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“Because I could never return the favor,” she said, lowering her spear.

He bobbed his head. “How is it?”

She tapped her fingers over the wood. “Like new.”

“Good,” he said through an exasperated sigh. “Last time I fixed Mama’s cat, his paw turned black and fell off the next morning.”

She frowned in his direction. He was trying to hide a smile and failing horribly. “Are you being funny?” Lily rolled her eyes and splashed water in his direction, disregarding her need for stillness for the fish. He giggled, and instead of driving him away like she intended, he leaned over the edge.

Her eyes landed on his wet sleeves and what hid beneath. She reached toward the arm closest to her, not to touch, just to point, but Luka sensed it. He backed away from her, slamming his other hand over the crook of his arm.

His eyes were wide, unblinking.

Lily started, pulling back and retreating on asking entirely. “Your… sleeves. They’re wet. I’m sorry.”

Luka’s gaze shifted fearfully over her.

What little trust they had was snapping like a twig under pressure. Not confident that words would stop it, Lily abruptly stood and strode into the river, stepping to the opposite shore.

“What are you doing?” Luka asked.

Lily flicked a tentative glance to him, finding nothing more than curiosity on his face. That topic was clearly off limits to discuss. “Fishing.”

“Would it be easier in the water?”

“It would be, yes…” She knelt down. “But animals don’t like me. Even simple-minded ones like fish.”

“Maybe they don’t like it when you call them stupid.” Luka smiled again. “Can I help?”

Animals avoided Lily like she herself was riddled with decay. Her little brother’s dog hated her, cowering and whimpering whenever she crossed paths with the thing. Hunts with her mother never went well when Lily was forced to tag along. Maybe it would be the opposite with Luka.

She waved him over. “Just keep quiet.”

Luka rolled up his pants and trudged through the water with as much grace as he could for his size. Lily hoped he’d do the same with his sleeves, and that would spark what she needed to start that conversation, but he kept them in place.

He positioned himself in the water next to Lily, and she handed him his own stick, showing him how to angle it. The fish didn’t shy away from him, swimming around his ankles. He copied her stance but never tried to catch any, leaving the task to Lily.

Finally, she felt the resistance of her first catch. It thrashed against the stabbing, but Lily knew she had it when a purple aura spewed around the pole. She tossed it on the bank and went back for more.

“It’s hurting.”

Lily briefly glanced at Luka, head turned over his shoulder, watching the flopping fish. “I imagine it is.”

“Why don’t you use the Wraith?”

Lily frowned, searching for her next catch. “It’ll die anyway.”

“Its glow is blinking.”

Frustrated, Lily looked back to the fish again. All she could see was the dark smoke pouring out of the hole, encasing its wriggling body. Stepping to shore with a firm grasp on her spear, she stabbed it again until the aura stilled, falling in place.

Luka gasped. “Why’d you do that!”

She scoffed at the distress in his voice. “You said it was suffering!”

“But that made it worse.”

“What are you talking about?”