“What you did yesterday was nothing short of brilliant. I have no doubt that in time, your healing magic will become phenomenal,” the Warden whispered.
“Yeah, well, don’t look for me to do the same for you,” I shot back. “Because if you were in my brother’s place, I would’ve watched you die, and laughed.”
The Warden’s mouth twitched, like he found me amusing. It was insulting. “I have no doubt you would, Miss Mitoh.”
He stood from the chair and turned his back to me. “Extraordinary again. Such a prize to have in my possession.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I snarled.
The Warden smiled. He twirled a hand in the air, gesturing to the walls, the ceiling. “You’re in here, aren’t you?”
He left then. I was completely furious. I was already the Warden’s favorite toy, and now I’d become even more interesting to him by being the first Elementai with three different powers. I’d hoped to keep my Anichi magic a secret, but the secret was already blown out of the water. I was sure the entire prison knew the news by now.
It didn’t matter. It was worth it to save my brother’s life.
I got up from the bed without alerting the nurses and scrambled to find my uniform. It was tucked away neatly in a cupboard by the bed, along with my shoes. I put my clothes on and hurried out of the room to find my brother.
I was certain he was in one of the private rooms, like I was. I waited until the nurses were busy with a couple of patients, then ran along the hallway until I came to the only closed door in the infirmary.
I pushed it open. Ezekiel was sitting up in bed with his arms crossed, looking out a window. He had an IV in his arm. He wasn’t doing anything. Just sitting there staring. He looked like his whole world had been crushed. On his bedside, a small tray of cookies had been placed, tied with a blue seashell ribbon.
“Hey, Ez.” I sat on the edge of his bed. He didn’t look at me. “Are you…?”
Asking if he was okay was stupid. I scooted closer and nudged his arm. “How are you feeling?”
Ez scoffed. “Perfect, now that I know I have a life-threatening disease.”
I remained silent, and he said, “I always knew, deep down. I just didn’t want to admit it.”
He seemed so resentful. Ez finally pulled his gaze away from the window. “I should’ve listened to you, Ava. You saved my life.”
“I can’t believe that I did,” I marveled. “Anichi magic. Can you believe it, Ez?”
“Not really. You’re always wowing everyone with something new,” he said. “And look at me. I’ve got treatments scheduled every week for the rest of forever.”
“I can do them,” I offered. “I’ll heal you.”
“No, sis. You’ve got to save your strength for whatever the Warden’s got planned, because we know there’s always something,” Ez stated. “Let one of the Anichi nurses here do it.”
I frowned. Anichi magic could do so much— heal infections, mend bones, even stop death in its tracks… but it couldn’t cure most diseases, including my brother’s. “What are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. Dad was more in shock than anything when he got diagnosed. I’m justangry. I really hoped—”
My brother’s eyes watered, and he slammed his fist against the mattress. He brought his knees up to his chin and curled his arms around his legs. He put his head down, and I felt like caving inward.
“I’m sorry. This is really hard,” I said.
“I’m just not ready to be sick for the rest of my life,” he whispered.
“You won’t be, Ez. It’ll be hard, and you’ll have bad days, but you’ll have good ones, too,” I said, rubbing his back. “This for sure feels like the end of the world, but it’s not, and you know why? Because now you can get treated and start feeling better.”
“I never feel better. I always feel like shit.”
“That doesn’t mean it’ll always be that way.” I brushed back his hair and wiped a couple of tears from his eyes. “I promise you that things are better now that you know, and you can do something about it. Avoiding it wasn’t solving the problem. In fact, it nearly killed you. So swear to me this time you’ll get help the next time you need it, and that you’ll take care of yourself, before your illness spirals out of control.”
Ez sniffed and nodded. He wiped his face with the back of his arm, before his eyes gravitated to the tray on his bedside. In a small voice, he asked, “Can I have a cookie?”
I laughed. “Yes, you can have a cookie.” I handed him one, and he chewed on it. “Who brought them?”
