Page 110 of When Ashes Fall

The resulting crunch made the others grimace, but Knox didn’t react at all. Searing pain shot through my palm as its acid devoured my flesh.

“Don’t!” Gizzi shouted into my head.

I didn’t lift my palm; this pain was nothing compared to the battering my heart had taken over the years.

“Eww,” one of the sprites groused as Zephyr gagged.

“That was… disgusting,” Lyra muttered.

When I lifted my hand, a sticky goo clung to it, as did the acid. Turning my palm over, I revealed the blisters forming there and the deepening hole as my skin sizzled and popped.

Knox seized my hand, jerking it toward him as the spider’s remains started eating through the table.

“Why would you do that?” Knox demanded.

With surprising tenderness, he brushed aside the sticky goo clinging to my palm. He didn’t notice when his own skin started sizzling.

I jerked at my hand, but he refused to release it. “I did it to show you how they’re killing the plants. They can release their acid at any time.”

“Get me something to clean her hand,” Knox barked at one of the sprites.

“There’s a mixture right here,” I informed the sprite and waved at the potion. “Gizzi needs it too.”

I tried not to notice the warmth and strength of Knox’s hand as he worked, but as much as I’d prefer to kick him in the nuts, I couldn’t deny the hunger his touch awakened. I shoved aside the warmth growing in my belly while his blistered fingers removed more of the gunk.

“Holy shit,” Dromon said as he half rose from his chair. “It’s eating through the wood.”

“They do that,” Zephyr told him.

“How do we stop them?” Bertie asked. “How do we save the plants?”

“We’ll create a barrier around the roses and plants to keep the silkfangs away from them while we hunt and destroy them,” I said. “There’s probably a nest somewhere in Wildwood. While gormans have a mission to carry out and are tied to their creators, they also retain many characteristics of the creature whose image they’ve assumed. For the spell to work, the casters use actual silkfangs.”

“Okay, so we hunt these spiders and destroy them. Will that save the plants?” Lyra asked, and I knew she was thinking of her parents.

“If they’re not too far gone and if we can get some potion to them again, we should be able to save them.”

Knox’s fingers stilled on mine, and his hand gently squeezed. I didn’t know if he was aware of it as he gazed at me with hope. Until now, he’d believed every rose in Wildwood would die, that he’d failed every shifter in the land.

That still didn’t excuse him for being an asshole, but it did make my heart hurt.

“Can I make potions again?” I asked pointedly.

He watched as Gizzi dunked his head in the healing concoction again. The little guy couldn’t take the soreness in his mouth anymore. I understood as the acid ate through to my muscle and fire lanced through my veins.

“It seems you already have,” Knox said.

“I had to help Gizzi. The spider burned his mouth when he caught it.”

“How did he know to do that?”

“He’s far smarter than you ever gave him credit for.”

A muscle twitched in Knox’s cheek as his attention shifted back to me. I could tell he didn’t like the clipped tone of my voice, but there was little I liked about him anymore.

“Can I have my hand back so I can wash off the acid?”

Knox released my hand, and I dunked it in the potion next to Gizzi. My legs still burned, but I could care for them later.