Maybe she could help him some other way to make up for it. Provide him with things from the human world instead of telling him how to cross. But that would mean keeping in contact. The thought made her anxious in a million different ways.
It probably was impossible anyway. She’d have to make a run for it across the border. Lora couldn’t risk Eyden holding her back if he realised too soon that she wasn’t able to hold up her end of the bargain.
She might have seen the kind side of him. The side that made Ilario trust him fully and his parents happy to see him. The side that cared about the state of his world. The side that played her for truths, whispering secrets in the dark. But it wasn’t enough to risk the reason she came here. At the end of the day, he was still fae.
Lora was so close to ending this brief chapter in her life, to going back to an ordinary life without fearing for her family’s health. She reminded herself that this would soon feel like a dream and eventually vanish from her mind—and the guilt with it.
They quickly retrieved the crystal and vial from Eyden’s closet and Lora soon found herself in front of an apartment building across from the bar where she’d first met Sahalie.
Eyden raised his fist, about to knock on the door, but he hesitated and sought out her eyes. “Once we have the cure, you’re leaving right away?” he asked.
She could tell he already knew her answer. “I have to. But I’ll need to get my backpack with the rest of my stuff first.” Bringing the bag would have drawn too much intention. Too many zippers to pass as a regular fae item and they were in the middle of the town. And maybe a tiny, barely existing part of her wanted the small detour.
Eyden lifted his chin in a quick gesture. No words, they were beyond them now.
Before he could knock, the door opened and Sahalie peeked her head outside.
“There you are. Finally. Come on in and make yourself at home as you usually do,” she said, ignoring Lora’s presence. She couldn’t find any of Ilario’s friendliness in Sahalie. How were the two cousins so different from each other?
Eyden swung the door open completely as he passed it, entering the flat and making sure Lora followed behind. Sahalie’s gaze briefly travelled to Lora. She couldn’t tell whether Sahalie truly disliked her or merely hated that she’d come here with Eyden. Her emerald eyes almost seemed as if they could unravel every hidden lie.
“Should we sit at the table?” Eyden asked, drawing Sahalie’s attention.
“The couch is fine. I already gathered some things.” Sahalie sat on one end of the couch and patted the empty space next to her, her green eyes never leaving Eyden.
Much to Sahalie’s dismay, Eyden chose to sit in the sofa chair opposite her instead. Lora hid her smile at Sahalie’s irritated expression, but then she realised this left her with the couch seat.
Keeping her expression blank, Lora sat down on the far end of the couch and decided to move things forward quickly. She pulled out the items from her pocket and laid them on the glass table next to the items Sahalie had prepared. “Green aventurine and the vial of infected blood.”
Eyden emptied his bag of silver, shimmery herbs. “And, as requested, arentae.”
“Well then, let’s get right to it so we can celebrate after,” Sahalie said, looking up at Eyden, who, in response, merely gestured to the items spread across the table. She reached for the vial of blood, briefly meeting Lora’s gaze. That was all the acknowledgment she gave Lora before she set to work.
Sahalie poured half of the blood into a small bowl. She took a leaf of arentae and squished it in her hand, dropping the sparkly silver substance on top of the red one. After adding a dash of some other herbs Lora didn’t recognise, Sahalie closed her hand around the green healing crystal and held her other open palm over the bowl.
The crystal started to glow, green light streaming out of Sahalie’s closed fist. The fae closed her eyes in concentration and soon the blood mixture gleamed too.
Lora turned her eyes to Eyden, who was looking intently at the table as she had been a second ago.
She couldn’t quite believe that they had come this far. They were moments away from reaching the finish line. She already imagined the message she would send her family. Lora hadn’t told them that today was the day. She’d said soon, not wanting to get anyone’s hopes up.
Yet her own hopes had never been higher than in this moment. Maybe luck really did come her way. Maybe in more ways than one. Eyden had been wrong. The shooting star wasn’t a bad sign at all.
When Lora shifted her attention back to Sahalie, she noticed the fae was grimacing in pain. Her breathing was quickening, her outstretched hand shaking. Then the light went out.
Sahalie opened her eyes and turned to Lora first, a look of uncertainty taking over her features. “This is more difficult than I expected. I’ll need more arentae,” she said as she grabbed a few more leaves.
Lora didn’t know whether she should panic. She felt like a wave of cold water hit her system. But when she found Eyden’s gaze, she felt herself coming up for air. His eyes said to give it time, so Lora let her hope keep her afloat.
Sahalie’s eyes closed as she tried again. The green light appeared instantly and this time Sahalie took her time. After a few minutes, Lora thought she saw her relax, but then she gasped sharply and dropped the crystal.
Emerald eyes found Lora’s. “I can’t do it.” Sahalie leaned back on the couch, exhausted. “I wish I could, but this virus has a strange effect on my magic.”
Lora’s head emptied out. All that was left was white noise. She distantly heard Eyden say, “Can’t you try again?”
“I don’t know what else to do. You might need someone more accustomed to human diseases. Or a level five,” Sahalie replied.
Lora wasn’t looking at any of them. She was staring at her mother’s blood on the table, riddled with the virus. Still infected. Not healed. Nothing. She was right where she’d started. She had accomplished absolutelynothing.Worse, she had wasted days.Days.
