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“Not my friend,” I say after another gulp of water.
I feel a cramp in my chest, tight and uncomfortable. And cold? How is it cold? It’s painfully cold—like something is trying to freeze my heart. It lasts only a few seconds before disappearing. Caz’s eyes are on mine when I look up, as if he felt it too.
“Ah, there we go.”
My eyes avert to Manx, who is now holding up a bloody piece of metal in his hand that’s about three inches long.
“Wait. Did you just—”
“Pull this out of your thigh while you weren’t looking? I did, yes.”
“But I—I didn’t even feel it.”
“I used an herb to numb it. Now I’ll clean it up, use my healing elixir, and within six to eight hours, your leg will be as good as new. Won’t even have a scar by the time you’re healed.”
Manx lifts a tiny amber vial up as well as two clusters of cotton. He pulls the dropper syringe out of the vial and drips a few honey-colored drops on the wound, then rubs it around with the cotton ball. I don’t feel a thing as he does it, and it’s incredible. What kind of sorcery is this? Sure, there are numbing and healing agents where I’m from, but none this powerful or fast-acting.
“Did you say six to eight hours?” Caz takes a step toward Manx.
“Yes,” Manx looks over his glasses as he tends to my wound. “She won’t be able to walk until then, I’m afraid. The numbing agent I used is very strong. It makes the whole limb numb. She’ll be dragging it like deadweight if she tries moving it too much before then.”
“Manx, are you serious? We don’t have that much time.”
Manx finishes up then tosses the damp cotton balls in the trash. I gulp down the rest of my sweet water as he stands and faces Caz. “Are you willing to carry her to your next destination?”
“Find me a car or something.”
“You know we don’t allow cars here.”
“Then send for someone to pick us up outside of Whisper Grove. It can’t be that difficult.”
“Caz, I’m not sure what your hurry is. No one can come into Whisper Grove with violent intentions, so you’ll be safe for now.”
“Yah,for now. They’ll be camped outside of this place waiting for me at every corner by the time we leave.”
“Who are you referring to?” Manx asks, his nose scrunching.
“The bloody Rippies. They just attacked us less than an hour ago. That’s why she had the metal in her leg.”
“Did you start it?”
“What?”
“Never mind. Look, whatever the issue may be with you and the Rippies, this young woman cannot leave until tomorrow.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Caz pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Alexi can send one of our troops out, make sure no one is lurking around the Grove, and if they are, we’ll send them away. In the meantime, I suggest you use a room in the inn and take the night to let her heal.”
Caz’s head shakes, clearly not in love with this idea, but he finally releases a deep breath and says, “Fine. Give us our rooms.”
“Alexi, which rooms do we have left for the night?”
“Well, there was the Yeung wedding last night and some of the guests are still here, so we only have one room vacant.” Alexi slides his gaze from me to Caz. “Comes with only one bed, but we do have extra cots available that we can send to the rooms.”
“Fuck that,” Caz rasps.
“I’ll take it,” I say, raising a hand. “And some more water with the verdeberries, please.”
