Eva grinned back. "That never crossed my mind."
Laurell ducked low, darting outside. Eva remained in place, waiting as Laurell did a visual sweep. Seconds later, Laurell beckoned and Eva helped the man outside.
They hurried across the small lane, passing the stable and several groups working to destroy the bugs scuttling their way. Eva spotted Hanna on a roof, her expression determined, bow in her hand as she targeted the bugs from above with fire arrows.
Two of the brightly colored bugs scuttled up the wall toward Hanna. Eva started to shout a warning. There was a whistle in the air as a dagger impaled each bug.
She glanced over to see Laurell's hand drop to her side. "You owe me, Snake."
"Just consider it payback for the time I saved you in Xante," Hanna shouted back.
Eva rolled her eyes at the interchange, too busy supporting the other man as they half-ran half-walked toward another group of Trateri.
Catching sight of them, the healer hurried over. "How long ago was he stung?"
"A few minutes."
"He has a chance then," the healer said. He touched the tourniquet. "A better one with this. Quick thinking."
"I thought the poultice was supposed to work," Eva said.
"It does, but the rate of transformation is quicker than anything the pathfinder predicted," the healer said. "It's not natural."
Reece raced out of a side street, a horde of bugs scurrying after him. He passed two Trateri crouching on either side of the road. They stood as soon as he passed and touched torches to the ground.
There was a whoosh as the street caught fire. The bugs screamed as the flames cooked them.
"I don't think anything about this place is natural," Eva said, gazing at the chaos.
Laurell appeared, her eyes ablaze, a fierce smile on her face. Her blades were splattered with the sap that was the bugs' life blood and Eva caught remnants along her shoes as well.
"Aren't you supposed to be inside there?" Laurell asked the man beside her, jerking her head at the building in question.
"Safer out here. Easier to see the bugs coming," the healer's helper grunted.
"You're supposed to be resting," the healer said crabbily.
"There's no rest when there are things to kill," Laurell said easily.
The healer gave her a long look. "Say that when you pull your wound open again and I refuse to close it. We'll see who desires rest then."
A fiery arrow sailed over their heads.
"Retreat to the secondary location," Hanna called. "Bugs are swarming a few streets from you."
Laurell waved a hand in acknowledgment. "You heard her. Everyone needs to move."
The healer muttered under his breath as he shuffled around his makeshift triage space. He slapped a pot of pleasant-smelling blue paste into Eva's hands and then added several sachets containing the same stuff to her pockets.
"Hold this for me, will you?"
He was gone before she could answer.
Those near them helped the wounded. The man she'd brought already had paste smeared over his entire arm. His color looked better and he didn't move as slowly as before.
Her arms full, Eva kept pace as their group moved toward a line of warriors who were guarding their retreat.
They hurried around the corner and down several streets, bugs encroaching all around. Their group spilled into a courtyard, a large circular space with a stone patterned interior and a fountain in the middle. Buildings loomed around them, their windows darkened. On one side was the stables where they'd left some of the mounts overnight. Eva could hear the horses, already uneasy at the sound of battle only a few steps away.
