Rodrigu was kneeling before him, hands around Paxben’s bony shoulders. The firelight gushed orange and yellow, fending off the shadows around their chairs.
“Not yet,” Rodrigu told him, giving him a shake. “Not yet.”
Paxben felt his vision fading. “But I could come with you if I wanted?”
Rodrigu smiled, his eyes teary. “Yes.”
“Why wouldn’t I, then? I miss you.”
A brush of fingertips on his cheek. “You’re a fighter, Pax—your place is there.”
“I’m not a fighter. I’m not brave like you are. I want to go with you, Papa.”
When Rodrigu spoke again, his voice was choked. “My son. My sweet boy. You were always my source of bravery. You are fearless and loyal, and you have a joy that kept me going on days when all else seemed dark and dismal.” He cupped Paxben’s cheek. “I would like nothing more than to have you in my arms again, but you are not meant to be with me yet.”
Rodrigu tipped Paxben’s head down to him, planting a kiss on his forehead.
“Not yet,” his father whispered against his skin. “Not yet, Pax.”
Warmth brushed Vex’s forehead. Was it his father? He tried to call out, but all was darkness now—had the fire gone out in the study?
A shifting, a lightening of awareness.
His body felt like someone had hung him on a line and beaten him with a spiked club. Injuries screamed at him, cuts and bruises, and something in his chest tingled with every inhale.
Wait. The last he remembered, he was lying on theground, next to Elazar’s body—
Pious God above. He’d killed his uncle. He’d taken permanent magic.
How thehellwas he not dead?
Vex’s forehead was still warm. The sensation lifted—a damp cloth.
But he remembered his father’s touch. Had it been a dream?
The question stabbed him in his broken ribs.No,he told himself at the same moment his reason saidYes.
His father had been there. Vex had been so close to death that he’d talked with Rodrigu.
Well, shit, no wonder he felt like death.
Vex realized, then, that his legs didn’t hurt. He’d almost gotten used to the ache and the brittleness, but they were gone, and he didn’t feel the encroaching threat of a tremor on the edge of his muscles. Everything else in his body felt like flame-kissed hell, but his legsdidn’t hurt.
Had Lu really cured him?
He grinned.
“HE’S AWAKE!”
“Teo—gods, kid—”
Vex opened his eye to see Nayeli sitting next to him on a bed. Teo bounced on the floor, flailing his fists up and down with his jumps.
“HE’S AWAKE! LU—HE’S AWAKE!”
Teo barreled out of the room.
Vex squinted after him. His squint shifted to Nayeli, then to the room around him.
