Page 74 of The Mirror in the Mountain

“Thank the gods.”

Eva looked at me askance, then let out a choking sound that was almost a laugh. “And here I thought I already knew all your kinks.”

But her eyes were haunted, searching mine as if to be sure any trace of her tormentor was gone. I reached out, gently caressing the bruises blooming on her wrists. Where his—wheremyhands held her down.

A faint tremor coursed down my arm.

I could barely look at the bite mark, where he had claimed her yet again, her blood dripping down her chest.

“You need a healer,” I said hoarsely, moving to extract myself from her embrace. “I can wake someone…”

But her focus was on my leg—at the blood steadily leaking down to stain the cream-colored sheets.

“You’re the one who needs a healer,” Eva said, her voice trembling.

“Eva…”

She was already tearing a page from a notebook by her bedside, writing a quick note that disappeared in a dark swirl of her magic. Her lips were tightly pressed together as she hurried to the bathroom, coming back with two robes, a wet washcloth, and a steaming bowl of water. She threw a fleece robe at me before wrapping herself in her own.

“You don’t need to—” Firmly, she pressed the washcloth to my wound, cutting off my protests. “It’s fine.” Her hand trembled as she kept pressure on it, ignoring me entirely. “Eva, please stop and talk to me.”

I reached out to touch her. My hand stilled over the red marks on her arm—thehandprintthat perfectly matched my grip. I yanked my hand away, unable to tear my gaze from the darkening mark, the outline of my fingertips marring her skin.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts.

“Come in,” Eva called out, her voice pitched low.

The door opened a crack, then Rivan slipped inside. “I leave you two alone for…” He stopped still as his eyes fixed on Eva’s bleeding neck, now dripping down onto her robe, then the stab wound on my leg. “What the hell happened?”

“Av—Aviel used Bash’s blood to try to attack me.” Eva gestured at my leg with a still-trembling hand. “I was able to snap him out of it.”

Rivan let out a low growl, coming up to the bedside. He reached out a hand, already aglow with the healing green of his magic, but I shook my head. “Her first.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who’s bleeding.”

“So are you,” I gritted out. And immediately regretted it at the stricken look on her face. She reached up to touch the reopened wound on her neck like she had forgotten it was there, wincing as she felt it. Slowly, she lowered her hand, her face carefully blank as she took in the blood on her fingertips. Then she lifted her eyes to mine, her fingers curling in to form a fist—smearing her blood against her scar.

I looked away first. “Start with?—”

But Rivan’s magic was already flowing into my leg, the pain of the knife-wound already dulling. I glared at him, snapping, “Since when don’t you know how to follow orders?”

“Since it was a stupid one.” Rivan scowled at me, then heaved a sigh. “But considering the rate at which you were losing blood, you already knew that. And I’m not in the business of enabling suffering, especially when it isn’t deserved.”

“You don’t even know what happened.”

“I know enough.”

The silence thickened as I watched my skin knit back together, an angry red scab forming over the injury.

“Your turn.” Rivan held his hand out to Eva, waiting for her nod before he placed it over her neck. “Though Quinn may do a better job getting rid of it entirely, especially since it’s fresh.”

Eva shrugged slightly. “It won’t change what’s already there.”

Another layer to the scar Aviel had marked her with, the inherent claiming of it making me see red. My shadows flitted angrily up my arms, though they didn’t try to reach for her—like they were just as unsure if they could trust themselves as I was.

“It’s not your fault,” Eva said in a quiet rasp, her voice still unsteady. Those hazel eyes met mine, the golden crown around her irises seeming to shimmer as her gaze flickered with concern.

“Please don’t do that,” I choked out. “Don’t comfort me when I’m the reason you’re bleeding right now. I can’t stand it.”

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