A nurse’s voice came from my left as she replied, “Only for a moment, then he’ll settle right in.” I pried an eye open to see her smiling down at me. “Won’t you, honey?”
The third woman leaned in, extending the rag toward my face.
A sob wrenched out of me, and I turned my head aside in a final effort to avoid what I knew to be a sedative. I would fall asleep, and Kit would go to finish what we’d started. Then he’d come back. He said he would, and I wanted to believe it, but logic and reasoning failed when pitted against blind panic.
What if he left me here? Weak and unwell, forced to find my way home with my body marked by the cult’s cursed brand and my heart shattered. He said he wasn’t sure he could love me, but IknewI could love him. I wasn’t sure I didn’t already.
I couldn’t protest and could barely move, almost resigned by the time Kit shoved his way between the nurses and up to the bedside. “Let go of him,” he growled at the women restraining me.
The nurse with the rag wore a look of practicedpleasantry. “Sir, your friend is fine,” she assured him. “He just needs to rest. This will help.” She tried to push him out again, but this time Kit didn’t budge.
“He’ll befinewith me,” Kit said, and tears of relief joined the ones already flooding my eyes. “Now let him up and put that away.”
The three women shared an uncertain look, then slowly released me and stepped back.
It took every ounce of my dwindled strength to sit up and throw myself at Kit. I latched onto him, burying my face in his muddy shirt. His deep voice rumbled against my ear as he continued.
“Thank you for your assistance, but it’s no longer needed. Give us a moment, and we’ll be on our way.”
Whatever protest the nurses offered was brief. I could imagine the cold look that came over Kit’s face when he was angry, and I knew that must have silenced them.
The sound of my own labored breathing eclipsed everything else as I hung on to Kit and worked the rest of my body around until my legs were off the edge of the bed and pressed into his.
His hand cupped the nape of my neck and his thumb brushed the back of my head. Neither of us moved or spoke until the trio of women left the room.
Only then did I relax enough to let Kit draw back and take me by the arms. Another rattling cough shook me, bringing the familiar shadow of worry across Kit’s face.
“I told them you’d be fine with me,” he mumbled. “Don’t make me a liar.”
My head bobbed. “I’ll be good, I swear. Just don’t…” A sob snuck up on me, and I tried to muscle it down. “Don’t…”
“I won’t leave you,” Kit said. “Not here, not anywhere. Ipromise.” He pulled me into another embrace. The feeling of him pressed against me was more soothing than any sedative, and my body relaxed in his arms.
He eased me to my feet, tucked my cloak around me and swung his around both of us, then held me by the shoulders as I stepped into my boots and we made our way slowly out of the infirmary. I kept my face tucked into him and my hands knotted in his shirt, ready to be rid of that place. We were almost to the door when a familiar voice called out Kit’s name. He paused and turned back to Nora as she hurried out of the double doors behind us.
“We’re leaving,” he said, sounding apologetic. “I’ll look after him, but it can’t be here.”
The old woman closed the gap to us while holding out a brown glass bottle. She looked me over. “Did something happen?”
I chewed my lip, recalling my mother chastising me for being ungrateful.
“We have a task to finish,” Kit replied before I could. “I’m afraid it can’t wait.”
Nora hesitated. “I know I can’t stop you from completing your Oaths, but he”—she pointed at me—“won’t take it well.” She pressed the bottle into Kit’s free hand. “At the very least, drink this before taking the hemlock. It could help.”
Kit thumbed out the cork and peered into the bottle. I leaned over to join him in looking at the powdery black substance piled inside.
“What is it?” Kit asked.
“Charcoal,” she replied. “It should keep some of the poison from being absorbed into your system, but itmustbe taken within an hour of ingestion to be effective. Best if taken immediately before, though you’ll need to rinse yourmouth out after, or they’ll see it on your teeth. There’s enough for two doses. Mix it with water and drink all of it.”
Kit recorked the bottle and tucked it into the folds of his traveling cloak. “Thank you. Truly.” He turned us both away, but Nora caught his arm and held him in place.
I stifled a cough long enough to hear her tell Kit, “I wish you wouldn’t do this.”
“I have to,” he said, then shepherded me away.
Once outside, Kit helped me onto the bench seat of the waiting cart. He climbed up, taking the horse’s reins and hugging me close once more. Sleep weighed on me, making my eyelids droop and my creaking breaths come slower.
