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“Someone help her,” Hakkan struggled to call out.
She wanted to scold him. He was the one bleeding out!
Ruzgorn made no move toward her as the ground cracked like broken glass beneath her. Blizzard-cold magic touched the edges of her mind, and she knew Aeyis was present somewhere in the crowd.
However, she wouldn’t let him risk his health to stop her this time. She’d prepared for the worst scenario. Fighting to remove a small knife from her boot, coated in the creeping smoke she’d snatched from her visit to the Abyss, she positioned the blade over her stomach.
“Tenah, no!” Renton’s voice boomed over the crowd.
She jabbed the blade into her side. The splitting pain was immediate, the injection of neutralizer directly into her channels greeting her with the force of a boulder. She crumpled to the ground. Never had she experienced the heat of her own flames, but she imagined this was what it felt like to be burned alive.
At least Chaos had fizzled out, unable to manipulate her any longer. Though, the damned rift remained. It buzzed above the ring like a horde of insects drawn to bright light.
An icy hand touched her arm.We’re here, Aeyis said.Hang on.
A blinding flash of green light blotted out the desert.
There had been no victory today.
* * *
“First thing’s first.” Gireth’s harsh tone commanded attention. He’d taken up position in the middle of the villa terrace hours after their return from the desert, his posture intimidating and all traces of light-heartedness evaporating from his features.
Tenah sank deeper into the chair Renton had delicately placed her in, grimacing at the restricting tug of bandages along her abdomen. A long, pink scar remained where Hakkan had slashed her forearm.
The villa healer definitely thought them all suicidal by now. But the pain had nothing on the vicious ache in her chest at the battered condition she’d left her cousin in, alive but bleeding profusely.
Renton leaned against the wall at her side. He hadn’t left her alone since scooping her up in the desert, though he hadn’t spoken more than a few words to her beyond ensuring that she was no longer hurting and that Hakkan would survive.
“You.” Gireth jabbed a finger at Renton. “You need to tone down the self-sacrificing, not-giving-a-shit behavior. Brinedale could have been a success had you involved all of us.”
A muscle in Renton’s arm twitched, his brow rising in challenge. “So sure of yourself?”
Gireth stepped closer. A vein bulged in his neck. “We could take this to the colosseum and find out. Is that what you want? I didn’t carve my way through hundreds of beasts on Dreaddix just to be left out. We’re a team. We’re brothers. At least, we used to be.”
Renton turned his head away, feigning interest in the skyscrapers drenched in warm sunlight. They reminded Tenah of the thin wafer cookies her favorite chef used to make.
Sensing Gireth’s anger turning on her, she shrank in her chair.
“And you,” he called out, dulling his steel tone slightly. “That was badass and all, up until the end. I’m not sure what happened, but you need to accept that you have family too. We’re here to help in any way we can.”
Tenah wanted to dissolve as three other pairs of expectant eyes settled on her. Her attention dropped to the markings that had spiraled up mid-forearm. Would her gloves even hide them anymore?
Sucking in a gulp of air, she did something excruciating. She spoke honest words for once. “I’m sorry. I do value all of you. So much so that I intended to win that army to protect you. I’ve been told I was destined to be some sort of savior. I’ve been afraid of that burden my entire life. Of disappointing others when the truth comes out that I can’t help anyone.”
“And you think any of us feel differently?” Gireth asked. “I might be more animal than shadow. I cover it up with a joke that usually gets me in trouble. We all have our issues. The way we work past them is with support.”
Tenah’s throat bobbed. “I get that, but unless any of you know how to pinpoint a source of rare healing in the Void, I’m not sure what else to do.”
Gireth came to kneel before her. He placed his hand atop hers, and she caught the way Renton shifted to watch them, as if he was debating launching his friend off the terrace.
“Things didn’t go as you planned today, but don’t count us out, ok?” Gireth’s thumb stroked over her ruined knuckles. “I’ll see what information I can dig up on the Void.” He pivoted on his heel, casting a glare up at Vesara. “Your contributions to the woman that just tried to earn us an army?”
Vesara scowled. After drumming her fingers against her crossed arms, she replied, “I’ll speak with Izral.”
“See there. She’s not completely useless, is she?” His normal grin returned. He patted Tenah’s hand and moved to leave. Vesara lunged at him as he passed, latching an arm around his neck. Unfazed by the assassin dangling from him, Gireth strolled down the hall, laughing madly at her attempts to render him unconscious. “Still salty after our last fight!”
“Renton, I—” Tenah started.
