Page 105 of Wraithwound

“Why did you do that?” he asked warily.

“What was I supposed to do? Let you die?” she asked.

“Yes. That was incredibly foolish,” he said matter-of-factly.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Lena said, wondering why they were having this conversation when she needed to find Cross.

“That’s twice that you’ve helped me now. Tell me why,” he demanded.

Twice? Lena struggled to think of when else she’d helped the soldier, and then the memory came back to her. She’d warned him about the sempermortem in Lythara. That felt like an age ago.

“That’s just what you do when someone needs help, and for some reason, the eleuth likes you. I figured you couldn’t be that bad.” She was rambling now.

The pain in her hand came alive as the adrenaline wore off.

“Likes me?” Taryk said, something like confusion and . . . hope on his face.

“Well, you still have a face, so, yes, I’d say it likes you well enough . . . I—I thought you were going to ride past us,” Lena admitted, scanning the area behind the warrior.

“I may be an asshole, but I’m not a monster,” he said. Then, he looked down at Lena’s hands, black claws still extended. “Oh, shit, sorry.”

A smirk appeared on her face.

“Wait, did Vince scratch you?” Lena asked, unable to keep the concern off her face.

Taryk shook his head once, patting his ankle.

“Are you okay?” Laney asked, running over to them.

The eleuth landed on the ground next to her and sniffed at her hand, the sound of hooves alerting her to the rest of their party’s arrival.

Cross was covered in black blood, his dark hair sweat slicked around his face, but his eyes were clear. His armor had been shredded in some places, and Lena knew it hid some of the lacerations he’d received. Despite his injuries, he was moving well, but worry twisted in Lena’s gut. He took in every detail of her appearance as he approached, his gaze snagging on her hand before looking at Taryk.

“What are you doing here?” he asked Taryk, his voice deceptively calm.

Taryk looked at Lena before answering. “Helping. Is that okay with you?”

“We don’t need any help from you. Not the kind you tend to offer,” Cross snapped.

Lena wasn’t sure what that meant, but she wasn’t about to ask either.

“We don’t have time for this,” Taya said, cutting them off. “It’s obvious those things were part wraith, and you’ve been infected,” she told Cross. “Unless you have a healing crystal, or some other soulbound trick that will keep you from turning⁠—”

Guilt twisted in Lena’s gut as she remembered he’d used his last healing crystal on her.

“I’m not infected,” Cross said. “I’m immune.”

He glanced at Lena briefly before sliding his gaze back to Taya. Lena’s heart skipped a beat before her mind fully processed what he’d said. But it was what he left unsaid that answered her question. She had accidentally drawn blood from his arm on the plains, and he hadn’t developed an infection. She figured he’d had it treated when he went and saw Row. It seemed the Bud of Brielle had truly made him immune.

“How?” Taya asked, her eyes narrowing. Taryk’s brow crinkled in confusion, and she saw the same question appear on both Riley and Laney’s faces.

“That’s not important,” Cross said. “Right now, we need to move.”

“If you’re lying,” Taya said, “just know I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Cross gave her a curt nod.

He was right. They didn’t have time to stand around when any manner of death could spring up without warning. The others headed back towards their horses, Laney having brought her mare, but Cross lingered for a moment, no doubt assessing Lena for injuries, before striding off toward Kharon.