Into more silence.
My gaze swept the room, taking in overturned chairs, a table coated in grime, and a hearth that hadn’t been used in what felt like years.
“This is where we stay,” Bastian declared, his tone leaving no room for argument. “We’ll tend to Wolfe, then we’ll figure out how to get out of here.”
At least he sounded like hebelievedwe could leave.
I was not so sure.
Chapter 13
Elariya
“Nowhere to Go”
We laid Wolfe in the biggest bedroom upstairs. It was the one with the least amount of dirt and was easy enough to clean and sanitize for someone who was badly injured. Tucked beneath the slanted roof, its narrow window overlooked the dead sea and the twin suns.
There were two other bedrooms. We’d decided that if we had to stay any longer, the guys would take one room and Arielle and I would share the other.
I had nothing against sharing a room with Arielle, but I truly hoped we wouldn’t be here—wherever we were—for too long.
I wasn’t optimistic we’d be going anywhere today. We’d been here for several hours now, and this realm’s version of night was approaching.
One of the suns had dimmed while the other was turning a silver shade. Like a moon.But not.
The guys had tried location spells but came up with nothing. They also discovered that magic was unstable here. Possibly worse than in Morgäven.
The elements were out of sync, and the Void didn’t reach here. It was cut off from the mortal lands, too, but that was different and due to the Veil.
Here it was like it didn’t exist. We could hardly feel the Fray here, too.
That meant we couldn’t risk using certain magic, like portaling or phasing. Bastian had explained what happened when you pulled through unstable power—you didn’t just end up lost. You could drift forever between realms, or be torn apart mid-crossing, your soul splitting into fragments that scattered across places that no longer existed.
It was a wonder how Wolfe had managed to get us all here, but I supposed such was the nature of his powers. And his curse.
Bastian’s theory was that we were still in one of the dead realms. And that gave me the creeps. Or rather, it heightened what I was already feeling.
The place had an undeniably eerie vibe to it, but even I knew the living were not meant to walk in places like this for too long. Or at all.
The only good things so far were that Bastian and Alaric had found enough weeds and roots for Arielle to make a poultice, and Wolfe’s breathing had steadied.
They’d gone back out to forage and hunt, leaving Garrick behind to keep watch.
He was downstairs, making the place as safe as it could be, while Arielle and I stayed with Wolfe.
I sat by his bedside, watching the soft glow of Arielle’s hands as she worked her healing magic.
The gentle rise and fall of Wolfe’s chest and the subtle color that had returned to his face were a positive sign that what she was doing was working.
At least I hoped it was.
I was quite aware that his injuries were substantial enough that he could still die.
No human being could have survived a sword being wedged in their heart, let alone being in that condition and trapped in Morgäven.
It was something that could have killed a powerful Fae warrior like Wolfe, too,instantly.
Earlier, when Arielle had begun tending to him, she found a protection rune inked into his palm.
