There was a long, drawn-out scream from behind me and I whirled to see Peter’s dagger embedded deep within Roderick’s chest. Roderick had caught hold of Peter’s wrist, clutching so tightly that Peter couldn’t break away.
“You…will…pay…” Roderick choked out, blood filling his mouth.
I edged back toward Nora and Papa, still holding the injured pixies in my hands. Peter looked up for the briefest moment as I passed, and the second he did, Roderick thrust his blade forward into Peter’s side.
Peter let out an unearthly shriek and wrenched himself away from Roderick, staggering until his back hit the wall. He blinked rapidly then slid down to the floor, clutching his side.
“Peter,” I said, hurrying forward and kneeling next to him.
“The…pixies,” Peter gasped, reaching his blood-covered fingers out. “Give them…to me.”
Every instinct I had screamed not to trust him. I had seen what men like him did to survive—whatIhad done to survive in the past. I pulled the pixies in closer to my chest. “You’ll hurt them.”
Peter began to shudder. “I won’t.”
Behind me, the crash of boots and shouted commands told me the Nightsworn were closing in.
“I saved your life last year,” Peter reminded me. He grimaced and his eyes closed momentarily, then he re-opened them, an intense look blazing there. “You owe me.”
The words settled heavily in my chest. A year ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to walk away and let Peter die, whether or not I owed him my life. I wouldn’t have cared about any of it. That was who I had been back then.
My gaze dropped to the tiny creatures in my hands. Their wings had dulled and their movements were weak.
I didn’t want to be an unfeeling mercenary anymore. If there was a chance to alleviate suffering in the world, I wanted to be a part of it. I exhaled slowly and deposited the injured pixies into Peter’s hand and waited, nervously watching to see what he would do with them.
But instead of clenching his fist or something horrible, Peter simply closed his eyes and waited as the pixies, all sitting in his bloody palm, began to glow brighter. Rather than drooping and losing their light, their wings straightened and began to give off pixie dust, shimmering with renewed strength.
Somehow, and for reasons that only Peter knew, he was healing them.
Just as the Nightsworn flooded into the room, the pixies took off and flew past the Nightsworn, out into the open air.
Peter watched them go, then sagged back with a faint smile, drawing in a long, rattling breath as he did so. I knelt beside him, not even caring that the Nightsworn were coming in with weapons drawn and pointed at each of us, but then they hurried over to look at Roderick, who was howling in pain.
“How did you do it?” I murmured to Peter. “You helped them.”
“Human blood heals pixies just as pixie blood heals us,” Peter said with a faint smile. “I was hoping one of them would heal me in return.” He groaned and tried to sit up but then slumped back down, fingers still pressed against his injury.
“Come away,” Lochlan said. He had come over to me and held his hand out, but I looked past him to where the pixies had vanished into the sky beyond, then remembered the vial of pixie blood still tucked into my vest. I took it out and handed it to Peter.
“A life for a life,” I told him. “We’re square now.”
A look of incredulity spread across Peter’s face as he took the vial.
“What is that?” one of the Nightsworn barked.
“It’s…it’s medicine,” I told them. It was only fair. Peter helped the pixies. He didn’t deserve to die after saving them.
“Wait,” the same Nightsworn officer said, starting forward, but Lochlan stepped between us so Peter and I were protected.
“Use it,” I told Peter in a rush. His fingers were too slick with his own blood to open it, so I helped him uncork the vial. He emptied the entire vial over his wound, then pressed his hand over it so the pixie blood was trapped against his skin.
It was impossible to breathe normally. I kept watching Peter’s face, still screwed up against the pain, while the Nightsworn hovered around Roderick behind me.
Lochlan crouched down next to me. “Hey, Peter. It’s Lochlan. Can you hear me?”
Peter cracked one eye open. “You’ve been working for the Nightsworn this whole time, haven’t you?”
Lochlan nodded. “And I know they never raided the cottage for the pixie dust. Was that you?”
