Gentle hands press on my shoulders before I can lurch upright.
My eyes fly open to find my sister leaning over me, an exhalation of relief on her lips. “Oh, thank the saints, you’re awake.”
I quickly assess my surroundings, checking for threats, surprised by what I see.
I’m lying on a thick rug at the side of a small but comfortable-looking room. A gentle fire glows at my back. My hammer rests on the rug beside me, within easy reach.
The nearest furniture is a simple wooden table, small and low, with two wooden chairs next to it. A flask of water rests on top of it, along with my toolbox. The satchel the box was in has been neatly folded and lies beside the box.
To the left of the room is a cooking area, but on the right, the entire wall is lined from floor to ceiling with shelves filled with metallic objects, each one more intricate than the last. My focus lands on a small, metal figurine. It’s cloaked but faceless, smooth metal where its facial features might be.
“Where am I?”
Tamra’s hands haven’t left my shoulders. She’s kneeling on the rug beside me. “This is Thaden’s home, but we thought it would be best if he wasn’t here when you woke up.”
“How long have I been out?”
“An hour,” she says. “It shouldn’t have affected you that way, but we think it might have been because you’d lost a lot of blood. Your body went into shock.”
My focus is on the first part of her speech. “We?”
“Thaden and me,” she says, the tension growing around her eyes and lips. “Asha, I’m so sorry for what I said to you.”
I’m not sure that my hurt feelings are the most important thing we need to talk about right now, but my sister always had her priorities straight. If this is where she wants to start, then it must be important to her.
“You’re nothing like Malak,” she says. “But I knew the accusation would hurt you enough that you’d walk away from us. I was trying to protect you because I’d figured out who Thaden Kane was.”
“A Blacksmith,” I say, slowly pushing myself upright. “Malak’s son.”
Her hands fall away from me, and she sits back on her heels. “I expected him to hurt you. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I was determined to get him as far away from you as possible.”
She gives me a steely look that defies her compassion.
Her power may lie in healing, but my sister is made of metal.
“But now, you’re here,” I say, my voice wary, my mind filled with questions.
“I got it wrong,” she says.
Her cry back in the wasteland echoes back to me:“I’m not giving up.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” she says with a shrug. “Thaden lied through his teeth, but he didn’t do it for the reasons I thought.”
I study her carefully. “Why am I here, Tamra?”
“Because this is where the answers are.” She rises to her feet but doesn’t reach for me. “There’s water on the table. A bathroom over there—clean clothes are inside. Come out when you’re ready.”
“Wait, Tamra.” I push to my feet. “What about Gallium? You said he’s in trouble.”
She takes a deep breath, and I don’t miss how suddenly shaky she is. “The Fae Queen has him. She will use him as a bargaining piece. She sent a message to me—but only because she believed I would pass it on to you—to tell you that you will do what she asks when she asks it.”
I’m reaching for my hammer within seconds. “She means to keep me on a string?”
By the time I straighten, Tamra must have swallowed her fears, because now she appears impossibly quiet. “The messenger didn’t say what Karasi will ask you to do, Asha, or when. Only that you will have to make a choice.”
I fight my frustration. “It’s all a game to her.”
Tamra inclines her head. “The longer she keeps you waiting, the more your fear will grow and the more power she has over you.”
