Page 155 of Until the Stars Fall

CHAPTER 84

Lieke

A hand shook my shoulder. A voice called my name urgently. I opened my eyes, and slowly the old wooden beams overhead came into focus.

“Lieke, we need to go.” Matthias leaned over me, worry and fear twisting his brow as he studied me. “Can you sit up?”

Instinctively, I shook my head, though I hadn’t even tested my muscles at all.

“Check her wound,” Raven said from somewhere nearby.

“Connor,” I whispered hoarsely, craning my neck and turning toward where he lay on the ground behind me. “Is he—”

“He’s alive. For now,” Matthias said, reaching for my wound and carefully ripping my shirt away from the knife still lodged in my side. When he gasped sharply, I whirled my head back around to face him.

“Is it that bad?” I asked.

His brow tightened as he studied my injury. “Actually, no. It almost looks like it’s healing around the blade.”

Raven dropped to her knees on my other side. “That’s exactly what it’s doing. She may be changed by the bond, but she’s still human. We’ll need to remove the knife carefully and stitch her up.”

Matthias nodded, but when he reached for the knife, I lifted my hand to stop him. “Let Raven do it,” I said. “If there’s any poison remaining, I don’t want to risk it.”

He tilted his head, donning an incredulous smile. “You know, I’ve done this sort of thing before. I’m capable of removing a knife from a wound without cutting myself.”

“Even so,” I muttered, “I don’t want to chance it.” I sighed softly when he conceded. He nodded to Raven to proceed.

I flinched as she slid the knife out.

“Just like old times, eh?” she asked, pulling out the small field kit she always carried on her belt.

Although there had been no humor in her tone or expression, I let out a breathy laugh. “Almost. It’s been a while since I haven’t had to stitch myself up.”

“The least I can do after what my parents did,” she said.

I gritted my teeth as Raven went to work, while Matthias sat to the side and observed. I focused on his face to distract myself from the sting of the needle.

“Will Connor—” I couldn’t finish the question before fear lodged in my throat.

Matthias offered me a tight smile. “We need to find a healer. Unless there’s some antidote to the poison?” He posed the question to Raven, who shook her head solemnly but said nothing.

“Can the palace healers—” I started to ask, but Matthias was already shaking his head. “Then who?”

“There’s a mage who might help, but…” Matthias turned his gaze to Connor.

“But what? If there’s even a chance they can help, we have to try,” I insisted.

“Then you get to tell Connor who saved him,” he said, smirking half-heartedly.

Raven tied off the end of the thread and patted my shoulder. “All good. You should be fine, but just in case…”

She stood and walked away. Matthias helped me sit up as Raven stooped down beside her father’s body. She rummaged in his jacket pocket until she produced a small crystal vial that appeared to be empty. Returning to my side, she offered me a hand to help me stand, then placed the vial in my palm.

“This is the last of our tonic, as far as I know, but there’s no telling what else my parents kept from me.” I followed her gaze as she turned to look at her mother. Bile rose in my throat at the ghastly sight of Anna lying in a pool of blood and entrails.

“Are you okay, Raven?” I asked, cringing at how absurd the question was, given all she had lost today, but her expression was blank, as if she hadn’t just witnessed the horrific deaths of her parents.

Swallowing hard, she faced me again. “Did they really massacre all of those fae?”

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