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“The mercenaries took me and —” Rhessinda cut herself off, unable to finish, but Kiva didn’t need her to. The haunted look she wore said it all.

Taking a moment to regain control, the healer continued, “I managed to escape. Timing, chance, luck. A combination of all three. Another family took me in, helped me heal.”

Shadows grew in her eyes, spreading across her face. “There were some dark days. Days when I gave up. Days when I tried — really damn hard — not to feel anything. Days when Ididn’tfeel anything.” In a whisper, she admitted, “Those were the worst. Because when I didn’t feel anything, I didn’t have anything to hold me here.”

Kiva’s heart clenched.

With a sharp exhale, the shadows in Rhess’s eyes began to clear. “My adopted family saved my life in more ways than one. It took time, but they helped remind me that life is too precious to throw away, no matter how hard it is, no matter how much it hurts. I wouldn’t —” Her throat bobbed. “I wouldn’t be here today without them.”

Rhess’s final statement was so implicit that Kiva had to blink away tears, realizing the choice the healer had nearly made.

But she hadn’t.

She was here, she was alive, she had fought the darkness and won.

She hadsurvived.

Just like Kiva.

“I told you,” Rhess whispered, her gaze suddenly locking with Kiva’s. “The best people have stories. Even if they wish they didn’t.”

Kiva blew out a shaky breath, unable to do anything but offer a solemn nod. She knew there was much more to Rhess’s tale, just as there was more to her own, but they’d both revealed enough for now.

The healer seemed to think so too, because she quietly said, “I don’t usually share about my family to people I hardly know, but you trusted me with your story, so it only seemed fair to trust you with mine. That said, I’d be grateful if you didn’t tell anyone. I’m not after pity.”

Shaking her head, Kiva promised, “I would never.”

“And I’ll keep your secrets, too,” Rhess said. “I hope that goes without saying.”

It didn’t, normally. But there was no denying that Kiva felt a connection to the healer. They’d both suffered so much in their young lives that it was as if their souls recognized each other, the pain, the hurt ... the healing.

“Come on,” Rhess said, turning from the river and pointing to a cluster of market stalls set up further along the water’s edge. “Feelings make me hungry. I need to stress-eat my weight in chocabuns.”

And just like that, their heavy conversation passed.

“Chocabuns?” Kiva asked.

Rhess looked at her, aghast. “Don’t tell me they didn’t serve you chocabuns in prison?”

Kiva sent her a deadpan expression.

The healer grabbed Kiva’s elbow and dragged her toward the stalls. “My friend, your life is about to change forever.”

Rhessinda was right — and she was wrong.

The chocabuns turned out to be divine: smooth, velvety chocolate chunks mixed into a dough that melted in her mouth. But as good as they were, they didn’t change Kiva’s life. No, it was what happened after she and Rhess had ingested enough to warrant stomach aches, when they were walking back up the hill to the academy, moaning about never eating again.

It was just as they reached the entrance to Silverthorn and came to a stop, ready to part ways, that a man hobbled past them, heading toward the infirmary. He was holding his side, a look of pain on his face, but when Rhess asked if he needed assistance, he politely declined her offer.

He continued on, and Kiva put him from her mind — or she would have, if not for the tingling she felt in her hands, the glow that erupted at her fingertips.

Rhess sucked in a breath. “What the —”

Pure, unadulterated panic filled Kiva, and she shoved her magic away, harder than ever before. The golden light winked out like a candle, her skin normal once again, but the force of the suppression left her feeling nauseous, a headache stabbing at her temples.

Rhessinda’s russet eyes were narrowed on Kiva’s hands. “Did you just see —”

“I need to go to Oakhollow.”