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Still, I urged the spell onward. More. More…

“By the gods,” Dulsa murmured at my side. “Cerise, keep doing that. It—it’s working.”

I tried not to let her voice distract me. There’s no one here but me and my magic, I thought. My pulse skittered, making my breaths more frantic.

“Breathe,” Sasha said soothingly. “Breathe.”

I imagined a river of lava, churning and bubbling. The spell singed my hands, and I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. From beneath me, Tavik’s chest rose and fell.

“A bit more,” Dulsa murmured. Her shadows thickened, offering a whisper of cool air against my charred hands. Darkness clouded my vision. My fingers became numb, my breaths more shallow. Blood gushed from my side, the wound opening wider.

I was fading. I wouldn’t last much longer.

“I’ve got it,” Dulsa said. “I can see the threads. I’m stitching him together now.”

My vision darkened, and I swayed slightly. Fog floated through my thoughts.

“Hold on, Cerise,” Sasha said.

But I had no strength left. I slumped sideways as I succumbed to the darkness.

Forty-Six

THE WOLF

Iwoke up feeling like utter shit. I was in my own bed—which had somehow been repaired—with Cerise curled up next to me, her face pressed against my arm. Dark circles lined her eyes, and her face was paler than normal. I turned over to face her, wincing from the pain radiating from my neck and shoulder.

Cerise’s eyes opened sleepily to fix on me. For a moment, we simply lay there gazing at each other, listening to our breaths. Then, her eyes widened slightly, and clarity sparked in her gaze.

“You’re awake!” She started to get up, then winced, clutching her side.

I sat up as well, frowning as I inspected her. She was wearing her cotton shift, but when I ran my hand tenderly along her side, I felt a thick bandage along her abdomen.

“Cerise,” I said quietly, looking at her in concern. “What happened?”

She carefully readjusted so she was sitting face-to-face with me. With a sad smile, she lifted her hand to my face, pressing her palm against my cheek. “You were dying. Tavik was dying. I had to do something.”

Alarm quivered in my chest. Gods’ breath, what had she done?

“I… attacked Gorem’s wolf.”

Panic burst within me. “You attacked Voss?” I asked, my voice louder than I intended.

Cerise looked at me, her eyes shining with tears. “You have no idea how terrifying that was, watching him tear into Tavik like that and being unable to do anything to stop it.” She sniffed, her nose turning red. “I couldn’t shift, and I was too weak to cast magic, so I did the only thing I could think of: I poisoned him.”

I blinked. “Poisoned?”

She nodded. “We were in the infirmary, and there were all kinds of ingredients there.” She shrugged one shoulder. “He got a good swipe at me before I could toss it in his mouth.”

She’d thrown it directly into his mouth? Holy gods, it was a miracle she hadn’t been torn to shreds!

My breaths came hard and fast as I gripped her shoulders tightly. Desperation flooded my body, and it was all I could do to refrain from crushing her against my chest. I didn’t want to exacerbate her wound, but to think of how close she’d come to dying…

I drew her to me and pressed a hard, bruising kiss to her mouth. She melted in my grasp, fingers clutching at my tunic to bring me closer.

When I withdrew, I was gasping for breath, and I rested my forehead against hers. “Please… don’t ever do that again,” I rasped.

She huffed a soft laugh. “I’m not promising anything. You would have done the same thing if it were me.”