Page 18

“Where are you hurt?” I asked, clawing at the cloak that covered him. A gasp left my lungs as I peeled away the blood soaked fabric from his abdomen and met his gaze. “How?” I breathed, staring at him in horror.

“The Silliands have been dealing Svech to Ammord.” Nox groaned as I nodded, trying to reign in the fear I knew he could see on my face.

This wound looked exactly how Cin’s had looked when she escaped to Ithia and I knew that meant only one thing.

The Svech was in his organs.

Whatever he had been stabbed with, had left the residue inside of him.

“Help is coming,” I whispered, slowly placing the fabric down over his wound. “I need to get the bodies out of the road,” I said, standing. “I will be back.”

He nodded, flinching as he tried to reposition himself against the sandstone building, the hay beneath him slowly turning crimson.

My head peeked around the corner of the brothel as my eyes scanned the entire area before stepping back into the road.

My heart convulsed as I rushed to the bodies.

A groan left my lips as I dragged each of them beside the tavern across the way, laying them as close to the building as I possibly could before throwing piles of hay over them.

Flicking my fingers toward the trails of blood, I watched as they disappeared into the sand and slapped the back of each horse.

They jolted, kicking their front legs up before galloping down the road, leaving nothing but clouds of dust in their wake.

My feet raced back to Nox’s side, praying to the Gods he was still conscious.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I rounded the back corner of the brothel. Dukovich was kneeling over Nox with a dagger to his throat. Nox held his own dagger to Dukovich’s side with as much strength as he could muster.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I snarled.

“This man cannot be trusted,” Dukovich growled down at him, bearing his teeth. “He’s a traitor.”

“News flash,” I spat, shoving him away from Nox as I snatched the blade from his hand. “So are you .” Dukovich’s jaw clenched at my words. “Get him to the safe house. I have to find Pri,” I snapped, pulling Nox to his feet.

“He will kill me. If you leave me with him, he will kill me,” Nox stated, his voice thin—weak.

“No, he won’t ,” I said, more so in warning to Dukovich than to calm Nox.

“I do not know the location of the safe house well enough to tether us there,” Dukovich barked at me in frustration and I rolled my eyes.

He had a point.

Gods, men were useless.

I wrapped my fist around each of their arms muttering profanities under my breath and tethered us from Folkvein Street.

We landed in the center of the safe house as Nox screamed out in pain. He crumpled to the ground, his limbs writhing in agony against the residue that was slowly turning his veins black as I leaned his back against the couch.

“Thank Gods!” Pri’s voice rang through the room and my head snapped up at the sound.

She was hunched over the dining table, trying to dress the wounds she had littering her body. A weight lifted from my chest at the sight of her.

She was safe. Wounded, but safe.

“Are you okay?” I asked, rushing toward her. She nodded, flinching as she pushed a salve into the deep wound in her thigh.

Another one of Nox’s screams filled the room.

“I was stabbed, but luckily it didn’t have Svech on the blade,” she said, her voice sharp as she clenched her teeth against the pain.

“Can you remove the residue from him?” I asked, my gaze shifting to Dukovich as I pointed to Nox.

He stared back at me for a long moment, his eyes blackened by hate but he still gave a sharp nod.

“Good, do it. Now ,” I commanded before I returned my focus to Pri. “What happened?”

She lowered herself into a wooden chair, placing both elbows onto the table as she let her head fall into her hands.

“One of Nox’s men . . . they must have betrayed him.

We met this morning at our usual location but we only stayed there long enough for him to give me a secondary meeting spot.

He suspected we were being watched—I just thought he was being paranoid—but an hour into our meeting we were ambushed by Hanth guards.

” She looked up at me, fear staining her eyes in a way I had never seen before as they flickered nervously back to her hands.

“What?” I asked, the question almost a whisper. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the answer.

“All of the Drow armies and leaders have been taken to The Silliands. It is starting, and they are preparing to attack.” My heart tumbled down my spine at a rapid pace, Nox’s screams muting in the background as static filled my ears.

“When?” My voice wavered and I tried to force it steady.

“I don’t know.” Pri breathed, pulling her golden locks over her shoulder as she glanced at Nox.

Dukovich was kneeling over him and I watched as his hands twisted in the air above his wound, his fingers drawing symbols with each flick of his wrist. He had the power to remove Svech from the bloodstream because of the Marzog blood that ran through his veins—to pull it out without pain.

Dark matter began flowing from the hole in Nox’s side as if it was being sucked into the air.

The onyx in his veins began to fade with each passing second.

Dukovich pulled a vial from his sack and guided the dark matter inside before shoving a cork tightly into its opening and throwing the vial into the fire.

A small explosion sounded from the hearth as the vial cracked open under the flames, sparks flying from their cavern and black smoke drifting through the room in its wake.

“It is done,” Dukovich stated, his deep voice harsh against the quiet that had settled into the room. “The residue has been removed but I cannot heal the actual wound; I do not have that power.”

Pri nodded, pushing slowly from the table. “Can you get him up into one of the bedrooms? I have a tonic that can heal him.”

“Pri, you should use that on yourself,” I said, my voice stern as I grabbed an elbow to help steady her.

“My wounds are not as bad, and I already used a salve. I’ll be healed by morning. And besides, I still need information from him.”

Dukovich pulled Nox from the ground, not caring to be gentle, and dragged him up the steps.

I guided Pri behind them, my fingers still grasping her elbow tight as she limped up the stairs.

When we finally stepped onto the second floor landing, Pri stopped, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

“I do not think we can stay here past tomorrow. I should be healed enough by the afternoon to tether with Nox.” My brows furrowed, confusion plastering my features.

“Pri, we can’t take him to Locdragoon with us,” I said, my tone implying that she should already know this.

“We can’t let him go now that he’s seen this house, Ata. And I can’t kill him—I won’t kill him. He saved my life today and almost died because of it,” Pri snapped, pushing from the wall and starting the remaining walk to her room.

Releasing a weighted sigh, I watched as she struggled to take the final few steps toward her door and wrapped her fingers around the handle before looking back at me.

“Learn everything you can about Malik from Dukovich, we might need his services after all.” It wasn’t a request but a demand that left her lips and she gave me no time to argue before shutting the door at her back.