Page 101 of Fortress of Ambrose
“Well?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, but the Sphere’s magic is still wreaking havoc inside you.”
“He fixed it. I just think there’s some residual tissue or something.”
“Jordan, Zecky lied to you.”
My neck breaks out in a cold sweat. “What do you mean?”
“Your skin is shifted toappear healed. You’re still rotting on the inside.”
I steady myself on the wall. Black dents the edges of my vision.
“I tried moving the tissue around to repair it. But the minute I shift it back, it dissolves again. The magic that caused the wound is stronger than my Shifting magic.” Abby won’t meet my eyes. There’s something she’s not telling me.
“Say it.”
“Jordan, it’s killing you.”
I don’t move. I can’t. “Will the bruise re-form?” How long before Quell is able to see what it’s doing to me?
“Eventually, yes. It depends on how aggressively the toushana is binding to you. It’s just too much in your body, I suspect.” She taps her lip. “I don’t know if Zeckycouldheal you and just didn’t. Or if hecouldn’theal you at all and just pretended to. Give me some time to look into the magic. The best thing is to get it out of you as soon as possible. The longer it’s in you, the more damage it’s doing.” She hands me a vial. “Use this salve for the pain in the meantime.”
I turn the cream in my hand. “I should go.”
“You’re going to tell Quell, right?”
Cold scrapes at my insides, writhing with irritation. “Of course.Youwill say nothing.Nomention of this, Abby. I mean it.”
“You have my word,” she says. “I’ll see what else I can find out.”
I tuck the vial into my pocket and head straight for the broom closet where Quell is waiting. If there’s a way to make the toushana inside me more manageable, I have to consider it. Especially since it’s still killing me. I can’t have it exploding in bursts like it did outside with Willam.
It’s only beneficial if I can keep it in check. Otherwise, there’s no difference between me and the shaded-sun-worshipper scum out there.
Quell is waiting in a new dress, one I haven’t seen. It’s a soft mint color that brings out the gold in her deep brown eyes.
I hope this isn’t a mistake.
She’s holding the metal box with the diadem. “Didn’t want to leave it, just in case. My dorm room doesn’t lock.”
“Good thinking. I was worried you would think of a reason not to come.”
“Oh, I have thought of many. But I’m here.”
Outside, the night is thick with fog. The forest is a litter of destroyed trees. We walk for a long while until we reach a stretch of forest that appears untouched. Thick trunks rise in the air, towering over us, sprawling into sprays of branches. The moon can hardly be seen through the cover of leaves.
“What now?” I ask.
“Destroy some of these trees.”
I wipe my clammy hands on my clothes. She steps back, and I call on the cold in my blood. It lassos in my chest and oozes through my limbs. The feel of it traveling to the tips of my fingers sends a shiver up my spine. It pools in my hands, thrashing, and my heart skips a beat.All the Sphere’s dark magic.So much power, in my hands.
Unleash, it whispers.
Relaxing every muscle in my body, without holding anything back, I do.
Darkness expels from me like vomit. Toushana bleeds from every part of me, filling the forest. The fog thickens, and I lose sight of Quell. I try to speak, but I am frozen, a vein spewing blood. Everything the Order’s cost me claws at the walls of my mind.
