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“Here goes,” Mom said. She knelt next to Revel and pushed the glowing tip into the wound. Revel would have thrown me clear across the room if I hadn’t been holding tightly onto him. His agonized yell shook the small front window.

“I’ll need to cauterize the wound on his back as well. Help me push him forward. This will be much harder, but do your best to keep him still.”

Again, I threw all my weight against him, and Mom did as well. We managed to get him partially to his side. He was dead weight at this point. The first cauterizing seemed to have really knocked him out. This made the second one much easier. I flinched harder than Revel as Mom pushed the hot iron against the wound. We lowered him carefully.

Mom sat back and took a deep breath. She lifted her hands and began to run them on the skin around the wounds. I sat back in awe, watching Mom’s true powers at work. It was truly magical. Just like the day she’d healed our neighbor’s obviously broken leg in a few minutes, Revel’s wounds began to heal. And with each passing of her hands, some of the color returned to Revel’s face. At the same time, the color drained from her face. She moved to his chest, his neck, his face.

“I’m drawing life back into him.” Her voice had weakened, and her hands started shaking. “He’s lost a lot of blood. That is my one big worry. I can’t do much to reverse that. His own body has to fight to get back to normal.” Mom paused and dropped her hands. Her shoulders slumped, and her head along with it.

I sat up straighter. “Mom? Are you all right?”

“Yes.” Her voice came out as a frail whisper. “I’ll be fine. He’s such a big man, and the wounds were so grave, this is taking all of my healing power.”

“What can I do?” I asked urgently. “How can I help?”

“I’ll be fine. You’ve done plenty, Rafi. You brought him here quickly using your powers.”

I relaxed some. Healing our neighbor had made Mom weak and frail, but after a day of rest she was stronger, more herself again, at least physically. Mentally, she’d had to grapple with the chain of events she’d begun by helping Mrs. Dancy in the first place. And now she’d done it again. Surely, using this much power would alert authorities to her whereabouts, and she’d be arrested and thrown into the Vault. It was our next big problem. First, we needed Revel to fight his way back to us. Back to me.

Thirty-Nine

Mom had done all she could and all that her own body would allow. I fed her some of the healing broth she’d made me while I recovered from the poisoning, and she fell fast asleep on her tattered couch. Revel was resting comfortably,. The color had returned to his face, and his breathing was less labored, but he hadn’t so much as moved a fingertip.

I picked up the last few pieces of wood from the hearth basket and threw them onto the dying flames. They kicked up some new good sparks, which crackled loudly.

“Whisper, is that you?” His deep, gravelly voice made my knees weak. My heart jumped into overdrive.

I spun around. His hazel eyes glittered in the new flames. “You’re awake,” I said unnecessarily.

“Either that or I’m dreaming.” He lifted his hand, and I took it. “Not dreaming. I’d know that touch anywhere.”

I dropped to my knees next to him. The tears flowed fast and furiously as I touched his face.

“I guess this means I didn’t win the fight.” His voice sounded dry and crackly.

“You need water.”

He didn’t release my hand. “Whisper, tell me I’m not going to lose you. I know the fight ended badly.”

A sob popped out of my mouth, and I collapsed down over him. His chest was warm and slick from the fire. He pressed his hand against my back. “It was my fault. You were supposed to go right, but before I moved my head, that wicked witch of Solamere, Princess Jonier, called my name. She’d figured out our game, and since she mind travels, too, she knew calling my name would make me turn the wrong direction. Kelto drove his sword—” My words were interrupted by another sob.

“I definitely remember that moment,” he said with a wince. “How did I survive? How did I get here? This is Sassa’s cottage, right?”

I finally pulled myself together and sat up.

Revel reached up and wiped away a tear with his thumb. “It wasn’t your fault, Raphael. It was mine. Stupidly, I thought I could outwit someone using magic. I overestimated my fighting skills. But how are you here with me?”

“I guess you don’t remember being draped over Kya’s back.”

His expression hardened. He tried to sit up, but the pain was still too intense. He rested back down. “You summoned Kya? To the fight?” His words were terse, and they hurt plenty to hear.

“If she hadn’t, you would have died,” Mom said weakly from the couch.

Revel didn’t lift his head but turned his face toward the sound of her voice. “Sassa, you healed me, putting yourself at great risk. I owe you.”

Mom scooted up and rested against the back of the sofa. She was still deathly pale. “I believe that makes us even, and I’m not the one who saved you.” Mom looked pointedly at me.

“I did it to save you. I knew the secret would be out, but Kya was the only way to get you to my mom’s cottage before you died.”