Page 87 of Veil of Night & Flames

I focus on the here and now as I lift my chin to meet his eyes. “This is on Kali’s shoulders. They were her wolves that attacked us when we crashed.”

He nods slowly. “It is quite interesting that your friend survived in the deserts of my realm after a wolf attack. That is a rare thing indeed. Has he said who helped him?”

“Are you kidding? Help? If so, it was pretty shitty help. He’s hanging on by a thread.”

He says nothing else, clearly lost in thought.

“Adric?”

He faces me, his expression grave. “Let us go,” he says, then nods. And with that one quick tilt of his head, the world falls away, only to come back under my feet in an instant as the three of us land softly in the middle of the training room, deep inside the Realm of the Real.

The training room-turned-ER is brighter than I left it. Griff has every lamp lit, and someone has stripped off Whistler’s rag of a shirt and given him a sponge bath. As for Whistler himself, he’s completely unconscious. I figure that’s a blessing.

Adric and Solenne stand beside me, and I turn to the healer. “Please,” I say.

Solenne doesn’t speak at first. Instead, she crosses to the table, sets her bag at Whistler’s feet, then lifts his wrist with two fingers. After that, she examines his eyes, then his hand, then his shoulder.

Finally, she studies his chest, presumably checking his breathing and heart.

As she finishes her assessment, Adric looks around the room, then nods a broad greeting to Mr. Griffin before turning to face Chase dead on.

“Brother,” Adric says.

Chase inclines his head. “Thank you,” he says, and I see the flicker of surprise in Adric’s eyes as Chase continues. “It means a lot that you allowed your healer to come to assist my friend.”

“I allowed it because Cora requested it,” Adric says.

Chase nods. “I understand.”

For a moment, I think they might actually shake hands, but then Solenne speaks, her voice sharp as she says, “Is much bad. Must hurry.”

Everyone’s focus shifts back to Whistler, but the detente seems to linger in the air, like a single baby step inside a fragile bubble.

“Hot water,” she continues, to no one in particular. “Much, please. And many clean cloths, yes?”

Mr. Griffin nods, then steps away to gather the supplies.

She looks at Chase. “He been with the Lady Kali.”

I feel Adric go still beside me.

“Wolves,” I say before Chase can answer. “He was left in the desert with the wolves that injured Chase. Kali took us to the castle. She didn’t stay with Whistler and the wolves.”

Solenne looks at me, her expression mild. “Was with Kali,” she repeats. “You see? Is mark.”

I lean over to look at the small mark that looks like a wide V intersected by a line. I start to tell her I don’t understand, but then my perspective seems to shift by ninety degrees. And when it does, that crossed V looks remarkably like a K.

“That bitch.”

“Is true,” Solenne says, and I like her even more.

Beside me, Adric goes completely still, his focus on that mark.

“She ask many questions,” Solenne continues. “Is word?”

“Interrogate,” Chase says, his voice hard. “How do you know this?”

She shrugs. “I know. Is there to read if know how. Story is in blood, yes?”