“Thank you,” Neve said to the group. A polite dismissal.
Now, he just had to figure out how to defeat the horde of humans just outside their border.
Chapter Eighteen
Dahlia
Dahlia wokewith a massive headache and more body aches than she could count.
Without opening her eyes, she ran her fingers along the taut material beneath her.
A cot.
Someone had moved her.
The shrieks of warfare had gone silent.
It was almost deafening.Eerie.
Lia cracked her eyes open, pain ricocheting through her skull. She blinked repeatedly as her vision slowly cleared—the familiar warm brown beams and stone ceiling of their tiny home greeted her. The Asterans hadn’t brought it down on them at least.
She gently probed the right side of her temple, noting the thick bandage. She must have really bled a lot for Loshika to use so many bandages.
A low curse reached her ears from the right.
Carefully, she turned her neck, the cot creaking with the small movement.
Cosmos stood on top of Loshika’s workbench, staring out the small round window. There was little light outside, barely highlighting his profile. Her heart ached at the expression on his face. It spoke of vast grief and loneliness.
So much loneliness.
“Little lion,” she whispered.
His head jerked her direction. “Dahlia?” he croaked.
Cosmos leapt down from the table and in five steps was at her side. He plopped onto the cot, jostling Lia. She groaned and his eyes widened.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
“You’re fine, Cos,” she shushed him.
He made a face and leaned over to pull a sweaty strand of hair from her cheek. “You going to stay awake this time?”
“How long have I been sleeping?” She snuggled deeper into the covers, relishing this moment with the boy she remembered.
“Almost a whole day.”
Lia blanched. “What?”
“Yeah. Loshika made me wake you up every thirty minutes. You don’t remember that?”
Little snippets of water being held to her lips and herbs placed underneath her tongue registered. “A little, but not much. Speaking of which, where is Loshika?” Lia glanced around Cosmos toward the bathing room, frowning when she spotted the door that was open. Fear wrapped itself around her throat as she scanned their one-room home for thenonnaeonce more.
No Loshika.
“Where is she?” Guilt, fear, and panic churned inside her like a sickening cocktail.
She tried to sit up, but Cosmos pressed his hand to her shoulder, forcing Lia to lay back down.
