Page 75 of Demon Touched

I search harder, eyes scanning every face I come across, my chest getting tighter with each passing moment.

My eyes snag on a body lying on the plains, crumpled in a pile of silver-spattered armor.

I’ve found my cousin.

Chapter 22

Leah

You either bring yourself home or you don’t come home at all.

Hasteed’s words ring in my ears as I dive toward Filippa. Her head is tilted back, her eyes closed. Her bronze helmet is half twisted off, leaving her chin and throat exposed. I land gracelessly, dirt flying up around me as I fall to my knees beside her, my fingers searching for the flutter of a pulse in her neck.

Please don’t be dead, please.

I may not have known Filippa as long as I have Evie, but there’s something about my instinctual affection for them both that feels similar. I feel the same flare of sisterly protectiveness when I look at her. And it makes me shaky with relief as I stare at the shallow rise and fall of her chest. She’s breathing, thank the ancestors.

I study the rest of her. The blood is coming from somewhere below her belly button, and I push her breastplate up to see the wound. It’s lower than I expect—which explains how the weapon got under her armor—a puncture made by a blade with jagged edges.

I stare over at the rift back to Aradis in the distance. It’s still open, but not for long. The last of the fledglings are nearly through.

Even if I got us over there in time, would they let me carry her through? They’re not supposed to allow anyone who isn’t strong enough to go back themselves. Would they even treat Filippa on the other side? Or let her bleed out, because a good fledgling should be able to survive this on their own?

I’m not risking Filippa’s life on the petty rules of insane people. If Aradis won’t take care of her, I’ll fucking find someone in Strata who will.

“Hold on, Filippa,” I say, pulling off her helmet and running a hand over her forehead before I rise to my feet. “If you die now, you’ll never get another chance to tell me how difficult I make your life.”

With the battle done, I’m back on the plains as I know them best—in the smoking aftermath of a battle, full of spoils ready to be scavenged. Already, I can see figures descending the city walls and spreading out across the plains like…well, like rats picking over a corpse. I see it now, the awful utilitarianism of it, and when I look down at Filippa, it’s as if my mind splits in two. I see both the dying young woman who should’ve never been sent to war and the collection of valuable winger objects that would feed a family for months.

But I don’t have time to have a crisis about that when I’m already in the middle of an emergency.

“Stay put; I’ll be right back,” I tell Filippa, as if she can hear me. Then I take wing over the plains. I stay low enough to pick out faces, praying to the goddess, the darkness, and the ancestors, that today is a day when Hodges Laikar has decided to come scavenging.

Some of the scavengers notice me, glancing fearfully up and scattering when I pass. If I didn’t have an important mission, I might feel overwhelmed by the strangeness of it. But then I spot a thatch of sandy hair by a crater with a dead kelaryn in it, and my heart lifts.

I come down on the ground hard, in too much of a hurry for finesse. Hodges swears, falling to the ground with shock. Terror is written across his face as he scrambles over the dirt, diving toward the crater he was examining.

“Hodges!” I call, striding after him.

I hear the sharp inhale of confusion and remember my helmet. I rip it off, shaking out my hair—always my most distinctive feature.

“It’s me, you idiot,” I huff. “Leah.”

His terror doesn’t exactly disappear, but it does change into something else. He stares at me like someone might’ve cut off Leah Polaris’s head and stuck it on a different body.

“Leah?” he gasps, a question now.

“I know, it’s a lot of change,” I say quickly. “But I don’t have much time to explain. I need your help. Come, I can say more on the way.”

I move toward him as I shove my helmet back on. To his credit, he doesn’t flinch when I reach down and grab his arms, hauling him to his feet. Goddess, he feels light these days. Surrounded by ephilium, it’s been easy not to notice how strong I’ve become.

“There’s someone who needs help. I’m going to take you to her, all right?” I say, pointing in Filippa’s direction. I’m aware I’m talking way too fast for him to absorb any of this. Too bad. “And we need to get back before any of the other scavengers turn up.” I have awful visions of Filippa being swarmed in my absence.

“What are y⁠—”

“Sorry, no time,” I grunt again, swinging Hodges up into my arms and taking flight.

The stream of bad language that comes from his mouth is the most creative I’ve ever heard from him. I tighten my arms, making sure he knows I won’t drop him—I’ve been in his position, and I know that’s always a pressing concern.