She blanched and shook her head. “But the cost will be high.”
As if cost mattered. This was Kaja.
After a deep breath, I clapped my hands and yelled into the tent. “Madam…?”
Nothing.
Rue closed her eyes and clapped loudly. “Madam Surlama, we are seeking a healer.”
The curtain parted, and I gasped.
I’d expected a gangly old hag of a woman, not this …goddesswho stood before me, dressed in boho chic. Her long inky black hair fell to her waist in waves, and her alabaster skin was so pale the blue-tinged veins traced her skin like a network of tattoos. Pursing her glossy red lips, she studied us with her vibrant blue eyes. Then, she beckoned us forward with a wave of her hand.
We wheeled Kaja closer, and the mage peeled back the sheet, exposing my friend’s entire body.
The dark mage clicked her tongue against her teeth. “On death’s door.”
“What?” Nell cried.
“Come on, then. Better hurry if you want me to save her.” She disappeared behind the black curtain, and Nell and I shared a look.
But we both knew there was no other option.
Stepping forward, we started to push the wheelbarrow into the split in the curtain when Rue’s arm came out and clamped over mine like a vise. “If she asks for blood payment, don’t let Nell do it.”
Blood payment?Was that a thing?
“Promise me,” she growled, pain flittering across her face.
“I … promise.”
Rue had clearly come here before, and whatever happened must’ve been awful. Somehow, none of that surprised me.
“I’ll look after them both,” I promised the shy twin.
Please don’t let me regret that.
She nodded, and then I was pulled into the darkness. Nell and I traversed a dark hallway, following the sound of clinking jars and bottles.
“Where did she go?” I asked.
Nell shrugged, her eyes as wide as my own.
“Umm, miss mage?” Nell called.
“In here, dears.”
Dears?
Her voice came from the left, so Nell directed the wheelbarrow that way.
Dark mages were notoriously selfish, so why was this one being so friendly? I didn’t like it.
Light filtered into the hallway from a room ahead. A few steps later, we entered a wide-open room with a courtyard visible beyond.
The scent of smoked meat and wet feathers wafted in the air, and I shared an alarmed look with Nell. If it was anyone else besides Kaja needing a healer, I’d be out.
The woman beckoned us again with another wave. “Put her on the table.”
