I cough hard, but I grab Jax around the waist with my good arm. I wish I could reach that crossbow bolt. Did they set it on fire? The pain is like something alive, and my vision swims. I don’t know if it’s the smoke, or the fact that I cracked my head into the tree, but neither is helping me right now. “Go,” I choke out. “Go.”
His weight shifts, and Teddy leaps forward. I grip tight and press my face against Jax’s armor. He smells like sweat and leather andJax, and my breathing almost hitches. That was too close.
It’sstillclose.
Because I don’t know where Mercy is. I don’t know what happened to the others. I don’t know if Xovaar survived.
But Jax rode back through the flames to find me.
Not just to find me. To save mylife.
“Thank you,” I say. “Jax—thankyou.”
He puts a hand over mine where it rests along his waist, and he gives my fingers a squeeze. “Always, Tycho. Always.”
For much of the day, the pressing heat in the air felt like a weight I couldn’t escape. But getting away from the raging fire in the woods issuch a relief that the summer night air feels like a cool balm against my cheeks.
My shoulder won’t stop burning, and it feels like a white- hot steel poker has been driven into my body. I’ve been shot before, but it’s never ached like burning acid was injected directly into my bones. Combined with the awkward way we’re riding double, the pain keeps making me want to pass out. I’ve been trying to summon magic to heal it, but I can’t heal around a bolt from a crossbow— if that’s even what this is. I’m desperately hoping it’s not tipped with poison.
The instant I have the thought, my head spins, and I’m worried I’m going to vomit down the back of Jax’s armor.
“Tycho.Tycho.”
It’s too late. I’m falling.
No. Wait. Someone caught me. I’m half on the horse, half off. Jax grunts with strain. His horse sidesteps, trying to accommodate for my slide.
“Help me, damn it,” Jax growls, and I think he’s talking to me.
“Sorry,” I slur. “Sorry—”
“No— not you. Seph, give dagger belt.” His voice is harried, impatient. “Givenow. Help. Tie to me.”
Then I’m shoved upright again, and I practically faceplant into Jax’s back. It jars my shoulder, and I cry out. They ignore me. A belt is strung around my waist, jerking tight, pinning me to Jax.
Leo speaks, and his voice sounds distant. “Should we pull that out of his shoulder?”
“Not yet.” That’s Malin. “We need to move.”
“Please,” I murmur against Jax’s back, but he doesn’t respond. The horse leaps forward, and I try not to fall off again. My fingers are slick with sweat, but I try to grip at his armor as the horse runs.
Every now and again, his hand presses over mine. “Almost there,” he’ll say.
But it’s meaningless. Almostwhere? It’ll take days to make it back to Ironrose— and we’re more than half a day’s ride from the Crystal Palace. And that’s not even considering the fact that his horse carries two.
I think of my brave mare, pushed past any common courage by a scraver in the air and a fire all around us. I don’t even know if she made it out of the woods. A pulse of worry joins the ache in my shoulder and the pounding in my head.
“Mercy?” I murmur.
I don’t think Jax will answer, but he says, “Malin has her. His horse took two in the hip.”
“Oh,” I say, and my breath hitches. “Oh, sweet Mercy.”
Jax gives my hand another squeeze. My heart gives another lurch.
Then the pain in my head takes over, and darkness swallows me up.
When I wake, I’m facedown in bed. My head aches like I’m hung over, but it’s nothing compared to the brutal fire that seems to have replaced my shoulder joint. I have no idea where I am, but I’m not in chains and I’m not dead, so at least I’ve got that going for me.
