Page 57 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
He wasn’t entirely sure what he was sorry for, but this place meant something to her, and he ached to figure out what had happened. Now was not the time to ask.
She shrugged him off and started up the winding lane, avoiding a dark, yawning stain upon the stone.
How was he supposed to show her he cared if she wouldn’t even meet him halfway? He was doing all the right things, but she was stubborn as a stone lodged in a mountain stream.
He’d agreed to come along to keep her safe. He hadn’t realized he’d have to fight her every step of the way to do it.
Niels gripped his stick harder and followed after her. He’d get to the bottom of it, but he didn’t know how much longer he could be patient. An ache had begun behind his right eye. He’d only had a small respite between headaches this time.
Niels followed slowly, his head on a swivel. What had happened? Why was it seemingly abandoned? According to everyone else, this place held answers, but if there wasn’t anyone to answer them, what was the purpose? He didn’t think that whatever sword the Cerl King wanted would just be lying out in the open. That wasn’t the way the stories worked, and the line between real life and fantastical had blurred in recent days.
He hadn’t read much since Hallie had left.
The quicker they figured out how to get back home, the better. He didn’t have much hope for that either. That thought should have filled him with dread, but he was here with Hallie, and she was all he needed.
A rattling sound echoed through a nearby alley. Niels jerked and spun toward it. Immediately, he regretted that choice. His leg exploded with heat and pain. He couldn’t stifle the hissing gasp that escaped his lips. He fell against the cottage beside him. The wall groaned at the impact.
“Niels!”
If Niels hadn’t been in so much pain, he would’ve made a note of the fear in her voice. Instead, all he could hear was his pounding heart as his blood leaked out of the wound at a blistering pace.
Niels pressed a hand to his knee. Fresh blood oozed over his fingers.
How?How had that happened? Hadn’t Hallie fixed it? Had the bullet ruptured something?
“You’re bleeding again. Did you—” Hallie knelt next to his leg and looked toward the alleyway where he’d heard the noise. “Did something hit you?”
“No, nothing.”
She hesitated. “May I?”
He nodded, and she leaned forward, her fingers prodding a little.
He grunted at the fresh onslaught of pain. His head felt a little lighter. Not a good sign.
She pulled back, face falling. “It’s reopened.” She glanced around as if looking for the answer among the ghosts. “I must not have…whatever I did back in Ravenhelm didn’t work. Or it didn’t hold. Or…” She worried her lip with her teeth. “I’m not sure what to do.”
Nausea ate away at his stomach, and his headache only grew. “I need to rest. Then we can bandage it properly.”
“I’m not Jack.”
“Thank the stars for that,” Niels mumbled as Hallie slung his arm around her shoulder and helped him limp in thedirection of what he’d assumed was a palace when he’d spotted it below. “You’re much prettier.”
It would’ve sounded more romantic if he hadn’t ground it out through the pain.
Hallie’s breath came heavier and faster as they finally reached the archway. “Much prettier, yes, but you need a medic’s touch, not a pretty face.” She paused. “Maybe I should go get Fely.”
“Rest first.”
A wave of heat rolled over them, like the one in the tunnels beneath the ruined statue temple in the valley below. Hallie didn’t seem to notice; she kept tugging him forward until they reached a giant foyer and turned right.
“Can you make it much further? The healer’s wing is too far, but the kitchens are through the corridor there. They’ll have water taps and a place to boil it.”
Her skin had gone white as goat’s milk. Her golden eyes were no longer dark and sorrowful, but brimming with fear. He gave a curt nod. “I can make it.”
Even though he felt anything but capable of that. He couldn’t show weakness. Not in front of her.
She helped him down the corridor, and he’d never been more grateful. If she hadn’t been holding him up, he knew he would’ve collapsed. He hoped it wasn’t obvious just how much he leaned on her.
