When the shaking started, it preceded a wave of bone-crushing sobs I could not contain—but we were far enough away from the Elites that he didn’t bother to hush me.
Chapter 15
“Can you hear me, Priestess?”
“Hold her up.” Hands slipped beneath my back, pushing me forward. “That’s it, little Triloth. Easy.” Ancaster. I recognized his voice as he slid in behind me, long legs braced on either side of my hips. “Just rest now,” he continued, guiding my head to his shoulder. “We’ll get you all fixed up in a moment.”
“Mmph…” I cradled my ravaged hand. Keening low at the back of my throat.
“Shh, honey,” Belle whispered, smoothing my hair back. “Shh. We’re going to try to fix your hand, sister. It’s—” she cleared her throat. “It’s the worst of your injuries. The rest are superficial.”
I flexed my fingers, not bothering to open my eyes. “Doesn’t hurt.”
“Nerve damage, then. Can you feel this?”
My arm moved of its own accord, and I begrudgingly cracked an eye open. A filthy Belle was holding my charred right hand in her lap, prodding the meat of my palm, twisting it to and fro, inspecting the extent of the damage. And I felt nothing.
With a half-hearted sigh, I grunted. “No.”
“I rather expect that’s a blessing at this point. Now”—she gestured for the other two Priestesses among our number to come to her side—“I’m nothing compared to a Trila-Glís when it comes to the healing arts, but it’ll have to be enough.” She took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”
I lifted one shoulder. Careless. Despondent.
“Right.” Avoiding my eyes, she slipped the Dosmui Circlets on, fidgeting with the positioning.
“It’s just a way to channel your power, Priestess. That’s all,” Ancaster soothed, and pushed the hair back from my face. “You’ve been with the Trila-Glís for healings. It’s the same thing, but of course, you’ll be the one to do the work. And you’ll have Clara and Gina at your side.”
“I understand.” Belle took another deep breath, her exhale hot and damp against my cheek. “You’ll have to hold her, Ancaster. Once I’ve repaired the damage to the nerves in her hand, I expect she won’t be so docile.”
“On with it, Priestess. I’ve got her.”
Without further hesitation, light Triloth ki spread through me. At first, I could scarcely feel it. Her touch was so gentle, so careful as she brushed against me, that my mind drifted back toward the darkness. What was the point? What did it matter if my right hand remained useless for the rest of my days? But then… something ignited in my right middle finger. I twitched in Ancaster’s hold. It didn’t hurt… but… I sucked in a breath, eyes snapping open as I tried to yank my hand free. “Goddess, what’re you doing? Stop. Belle, stop!”
She turned wide, blank eyes upon Ancaster. “Hold her.”
“Here, wee Priestess, bite down on this, lass.” Another Eloran face—Alicia—swam into view and she pressed a bit of leather against my lips. “It’s the shoulder strap of my satchel, girl. You canna do it any damage. Bite hard as you can. It’ll all be over in a few short minutes.”
I took her offering, if only to muffle a scream as Belle redoubled her efforts, waking more nerves in my ruined fingertips. “Ugh,” I groaned, whimpering around the leather. Gooseflesh erupted all over my skin and I shook, flushed and sweating. “Hurts…”
“Shh,” Ancaster murmured, squeezing me. “It looks much better already, Triloth. You’re through the worst of it.”
“M’not Tri—” My eyes rolled back in my head, hand burning with Priestess ki and renewed function. With a strangled scream, I writhed against Ancaster, chanting, “Please, please, please,” through clenched teeth.
He shushed me, refusing to let me pull my hand away from the fire in Belle’s grasp. “Almost there, Triloth. Almost there.”
On a snarl, I spat out the leather, glaring up at him. “Let me go, you sadist! It—Goddess—it’s on fire!”
“It just feels that way. You’re lucky you didn’t lose your hand. The pain will ease, just breathe with me, girl. Breathe.”
With a sob, I did as he asked, pressing my face into his shirt, letting him control the flow of oxygen into my lungs.
“That’s it, with me now, Triloth. Deep breath in—good—and out. That’s it. Almost done.”
Belle released me with a gasp, taking her demon-ki with her. “That’s it. That’s all I can do for now.”
I snatched my hand back, clutching it to my chest when Ancaster, too, released me. Flexing, I watched tight pink skin move over fragile bones, wishing for a place to lick my wounds in private.
Josh cleared his throat. “Alright, Miss Tannovic?”
