AMAIA
For a brief moment, when I thought my eyes had opened only to find darkness, I feared that I’d gone blind. I blinked, pain and panic surging forward.
My whole body felt like one bigache. Throbbing and pulsing. At least I wasn’t dead. Because if death felt like this…I’d feel cheated.
I must’ve made a sound because a warm bulk next to me moved. I reached out, skimming my hand along solid flesh.
That was when I saw it. A little blue glow next to a bed, a familiar smoke rising from a small ember in the pot. And as my eyes adjusted, though they still seemed dim, I saw Alaryk’s eyes begin to glow in the darkness.
“Amaia,” he breathed, a relief so strong in his voice that it almost trembled. My throat felt tight with that singular word, and my eyes started to tear up.
His magic flowed into me, and I grasped it. I felt him flinch, a deep ragged breath torn from him, which I thought was strange. But I used his magic, as we’d always done, to heal my body. Like a parasite, I fed off him…but he only gave willingly.
The forest returned to me in flashes. Ryak. The flash of hisfists, the sickening sounds. Samryn, with glittering scales. Alaryk, the whisper of a dagger. Brune?—
I sucked in a breath. “Brune.The eggs.”
They are safe,Alaryk told me, his voice clear.All of them.
I was too relieved to realize that he hadn’t spoken at all.
I felt bones crack, the sound startling. Despite the sharp pain at first, the pinch slowly faded into nothingness. My body was resetting itself, the bones snapping back into place. So many had been broken—my ribs, an arm, my cheekbone, collarbone, nose. I wanted to scream, but no sound came.
I kept my gaze on Alaryk, and with every snap, I felt the flare of anger within him though his expression never changed. He wanted to kill Ryak all over again. He wanted to kill him again for every time a bone had been broken. Every time he’d marked me, every time he’d made me bleed.
The length of Alaryk’s anger and need for vengeance was staggering. What shocked me even more was that I couldfeelit. It intertwined with my own sense of relief, my own sense of sorrow. So vastly different, and yet they all melded together until it felt like one big wound between us, gaping and raw.
I almost lost you,he told me. His eyes glowed brighter, nearly blinding.Never again.
Tentatively, his hand reached forward to skim over my healing face. There was a rawness in him, like the scraping of bone, when he looked at me. I felt the surge of affection, the need to protect me, the sheer unfathomable relief he felt.
“What’s happening?” I asked, confused, my voice rasping and husky, like I’d been wailing for days on end.
I felt his emotions retreat until they were dulled enough to be mistaken for my own.
“Heal,mariss,” he murmured, his voice richer, his breath floating over my skin. His lips pressed to my temple, where I remembered Ryak splitting the skin.
In his arms, I was cocooned by warmth and memory andmagic. I closed my eyes, feeling Alaryk radiate like starstone. My hand came up to my neck out of habit. The cool touch of my pendant made me want to sob. Someone had returned it to me. And I longed for my home, for my family. Would I forever be torn between two places now?
I will bring them to you, Alaryk said,so you don’t have to miss them, Amaia.
I slept again.
When I woke next, it was to warm oranges and pinks. Sunset. The bed was empty, and my body felt…better. So much better. Enough that I had the strength to push up in bed. I went dizzy, sucking in a breath as the dwelling swayed. There was a metallic taste in my mouth, and my head pounded something fierce. But I was dressed in one of Alaryk’s soft, clean tunics, and there was a large jug of water next to the bed.
A small gasp came. I looked over, only to see Syris rising from the dining table, where she’d been sitting. My hand froze, half stretched out for the goblet, as a tumult of emotions flooded my mind.
“Syris,” I breathed.
“Oh,” she said, racing for me. There were tears shimmering in her eyes, and she was gentle with her embrace, though it was tight.
I didn’t know what to feel, but I didn’t feel like I deserved her kindness.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into her hair. “I’m so sorry.”
Syris didn’t say anything, only pulled back when I gave a small wince. My back muscle pulled tight from the strange position.
“You’re here,” she said, giving me a wobbly smile. “That’s all that matters, all right?”
