Page 38 of Across an Endless Sea

My head is cold, and my mouth tastes like ass. Not good ass either.

I swallow the ass taste—yes, it’s as gross as it sounds—and try to unstick my eyes. Unfortunately, it seems like someone’s sealed the right one shut with glue. I bet it was the wolfie. Revenge seems like something he would do. Sneaky seelie.

My left eye works, though, and I blink in confusion at the bright ceiling above me.

This isn’t my fancy swanky palace room… Bed’s soft, though.

“Lorcan? Are you awake?”

By the Goddess’s holy tits, does Kitarni’s voice always have to be so calm and sensible?

“Stop. Talking.” I fling my arm over my face, trying to drown her out. “Ouch, what the fuck?”

My right eye screams in pain the second my arm makes contact with it.Bad, eye.

“Don’t touch it. It’s still regenerating.”

Regenerating? “Ugh. What happened? Wait. Was it embarrassing? It was, wasn’t it? Rose didn’t see, did she? She still thinks I’m a badass, right?”

Kitarni actually chuckles, and I finally manage to focus my good eye on her face. Her hair is less full than usual, though a few new leaf buds sprout as she smiles down at me.

“I think you’re going to be just fine,” she mumbles. “I managed to speed up the mending of your bones—but don’t fall from the Nicnevin’s gardens again.”

I… did that?

I crane my neck, trying to see where Rose is. Then I give up. The room—which must be part of the infirmary, given all the shelves filled with potions—is spinning a bit, and my depth perception feels off.

Rose isn’t here. Where is she? I feel for her down the bond, then jerk upright as I realise she’s not here.

“Where is she?” I ask.

I don’t wait for Kitarni to reply. Instead, I picture my shiny Rose in my mind and blink.

Only I don’t move.

What?

“Why can’t I get to her?”

I try again. Then again.

Then I blink into my bedroom, just to prove that I can. But the second I stand, I topple over.

Nope. Magic works fine. Legs are a bit funny, though…

If my magic works, that means Rose is gone. Too far. Out of reach.

“Lorcan!” Kitarni snaps the second I return to her, laying one twiggy hand on my arm. “Stay here. You’re injured.”

“Where. Is. Rose?” I demand.

She’s north. I blink to the northern border of Elfhame. Nope, norther still—is norther a word? I blink again, coming out on top of Calimnel.

My legs give out again. Damn.

Still no Rose.

Shit. That’s cold.

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