Page 159 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“I love you, I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry…” he whispered against her lips.
She couldn’t respond; she could only stretch to kiss him harder. He was there. He wasn’t gone, and he’d returned to her, the torn and ragged edges of her bruised and aching heart fitting back together perfectly. They had much to discuss, but for a moment, it was enough just to love him. Just to have him.
He pulled back slightly to wipe the tears cascading down her face and pressed his lips to Samuel’s head. His other arm didn’t leave her waist, his fingers clutching her side as if she would disappear the moment he let go. He pressed his palm to her cheek and gave her a softer kiss.
“I’m…” His throat bobbed, and he shook his head. “I’m never going to let you…”
But his emotions got the better of him, choking the words he wanted to say.
She shook her head, her own emotions still clouding her mind. “I’ll always be here, love. I promise.”
With careful hands, she worked Samuel out of the wrap, mindful of his head. She laid him in her husband’s arms, his hands trembling a little as he tucked their son close to his chest and brushed his fingers of his injured hand across the boy’s face.
“Hello Sammy,” Jove whispered as he kissed his son’s forehead. Samuel squirmed and stuffed a fist into his mouth.
Clara wrapped her arm around Jove and laid her head on his shoulder. His presence was all she needed. Solid. Immovable.Here. “I’m sorry, too.”
And she was. Leaving that note had been a moment of weakness, though one she needed to have in order to get to thismoment. It hadn’t been a mistake. It was a decision that might very well have saved her life and her son’s.
She wasn’t one to question providence. He was here, and so was she. They would get through this together.
He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who…” Jove’s face crumpled again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She caressed his face with soft fingers. “We’re together again, and that’s all that matters now.” He leaned into her touch.
He shifted a little, and Clara held him tighter. “You and me. And Sammy. We can do this.”
He nodded, and even in the middle of a hospital ward with so much darkness surrounding them, Clara knew it was going to be okay.
Chapter 33
A TORTURED WORM
Hallie
THE YALVEN QUARTERS IN THE Catacombs were quite nice for being underground. Fely had fetched Hallie from her parents’ tent that morning and led her down several tunnels that traveled upward before dipping down again. It took nearly ten minutes of walking, but when she entered the first cavern, her already-aching lungs lost all the breath left inside them.
For one, everything was green—the ground, the trees, the walls. The cavern wasn’t any larger than the others filled with tents and makeshift shelters, or the more developed ones with dwellings carved into the stone, but the Yalvs had made this place a home.
For another, the light felt more natural, and it made her realize how much she already missed the sun. Torch-like lanterns hung from the trees, casting a dawn-like glow over the cavern. Hallie’s boots trod upon a worn path through ankle-high grasses, patches of clover, and speckled wildflowers—bee balm,asters, and daisies, plus others she didn’t recognize. Even their tents looked like they’d been enchanted with their sparkling lights connecting them together like strings of fireflies.
Maybe Hallie could convince her parents to move their tent in here, though theirs would look quite dull in comparison.
“This is why we’ve had trouble finding enough Zuprium dust for you to practice with,” Fely explained as she led her through the cavern, skirting around a bed of rose bushes and barely avoiding being barreled over by a gaggle of toga-clad children playing chase. “But I must admit, it’s very nice to look at.”
Hallie could only gawk as they wove in between the trees and tents, padding through soft meadow grass dotted with white and red clover. Fely nodded to several Yalvs as they passed by. A circle of women washed clothes in a water bucket outside a tent. Hallie recognized a few of them from her time before. She waved, and they tipped their heads in return.
The lazy scent of roasting chestnuts wafted past her nose, like sweet caramel and browned butter on sourdough bread. It mixed oddly with the perfume of the wildflowers, but it made the entire place feel rather cozy.
A few of the men gathered at a tent tucked further against a wall of kudzu. Saldr stood at the helm of the circle.
“We will not be able to fight if Jagamot gains a footing here,” he was saying as they came near, gesturing around the rest of the cavern. “Our stores are running low.”
She recognized the older man that spoke next; she had trouble remembering his name, but he’d worked with Saldr on getting the others settled in the capital. “We have enough stored away. You cannot deny our people the chance to make this place our own. We have suffered for months now.”
“And the renewed plants only help me restore the Soul to those in the ward, Lord Saldr,” Fely tacked on, joining the circle.
Hallie waited behind, her hands clasped in front of her. She itched to retrieve her satchel and take notes, but that might be rude. Instead, she squeezed her hands tightly together, lest she be tempted.
