Page 24 of Between These Broken Hearts (Cursed Stars #2)

Go to bed like a good girl, and I will make the pain go away.

Erith’s words echo in my head as I force my eyes open to take in my surroundings. I smell rot and animal feces. It’s damp,

cold, and so dark, the charred ceiling half caved in, one wall entirely burned away, exposing the entire place to the darkness

of the night.

A squeaking sound comes from the pile of debris at my fingertips, and I scramble back as a rat scurries away from me.

I drag myself toward the missing wall, leaving a trail of blood behind me. I’m losing too much, and if I don’t find a way

out of here I will die. I have no idea where I am. I wanted to go to Fherna’s cottage, so why did the sword send me here?

My head is too heavy, and the night is too dark. I can’t die here. I haven’t fixed what I broke. Mordeus is breathing, and

I may not understand how resurrection works in a rotting corpse, but I won’t fail again. I can’t. Abriella deserves better.

Leg throbbing, head spinning, I prop myself up on a fallen beam and rip away the bottom of my shirt to wrap around my wound.

My eyes fall closed, and time folds in on itself. I’m in my sister’s arms while our house burns around us.

Hold on. I’ve got you.

I fight for consciousness and Kendrick is scooping me into his arms, and I know I’m still dreaming because mighty wings tear

from his back and we’re flying through the night. I know I’m dreaming because I’ve never been so happy to see the stars.

Someone’s touching me. A palm on my forehead. Cool fingers on my cheek.

“She’s burning up.” I burrow into a warm and solid chest. Kendrick. Yes. I want to sleep more and dream of Kendrick.

“Is it the ring?” another voice asks. Abriella? What is she doing here?

“Maybe? Probably? Do you think Felicity got the stone?”

“I won’t consider an alternative, but even if she could bring it to us, I won’t risk casting the spell outside of the palace

walls. There are too many unknowns here.”

“No goblin is going to transport her in this condition,” Kendrick says. “So unless you’re aware of a portal nearby...”

“We don’t have the time.”

I’m lowered down and the warmth of those arms is taken away. I cry out and reach for them without opening my eyes. I’m too

cold.

“I’m sorry, Slayer. We need to get your fever down.”

Slayer. The nickname tugs on threads in my mind, trying to pull memories to the surface. Mordeus’s dungeons. My constant fear. Kendrick’s

reassurance. The way the pet name changed years later, the way I’d begun to feel powerful when anyone called me that.

“I’ll run a cool bath.”

My throat is raw. As if I’ve been screaming for hours. I’m covered in sweat and my bones feel like they’re coated in ice.

I pry open my gummy eyes and see Kendrick kneeling beside me.

“There you are.” He smooths back my hair. “The ring is making you sick, but you’re safe now. We’re going to get rid of it

and you’re going to be okay.”

“The sword...” Why am I so tired? I did what the goblin said. I killed the wolpertinger. I drank straight from its beating

heart. “I left the sword.... Erith...”

“You don’t need to talk,” Kendrick says. He slides an arm behind my back and guides me to sit up. “Don’t worry about that

right now. We can figure out everything when you’re feeling better.”

I don’t argue as he guides me into a bathing chamber. I don’t even protest when he gently strips away my clothes. His hands

are gentle and he’s trying to hide the fear in his voice, but I am dying. I know it. Why fight this when I can take comfort

in my final moments?

I’m too weak to stand on my own, so I lean against the wall as they pull at my boots and then my clothes. Unconsciousness

beckons, luring me to its oblivion.

Kendrick mutters a curse, and I force my eyes open. Abriella stands between me and a brimming tub, eyes wide. She draws in

a sharp breath through her teeth.

They’re looking at the gash on my thigh. Every part of me hurts so much, hurts like someone’s dragging shards of burning glass

through my veins, so much that I’d forgotten about my leg.

“Is it poison or infection?” Brie asks.

Kendrick pales. “See how the redness is spreading all around the wound? And it’s hot.”

“Monster claws,” I whisper. I lean into Kendrick and close my eyes again. His arms tighten around me, keeping me from sliding

to the floor.

“Oh no you don’t,” Abriella says. “Look at me, Jas.” She isn’t asking as my sister. She’s commanding as a queen. I feel her

shadows wrapping around me, holding me upright, willing me to consciousness. “Tell me about the monster.”

“Like a death dog,” I rasp. “But three heads instead of one. With fire like a wyvern.”

Even half unconscious I can feel the tension that falls over the room.

“Mordeus’s hound,” Abriella says. “No one has caught sight of it in years.”

“We need every healer in the village,” Kendrick says. “Now.”

Abriella shouts for someone, and I let my eyes float closed again. I’m too weak to help as they lift me into the tub, and

too weak to argue as Abriella takes the sponge and methodically washes all the dirt and blood from my skin. It feels nice

to be taken care of. Nice not to be alone. To be more than a quickly forgotten moment in time.

The realization is so unexpected that a wave of emotion washes over me and a sob slips from my lips.

“You’re safe,” Abriella says. “I’m going to take care of you now.”

“I’m sorry.” I muster my strength to meet her loving hazel eyes. “I’ve been so awful and I am so sorry. This ring, Mordeus—it’s

all my fault.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” She lathers the soap in her hands before starting on my hair.

I try to lift a hand to help, but it’s too heavy. Everything’s too heavy. “I found Mordeus,” I say, and watch as the blood

drains from her face. “I tried to kill him, but he’s already dead.”

She exchanges a glance with Kendrick before schooling her features and looking to me again. “We’ll talk about it later. Close

your eyes,” she says. “I’ve got this.”

So I do. I close my eyes and let sleep pull me under. I dream of fire running along my bones and a cool salve painted on my

burning skin. I dream of Kendrick’s soothing voice in my ear, his strong arms holding me up as Abriella promises she will

get rid of my ring for good.

I dream of arguing, shouting about a stone, someone tugging at my ring and begging the gods.

And then I dream of Mordeus shoving me into a tiny, dark closet, even as his skin hangs from his bones and maggots crawl from

his eye sockets. The lock clicks into place and I hear him on the other side, even as I feel the hilt of a dagger in my hand.

My sister’s scream of agony echoes in my ears.

I bang on the door, push and shove with all my might, but it doesn’t budge. I sink to the floor and curl into myself, trying

to hide from the darkness, from my sister’s pain.

Then my mother’s voice in my mind: Don’t you dare give up now.