She kept nodding until her shoulders finally fell. “It’s the worst time for a war.”
“It is. But you will be safe. And no matter what happens, you will be free.” I turned to Geryll, who’d begun to twist his fingers, the mean furrow on his face too similar to mine. “Does it still hurt?”
He startled, as if I’d caught him red-handed. With what? Breathing?
“No, it’s…” He stared down at his red shin, the skin still pulsating as his flesh mended. “It–it feels like you’re dragging the blood from my head. It’s making me dizzy.”
It made me dizzy, too. Even as visions of Allie’s wet, delectable body slipped into my thoughts, I knew I needed to rest to ready myself for tomorrow.
Would she curse me when I showed her the dagger or understand why I waited?
Shove me away and seal her life from mine forever? Would she believe or set her arrows on me?
“You alright?” Nadya asked.
“Sorry.” I shook my head, refocusing on Geryll. “Everything good in your blood is healing you right now. Make sure you eat well tomorrow. Meat, especially.”
Geryll tilted his head to the side. “You think I’ll ever have powers like you?”
My brows shot up. Geryll had never expressed any interest in my blood magic. The speed and fighting, yes. Almost reverently–because his father had also had them.
“If you get The Calling, yes,” I said.
“And if I don’t? I wasn’t born Blood Brotherhood.”
“Neither was I.”
“But you became the Clan’s Commander. You’re Blood Brotherhood Elite. You’re a true warrior.”
“Not everyone in the Blood Brotherhood Elite is a warrior. Elysia handles poisons. Soryn has his brain, Calyx has his weapons.”
“But they all have something special. Grand,” he said, almost wistful, just as the last of his bones and muscle relaxed back into position.
“Nothing is stopping you from being grand.” I shook my hand away, wrist as sore as the rest of me. “Except the belief that you are not. You’re lucky. You’ll be able to do whatever you want with your life. And you’re already special.”
He huffed a skeptical laugh that didn’t reach his eyes. “The Huntress said something similar.”
“Then maybe you’ll listen to her if you won’t believe me.” I leaned back in the armchair, the leather cradling my tight spine, and cleared my throat. “I wanted to ask you two something. You can say no.”
They both looked at me expectantly.
“I’d like to invite her to join us for tea,” I said slowly. Cautiously. Perhaps too carefully for something that should have been so simple. Because it mattered. “Not always, it will still be our tradition. Only…sometimes.”
Geryll shrugged. “Sure.”
I looked at Nadya, who was busy nibbling on her lips.
“She’s going to be here a long time,” she said, as if she was debating with herself. I let her. Nadya always trusted her decisions more than anyone else’s. “And she’s notthatbad.”
Her eyes slashed to me, suddenly big and open, looking like the scared youngling who’d first stepped foot in Solkar’s Reach.“You said she won’t come all the time, right? It’s still going to be the three of us.”
I nodded gravely. “I promise.”
She gave me a small smile. “Alright then. Maybe she can teach us that arrow trick. I want to master it before I turn twenty.”
“I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to.” I relaxed further into the warm leather, the tightness in my back easing.
For a second, I simply sat there, listening to the crackle in the fireplace, watching Geryll bending his leg and wiggling his toes.
