give her a moment,' Gwen says. 'She's terrified. She may not know where she is. She may not even know who you are. Just let her?—'
Gwen goes over and drapes a blanket over Bryn, which she clutches at, her eyes unfocused as her gaze darts around like a cornered animal.
'You're safe, Bryn,' Gwen tries. 'You remember we met?'
Bryn nods jerkily, not saying a word.
'In the healer's rooms. In the apothecary. Remember?'
'Gwen,' she says shakily.
'That's right,' Gwen says very calmly. 'You're in my home. Locke found you.'
'Locke?' Bryn asks.
She laughs, and it's cutting. 'How? Why would he have been looking for me? He doesn’t care about me. He hasn’t even spoken to me in days.’
It's like a punch to my gut, those words. I thought I was getting somewhere, but I still have so far to go, I realize.
'No,' Gwen says. 'Locke brought you here. He found you by the river.'
'Yes,' Bryn whispers. 'I was tricked. Brought far from the wards by some of the fae, pushed down the hill.'
'Did theyonlybeat you, Bryn?' Gwen asks meaningfully. 'Or did they?—'
‘The cowardly pricks only beat me,' Bryn says adamantly. ‘But it wasn’t the fae who did it. It was some of Tavish’s men, I think.’
