Chapter Nine
When Florian woke again, it was already late the next morning. The medicine must have long worn off, though, as his arm burned painfully the moment he moved, trying to sit up. But he could feel that his magic had been replenished, so he sent a surge of healing through his forearm. The pain fled as rapidly as if he’d plunged his arm into a bucket of ice water, and the angry red tissue quickly faded to the shiny pink sheen of new, healing skin. He could see a clear demarcation along his upper arm where the skin was healthy and unmarred, and he wondered how bad of a scar it would leave, having gone so long without healing it. He’d been able to simply get rid of his scar tissue with his Changeling abilities when he’d tested it before, but that was in the Veil—back on Earth, maybe the burn would be clearly visible all the way from his fingertips to his elbow.
The pain now gone, he could focus enough to sit up and look around the room. He was alone again—his stomach growled with hunger, and he realized he needed to peeverybadly. Witha groan, Florian stumbled out of bed and staggered toward the bathroom, his legs feeling weak and unsteady beneath him.
From the bathroom, he could hear the bedroom door swing open. “Florian?” Kade’s voice called.
“I’m in here,” he called back. “Just a second.”
His legs felt less shaky when he came back to the bedroom, and Kade smiled upon seeing him, looking relieved.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Hungry,” Florian laughed, tentatively stretching as Kade watched him. “But a lot better.”
“I’ll make you something to eat. Want to come sit in the living room?”
“Yeah,” he agreed. Kade helped him walk out of the room, but Florian was already feeling much more steady on his feet.
“You have to start small,” Kade warned, giving him a plate of toast and a light broth with what looked like leeks floating in it. Florian sighed and dutifully ate it in slow, measured sips, even though he wanted to scarf it down and go for seconds. Kade sat across from him at the kitchen table and watched him eat; but when their eyes met, his gaze softened into a fond smile, making Florian grin back.
When he was done, they settled in the living room in front of the fireplace. For a long while they were both silent, comfortable doing nothing with each other, until finally Kade said softly,
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Me too,” Florian laughed, then stretched out his arm. “I think this might scar, though. It doesn’t look like how most wounds do when I heal them.”
Kade hesitated. “It was... It looked pretty bad, to be honest, when Rune brought you in. Disa even said she was worried you could lose fingers.”
Florian blanched at that, looking down at his hand with a concerned scowl. It looked okay now—had it really beenthat bad? He hadn’t looked closely when he’d first woken up, remembering how even the thought had made him nauseous; he’d just healed it with all the magic that he had left in him, meager as it was with only a few hours of rest.
“Still have all five,” he offered with a weak laugh, but Kade looked far less amused.
“You have to be careful, Florian,” he said, his voice soft, but with an urgent undertone.
“I will! And the hardest part is over,” Florian protested, flushing. He thought he’d done a pretty good job of keeping himself safe, all things considered. “We only have the one Arrow left. It can’t be much worse than this, can it?”
“The last one right by the Summer Court?” Kade replied, sounding unconvinced. “It might be the most difficult yet. How will we even get there?”
Florian paused, taken aback at how readily Kade had pressed the issue. He hadn’t given it much thought yet—evidently, Kade had had more time to worry about it. Begrudgingly, Florian replied, “I... I’m not sure. We’ll figure something out. We always do.”
Kade sighed. “We always do,” he echoed, sounding much less convinced.
Rune and Koji came to see them later in the afternoon. Rune already looked entirely better, evidently far more well-rested now than Florian was.
“Glad to see you’re awake,” she chirped, as she settled into a chair next to him. “Don’t push it too hard, though, alright? We can take all the time you need before we make the next move.”
“I’m fine,” Florian laughed, shaking his head. “Really.”
From the strained way she smiled back at him, he got the sense that maybe she too had been concerned about him losing his fingers, or worse. It didn’t feel like it had been that bad,but everyone was treating him as gingerly as if he’d been on the brink of death.
Then he realized that she’d all but said she’d travel with them for the next Arrow.
“So you’re sticking with us, then?” Florian asked, grinning. “If you’re planning on waiting around for our next planning session...”
She laughed. “Of course I am. I told you I was ready to move on. I’m dying to go somewhere that doesn’t smell so fishy all the time.”
Everyone laughed aloud at that, and the mood in the sitting room lightened considerably as everyone settled into place. Kade set out a kettle of warm cider for everyone to drink, as Koji explained a card game they would play together—Rune constantly interjecting with questions, half of which only made Florian more confused.
