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She lifts an envelope and looks at me over the top of it. Her gaze strays behind me and snaps to mine again. “Now we need voluntary vitalians.”

I step back with a loud snick of my boot heels against her wood floors. “I—I can help gather herbs and concoct teas for the volunteers. I can clean buckets, wipe blood. Keep the sick company.”

“Can you tend the wounded?”

My breathing quickens. What if more die because I overlook something? What if Akilah or my little nieces are the ones made to face the consequences with me?

I shake my head and rock back another step.

An unfamiliar aklo rushes past me and bows his head to Frederica. “The dam has cracked—landslides are blocking all roads into Castorvra. The people there are trapped.”

“Water will fill the entire valley,” Frederica murmurs fearfully. “What routes can be used?”

“The cliff path I took is still wide enough for a horse, but the ground is unstable. The canals are our best chance, but we need more boats. And...”

“And?”

Aklo bows his head again. “Some are wounded. They can’t be moved until their injuries are tended.”

I stumble another few backwards steps until I’m grabbed around the hip and a growling voice in my ear has all my senses prickling, “Where do you think you’re going?”

I whip around to Quin, still loosely holding my hip, staring down at me with intense disappointment.

“How long have you been here?” flies out of my mouth.

“Long enough.” His hands move quickly, blurring with speed. He tugs me by the cloak, pulling me towards him until our noses almost collide. As I suck in a shocked breath that tastes of his familiar mystical scent, his fingers jab my forehead, then my chest three times, each one a dose of power that swells inside as it breaks my sealed magic open. Fizzing heat cascades through my veins and I buckle under the force of it. My hand instinctively reaches for balance—

Quin pulls his cane back a few inches and I crumple to the floor.

I glower up at him.

He glowers back, then looks past me to Frederica.

“I came as soon as I got your message. I have men and supplies. I’ve sent boats in for the villagers, but to give them time to get out I must get to the dam. We’ll have to go over the pass. We’ll ride out immediately.”

Frederica gasps. “Going yourself is too risky—”

Quin’s gaze flashes to me. “If you can help others, you have a responsibility to do so.”

I shut my eyes, swallowing.

Quin barks orders to his aklo and tells Frederica to prepare a saddlebag of herbs and water, to be brought to the stables. He hauls me upwards by my elbow and I follow him, jaw tight; when Akilah tries to intersect, Quin tells her to be at Frederica’s side, help however she can. He’ll return me soon.

Her worried gaze seeks mine and I nod; she watches us go, tracking our progress as Quin silently leads the way.

Two horses—one black, one white—await us. Aklo tightens the girths and leaves at Quin’s order.

Quin eyes me, his frown judgmental. I look away. “You shouldn’t have wasted magic on me.”

“How else will you heal the injured?”

“Ican’t.” Heat prickles behind my eyelids. “I caused two deaths! One hadn’t lived his life yet.”

Quin’s jaw quirks. His lips flatten as he stares towards the horses.

“What if it happens again?” I say quietly.

He lifts his chin. “It will happen again. People will die, Cael. It’s inevitable.”