“Wonderful.” Surral sighed. “Let’s check on Coltin first.”
I followed her to Coltin’s bed, a mix of hope and dread churning in my gut.
“It’s working!” I whispered. I could tell. He had slightly more color, and his breathing was less labored.
I felt his forehead. Still hot—but I hadn’t been expecting an instant miracle.
Relief settled my stomach but left a jangling impatience in its wake. I wanted him to be better now,reallybetter, before I left. I wanted him to open his eyes, smile at me, and promise to be here the next time I came back.
I curled my hand against my middle to keep from selfishly waking him up.
Surral looked at him, and then all around her. “Great Powers, I can practically feel the life coming back into them.”
She checked Coltin’s vitals and wrote on his chart.
“Better.” She looked over at me, beaming. “Everything’s better, Tess.”
I felt like crying again, but they would have been happy tears. I leaned down and lightly kissed Coltin’s forehead.
“Should I wake him up?” Surral asked. “He’d want to see you.”
“No. Let him heal.” Rest was more important than a goodbye.
I wished I had something to leave with him, though. Coltin was the one who should have gotten my precious copy ofTales from the Dark. “Tell him I’ll bring him a book next time. And to work on his math.”
Surral chuckled. “Maybe coming from you, that’ll work.”
I figured he’d be charging around the Dark one day. I wanted him to know how to navigate.
Surral held out her hand, and I slipped mine into hers. She squeezed, and I thought it was a thank-you.
“To Mareeka,” she said.
“To Mareeka,” I echoed, and we left sick bay to the sound of the first groggy, weak child waking up.
She was asking for food, of course.
Chapter 25
“Annalee’s nose is on thewrong side of her face.”
Surral and I stopped, both of us turning to a boy with luminous ebony skin, an abundance of tight black curls, big nut-brown eyes, and what looked like a magician’s wand in his hand. He was wearing a cape and seemed a little panicked.
“Hi, Tess,” he added hastily.
I greeted him back. I’d seen him before, but he was a little young for me to know in particular, although he appeared to know me.
“Excuse me, Thomas?” Surral asked.
He shifted nervously, his eyes darting around so they wouldn’t really land on either of us. “We were playing—running—and she tripped and hit the wall. She’s crying, and her nose is on the wrong side of her face.”
Shit.That sounded dire.
Surral kept her cool, as always. “Lead the way, then, Thomas.”
He turned to go, but Surral stopped to give me a quick hug before leaving. “Stay safe. Send news when you can.”
“I will.” I squeezed her back. “Thank you.”
