“Lost,” Tindra corrected. “She lost.”
No,Iwas the one who was lost. Lying with Raewyn like that, I had completely forgotten my surroundings, my circumstances, all the rules I’d put in place for myself concerning her after the cave experience.
In a few short minutes, she had completely undone the self-mastery I’d worked to perfect nearly all my life.
Suddenly, I felt sick, and it had nothing to do with the self-loathing that came along with my rampant forbidden attraction to my brother’s love.
Something was very wrong with me physically.
Pushing to a sitting position, I looked around and realized why.
I was surrounded by fireweed.
Chapter16
Fever Dream
Raewyn
Mortified at what I’d just done, I sat with my face in my hands.
Had he felt it—my wanton movement against him? My indecent curiosity?
The helpless attraction that had apparently stolen my brain away and left my shameless body in complete control?
How was I ever going to look at Pharis again?
I snuck a side-glance at him to see his reaction, and my brain shifted instantly from shame to panic.
Leaping to my feet, I ran to him and dropped to my knees at his side.
“What is wrong? Pharis, what’s happened?”
He had collapsed in a patch of fuchsia-colored wildflowers, his breathing labored, his face mottled and turning darker by the second. Had I hurt him somehow?
“Fire… weed,” he croaked.
Looking around at the tall leafy plants, I said, “But this is willowherb.”
“Same… thing. Find…”
He took several rapid, shallow breaths, sounding like his throat was closing in. “Look for… yarrow plant. Hurry… Rae.”
The blood drained from my head, making me dizzy. For a moment all I could do was gasp against the cold terror in my chest.
And then my heart exploded into a furious rhythm, and I was filled with crackling energy.
Pushing with all my strength, I managed to roll Pharis out of the fireweed patch. Then I got to my feet, looking around frantically.
“Girls, you must help me at once. We have to find some yarrow. You know what it looks like, right?”
My little sisters nodded, looking scared, but they immediately set out in search of the weed that must have served as an antidote for fireweed poisoning in Elven people.
The girls had gone foraging with me many times, helping me search out edible and medicinal plants growing wild on the outskirts of our village. I sent up a quick prayer that our search today would be fruitful—and fast.
I can’t lose him.
We.Wecouldn’t lose him. We needed Pharis.
