Page 15 of Crown of Chaos

“Help me pick her up,” Esme demanded at Avyanna’s back.

“I can walk.” I groaned, allowing Esme to sling my arm around her neck so I wouldn’t collapse. We slowly trailed Avyanna to a river, and by the time we got there, my hair was damp with sweat, which probably should have warned of the fever ravishing me.

“There,” Avyanna called the moment we reached our destination.

I followed her finger to where she pointed at a cave that seemed to have been carved into the side of the riverbank. Avyanna slid up beside me, and she and Esme worked together to keep me steady and out of the icy water. Once we were close to the opening, Esme went inside alone. Light bloomed from inside, and then she was back and hurrying toward us.

“It’s clear, but I think someone lives here,” she offered, moving to support my other side.

Inside the cave, I frowned at the giant nest in the corner. Someone crudely stacked food wrapped in fabric beside it. There were the remnants of a fire in the middle of the space, and directly above it, someone had carved out a hole for ventilation. There were a few books next to a seat, which almost looked like a rickety-built couch.

Esme placed me on the material while Avyanna inspected the cave. The worry flashing in Esme’s eyes concerned me. Not that there was much I could do about it, though. Once I’d stopped trying to ignore the pain, it had become the only thing I could focus on. The toxicity of hemlock was ravaging through my system, killing me or the babes. I hadn’t even considered them in the equation, which meant I was already a shitty, hemlock-poisoned mother-in-the-making. My energy was waning to the point that it took effort to stay awake.

“You should have fucking said something, Aria.” The anger in Esme’s tone did nothing to hide her fear.

“I didn’t feel it because we were moving so much. It only got worse when we stopped walking,” I admitted, closing my eyes again. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

She pulled the dress away from my clammy skin and gasped. I considered making a joke about the dire situation, but I decided to take mercy on her. Esme wasn’t handling it well, and while I understood it was serious, I also knew I would survive this. I had been poisoned by Freya enough times that enduring a little arrow dipped in hemlock was child’s play.

“Stay awake, Aria,” Avy snapped, pulling the dress farther away from my injury and hissing as the thick, putrid scent of dying flesh filled the air.

Her fingertips pried the wound open, and I swallowed the scream trying to shred my throat before forcing myself to assess the damage. Puss oozed from the reopened wound, and there were black veins pulsing against my pale skin. They moved toward my stomach as if reaching for something. The cold sweat dripped down my spine, and I whispered, barely audible to my mind, in denial.

“Stop it,” I pleaded, watching their horrified gazes rise to mine. “It can’t reach the babes. You have to stop it from spreading.”

Avyanna popped the lid off the medicine and poured it over the wound she’d reopened. I gasped as violent pain ripped through me. Esme lunged and covered my mouth while I shook and sobbed as the concoction burned like flashfire through my veins. “I know it hurts, but you have to be silent. There is someone outside.”

Tears soaked the hair at my temples and dripped into my ears as more of the herbal remedy was forced into the gaping wound at my side. Having hemlock withdrawn from your veins was so much worse than removing your own rib. That pain was excruciating, but it was short lived. Once hemlock was inside a witch’s body, it acted very much like a living organism that fought to end the host’s life.

“Someone is coming,” Esme murmured again before placing one of Avyanna’s hands over my mouth, taking off her cloak, and pulling magic to her.

I watched through watery vision as a man ducked beneath the cave’s entrance. Soft brown eyes assessed us and what was happening, and he gently brought his hands up to signal he wasn’t a threat. Esme didn’t back down.

“I wasn’t expecting guests tonight,” he stated in a quiet brogue that made him seem less intimidating, but I didn’t believe he wasn’t a threat either. No, he held too much power to be harmless. “Do make yourselves at home, ladies.”

“We don’t want any trouble,” Esme warned, which had me cackling with mad laughter. “She’s hurt badly,” she went on, glaring at me before sliding her violet stare back toward the male. “Once she has healed, we will be on our way.”

“I wouldn’t do that tonight,” he shrugged nonchalantly. His lips curled into a smile as he stepped closer, and his gaze moved over Esme’s ruined dress. “The orcs have already caught the scent of women in the woods. They’re out hunting you.” The man lifted his nose, inhaling deeply as his eyes slid to me. He tossed a bushel of sage onto the simple table before leaning against the cave wall, nodding toward me. “Hemlock? I take it she’s a witch?”

“Yes,” Esme replied. “Aren’t you fucking brilliant?” Bitch was Esme’s default setting, I’d realized. She became mouthy and mean when she was afraid, which made me more attached to her cantankerous ass.

He chuckled, releasing a soft rattle that had Esme and me mimicking the sound. Mine was much lower without Ember’s added power, but it was loud enough that it gave warning. His eyes narrowed, shifting between us with intrigue. He stepped forward, but Esme hissed in warning, making him hesitate.

“She isn’t only a witch, and using mugwort on the wound is hurting her. Your friend needs the bark of a dryad tree, which I have here. She will die if you don’t allow me to assist her, and it won’t be a peaceful death, either. That hemlock was laced with other toxins, I’m afraid. If they did what I assume they did, it basically put her beast into a heavy slumber. Whoever did this attacked both parts of your friend, and they did so quite brilliantly. Now, do you want my help, or do you wish to stand here making those cute noises all night while she dies?”

I’d heard that dryad bark could be added as an enhancer to lotions, or concoctions for lotions, and other things. Unfortunately, it was very hard to procure. The dryad trees only grew in the planes and mountains of Vayahan. Vayahan wasn’t a nice place or easily reached. It also wasn’t common to have some on hand, either. It explained why Avy hadn’t had any, but I didn’t take her for someone who got off on almost dying, either.

“If you harm her, I will end you, sir. Do you understand me?” Esme warned, her tone icy cold with promise. Venom poured from her stare, ensuring the stranger knew she would follow through on her promise.

“I understand, pretty witch. Now, I am going to walk to the box behind you and retrieve the bark while you make sure that she doesn’t start screaming. It will signal the orcs that their prey is inside my cave if she does. I assure you they won’t care that she is dying and will just end up passing her corpse around to one another.”

“Do it,” I muttered weakly, squeezing my eyes closed while I fought to remain conscious. I didn’t want to die or lose the babes. “This sucks so bad,” I groaned, exhaling slowly.

The man moved through the cave, retrieving the bark and other essentials beneath Esme’s laser-sharp gaze. I knew she felt his power and realized that he wasn’t some hobbit cave-dweller. He was powerful, and he rattled.

“What are you?” Esme whispered, but the stranger merely chuckled.

“I could tell you what I am, but that would endanger you and me both. It’s best we don’t whisper such things, even within the shadows. Help me move your friend to my nest,” he ordered.

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