Page 114 of Blood of the Sands

Astrong hand on my shoulder pulled me from the painless release of unconsciousness. I groaned, twitching and trying to tell Erix to stop touching me, even as I wanted him to crush me to his chest and never let go. Every bone ached and every touch felt like a fresh burn across my skin.

Even on my unburned side, everything felt hot. I must have an infection.

“What have they done to you?”

My eyes snapped open at the familiar but unexpected voice.

“Ad—” I choked around the woman’s name, but she shushed me. I had never been so glad to see her, yet so terrified at the same time.

“You’re safe. I’m going to get you out of here,” Aderyn reassured.

I wanted to protest, but I didn’t know what was happening. Where was Erix? Why had he left me?

My hands were still sticky with Lord Alasdar’s blood. My eyes flickered to the huddled corpse on the ground. Aderyn’s gaze followed mine.

“Did you kill him?” she asked.

I swallowed, managing the slightest nod.

“Well done,” Aderyn praised. “Serves him right after what he’s done to you.”

It wasn’t what he had done to me. It was what he had done to Erix that had given me the strength to lunge forward toward the fallen weapon and drive in through his ribs with every last bit of strength I had in my body. With Erix screaming and twitching on the floor, even the woman ordered to hold me hadn’t seemed intent on stopping me from bringing Lord Alasdar’s life to a swift and satisfying end.

I didn’t have the words to say this to Aderyn, the last of my strength having been spent telling Erix I loved him. I clenched my hands into fists, and my fingers brushed something hard and metallic. I glanced over, finding Erix’s saber next to my outstretched arm.

Seeing where I looked, Aderyn handed me the weapon, and I squeezed so hard that the leather grip was sure to leave an imprint in my hand. Even if Aderyn didn’t know what had happened, she was a warrior enough to understand the comfort of a sword in hand.

“Come on. I have to get you out of here while the riders are distracted. I doubt they’ll leave you alive after killing their leader.” Aderyn gathered me in her arms, lifting me easily despite being shorter than me.

A pained gasp escaped me. I tried to form words around the agony of being moved, but they didn’t come.

“Erix…”

It was all I managed to choke out before darkness took me again.

A stone ceiling greeted my bleary eyes. I tried to remember where I was but the only memories I could locate were agony and the squelch of flesh as I drove a blade through a man’s heart. Erix’s screaming and the smell of burning flesh.

I ran my awareness along my limbs now, finding the agony had dulled to a persistent ache, coating the entire right side of my body, along with a pounding in my broken leg. The shivering heat and delirium that had coursed through my veins before had abated, telling me any infection was likely cleared. I must have been unconscious for a long time.

Chancing to lift my head, I looked around, finding myself in a long stone room filled with empty beds. It was deserted save for the occupant of the chair beside me, bent over a piece of fabric in his hands, embroidering it with intricate patterns.

“Neven,” I choked out.

His head snapped up, and a look of intense relief crossed his face, kind eyes crinkling in a broad smile.

“You’re awake!”

“How long has it been?” My voice was thin from disuse, but still stronger than it had been in my last memories.

“Several days,” he answered. “You woke up almost as soon as you got here, but we had to sedate you. You lashed out and fought at anybody who came near you, shouting about Erix and burning. You nearly brought the palace down with your magic, and we had to force you to drink lyra leaf tea.”

I swallowed, trying to process everything through my sluggish brain. “Erix?”

“You’re safe.” Neven laid his hand on my uninjured shin. “He really did a number on you.”

I tried to shake my head. That wasn’t what I was asking. I needed to know where he was. The tether in my belly was fuzzy, as if my magic was hard to reach, and while I could feel its presence, I couldn’t reach along the bond to find him.

“I’m—I’m sorry I encouraged you to go with him.” Neven’s face crumpled, and he looked shattered. “If I had known he would turn you over to Lord Alasdar, I never would have helped you run away that night. When Aderyn told me who the man in the mask was and what he had promised to do, I thought… But I was wrong. Lord Alasdar’s influence on him was too great.”