Page 69

He looks at her. She does not elaborate on they. He does not ask.

He lies back. The ceiling again. He needed to get to her. And to do that, he would need his strength. He could not forget her.

He would not forget her.

"The Bloodhaven," he says.

Nox says nothing. She waits.

"Five days," he says.

"Five days," she says.

He closes his eyes.

"If I forget her⁠—"

"You will not forget her," she says. Not reassurance. Something that sounds more like experience. "The important things stay."

He says nothing.

She stands. He hears her move toward the door.

"Ivanoxa."

She stops.

"If you learn anything," he says. "About where she is, about what happened to her--"

"Only if and when you are strong enough to do something about it," she says.

The door closes.

He looks at the ceiling.

Five days.

CHAPTER 12

The Scream

Iheard a scream, though before I could question what it was, things fell quiet.

Too quiet. Minutes passed, and as if on cue, the scream came again.

Long. Human.

I told myself it was another nightmare, but then the scream came a third time.

It was definitely not a nightmare.

I pushed the blankets aside. Yesterday whatever Dali had done left my limbs aching and my muscles trembling but stronger than they had been since I woke up in this place. I had not tried walking since.

Until now.

I swung my feet to the floor. One step. My knees threatened to buckle. Another. Pain shot through my hips and down my legs but they held.

I reached the doorway just as Teorin's voice drifted up from somewhere below.