Page 62 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

A tear slipped free and ran down my cheek, sliding over the ash-streaked skin beneath my eyes.

Zander lay still, his breathing fading, his blood staining the beach like spilled ink.

And somewhere deep inside me, a storm began to stir.

Kaelith,I begged through the bond, my voice barely holding together.Tell me how to save him. Please.

Her presence pressed tight against my thoughts, firm and unyielding.

With your blood,she said. It must be placed directly into the wound.

I recoiled.That’s—gross.

It is the only way. And there is a risk.

What kind of risk?I asked, already knowing it didn’t matter.

Her pause was brief, but heavy.

I cannot be sure. Your blood is old. Powerful. There are forces buried in you that even I do not fully understand.

That answer should’ve terrified me. Itdid. But Zander’s breathing was growing shallower by the second, his lips pale, his skin taking on the gray sheen of death.

I grabbed the dagger from my belt and pressed the edge to my palm.

“What are you doing?” Remy asked, stepping forward.

“Kaelith says my blood can heal him.” My voice cracked, but I didn’t stop. “It has something to do with him being a prince.”

I didn’t know if that last part was entirely true. Maybe it had nothing to do with royal blood. Maybe it was just Zander. But I didn’t have time to sort it out.

I clenched my jaw and sliced across my palm.

Warm blood welled to the surface, and I didn’t hesitate. I pressed my hand over the gaping wound in Zander’s shoulder, letting the blood run down into the burned, split flesh.

The effect was instant.

The wound hissed. The skin around it glowed faintly, then began to knit together, the charred edges fading to angry red, then pink. The hole sealed, muscle reforming beneath skin, until all that remained was a pale scar and a few last drops of blood.

I gasped as something brushed against my mind.

A flicker. A heartbeat. A spark.

It wasn’t Kaelith.

Then—

Gone.

Like a thread of silk slipping through my fingers.

But his chest rose deeper this time. Stronger.

And I knew, he was breathing easier.

Zander groaned, his body shifting against the sand as his eyes fluttered open. His gaze, dazed and unfocused at first, moved sluggishly, then found me.

His voice was rough, strained but laced with something sharp. “What… did you do, Ashe?”