Page 102 of Amber Gambler

The leaf.

The tree.

Thefruit.

“What about your tree? What would happen if she ate the fruit?”

“I’m not sure.” He kept his hope locked down tight. “Or if it’s even ripe.”

Had Josie been in better health, I could have guaranteed him it would be, but it was up to nature this time.

“There’s one way to find out.” I had Josie and Matty, but Kierce only had Badb. She was the closest thing to family he had based on the snippets he had shared about his life. We had time before Carter returned with the 514 in tow. If I could spare him heartache, that was exactly what I would do. “Let’s go.”

“You’re going to leave?” Protest on his lips, he still rose. “What about Matty?”

I had no idea where Harrow had taken my brother, but he knew me well enough to hide him where I would never find him. Until he reached out, I could only wait and hope and maybe plan his funeral a little.

“Harrow won’t hurt him.” I had to believe that was true. “Badb is in greater danger at the moment.”

Armed with that belief, gripping it tight in both hands, I rushed Kierce down to the wagon and drove home.

Kierce beat me to the tree, but his hands were full with Badb, so I got the honor of plucking the first fruit and praying it was ripe. I dug my thumbnails into the thick skin and pried it in half. Red juice ran like blood over my fingers and down my arms. A tingle swept in its wake, and all I could do was hope absorbing it topically wouldn’t conflict too badly with whatever Armie had been feeding me. The flesh wept, seeds in clots within the valves of the fruit’s heart.

Moore had been right about one thing. The fruit threw pomegranate vibes.

“Juice? Seeds? Both?”

“The power is in the seeds.”

Scooping out one with my fingernail, I waited for Badb to part her beak before dropping it in her mouth to slide down her throat. A few seconds passed without the miracle I was aching for, so I poured in juice next. That got us nowhere either. I was about to try our luck with pulp, or even rind, when a shudder rocked her body.

“I will donate your bed, toys, and food to Mr. Mittens if you don’t quit dying.”

Another shudder rippled through Badb, this one more violent than the last.

Fear and anger fisted my throat, and I had to shut my eyes and force myself steady before the spirits got a toehold in me again. I kept hearingif I can’t save her, how can I save Mattyon a cruel loop in my head. I was allowing terror for my brother to boil over onto my worry for Badb, and my brain sizzled with it until steam should have poured out of my ears.

“That’s it.” I squeezed the fruit until I crushed it. “Stop having death throes.”

“Frankie.” Kierce shook his head. “She’s…”

Slumping against the trunk, the fight bleeding out of me, I slid down the tree, straddling its roots.

“I’m sorry.” I wiped my hand on the grass and then my jeans. “I shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up.”

“No.” He crouched before me and thrust out his hands. “Look.”

Only the bright spark in his eyes, lightening them to moonlit misty gray, gave me courage to examine her after the crushing certainty I had failed them. But her chest no longer curved inward, and it rose sharp and fast. The bend of her wing twitched, the muscles tugging into alignment. A dull crack, and the bone set.

“It worked?” I touched her claw in wonder. “She’s healing?”

“She’s healing.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Thank you, Frankie.”

“You planted the tree.” I beamed down at her when her lashes fluttered. “Thank yourself.”

“I have grown numb to the inevitability of death,” he said softly. “Until I almost lost you, I had forgotten. I don’t have to accept it. I can choose to fight it.” He swept his gaze over my face. “You remind me of the choices I thought had been taken from me.”

Carter once asked me if I saw Kierce asmore, as in relationship material, and I had told her no.

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