But will there be a cost,an obtrusive voice slithered through my mind.
Leo approached. “Rose, can you—” He stopped short, eyes on the boy as he stirred. His brow furrowed. “What happened? How is he alive?”
I scrambled to my feet, imagining the look on his face if he figured out what I’d done. The same magic that tormented his past, that he thought killed his father…
“The healer must not have used the right herbs or given it enough time.” I balled my cut hand into a fist and slid it behindmy back, forcing myself not to wince at the ache. “I used a different combination. Tried a new spell. He’s going to be fine, that’s all that matters.”
Leo caught my movement. He stepped toward me, concern in his dark gaze. “What did you do to your hand?”
I shrugged and gestured to the dirty floor. “Cut it on a piece of stray glass.”
The crease on his forehead deepened. He looked down at the boy, who managed to sit up with the help of his mother. His shirt shifted to reveal the edges of the wound that once marred his side but was now only a bright pink scar crusted with dried blood.
Leo’s stare returned to mine. His hand came out to trace a path down my injured arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake. I reluctantly let him grip my wrist and pull my hand from behind my back. The jagged cut in my palm practically glowed with a crimson confession.
“A new spell,” he said, repeating my words slowly.
“Yes.”
He tilted his head. “Must be some powerful herbs.”
Tension snaked around us, thick with unspoken accusations. The way he was looking at me, full of mistrust and uncertainty where unwavering adoration once lived, sliced through my chest.
I didn’t respond. Icouldn’t—if I so much as opened my mouth, I feared the truth would spill free.Everytruth.
His jaw hardened and he stepped back. “You should clean that,” he said in a low voice, motioning to my hand. “Wouldn’t want it to get infected.”
Then he walked away. A shaky breath escaped me as if it were trying to follow after him, trying to tug my body forward and drag him back to me. That inescapable hold he had on me tightened until it felt like I couldn’t breathe, and then it snapped, my stomach sinking to my feet at the realization.
He didn’t trust me.
Heshouldn’ttrust me.
I deserved to be held at arm’s length. Lying had always been as easy as breathing for me, yet now it felt like suffocation.
I glanced at the boy in his mother’s arms, her joy and relief evident in every line of her face. I had done that. I had saved him.
But magic that strong had a price.
What if losing Leo was mine?
54
Rose
The ride back to the twin’s cottage was uncomfortable, the silence interrupted only by occasional murmurings from Horace and Chaz as they discussed the attack.
We’d spent hours helping the families from Emberfell tend to their wounded and restore what they could of the damaged house. Leo kept his distance from me, throwing himself into his work, his features tightened with intensity as he patched broken holes and cleared away debris.
When the sun began to set and we left the Lightbender refuge, he had mounted his horse and taken the lead, leaving me to Rissa and her pale yellow mare.
It was better this way. I didn’t know what I would do if I had to feel his chest at my back, his arms caging me in, the unease rolling off him in waves that had once been heated tension.
As we traveled back to the south sector, my regret gave way to a different emotion. Something icy and familiar that molded so perfectly back into my mind, it was like it had never left to begin with.
Anger festered inside me the more I thought about those innocent Lightbender families. They were seeking a reprieve from the dangers of their home province, hoping for safety these bordersweresupposedto provide, and they’d been met with brutality. Misplaced prejudice harbored by people who didn’t want so-called “outsiders” brought into their fold.
I had no idea how common of an occurrence this had become until I asked the others about it a couple weeks ago, but it was different seeing it with my own eyes. And I knew exactly who was responsible. Who was charged with taking care of his people, yet turned a blind eye to their suffering. Who let destruction and bloodshed run rampant in his streets as long as he kept their power in check.
