Chapter 59

The sun sank, then rose, and is now halfway across the sky outside—the blades of light shafting down in bold lines, like a luminous cage I’d happily stay trapped in forever.

Orlaith releases a contented sigh, clinging to me the same way she has all night and half the day, reminding me of the way krah sleep; but upside down and hanging from their tails.

I’d forgotten what it felt like to truly rest. But over the past two nights, she’s given me more uninterrupted sleep than I’ve had since before Rai fell. This right here—it tames every bristled cell. Smooths every scar.

Stifles every curdled scream.

I pull a leaf from her hair and brush my hand across her flushed cheek dusted with a constellation of luminous freckles I’ve counted then recounted while I’ve watched her sleep.

I smile.

She’s everything light, bright, and beautiful to my hard, coarse darkness, her ivory skin such a stark contrast to the tone of mine.

Sweeping the blunt end of an iridescent wave from her eyes, I run the pad of my thumb along the sharp tips of her thorns.

She shudders. I’d think it from my touch, except her teeth begin to chatter.

I notice the fine sheen of sweat upon her brow and the skin above her paling upper lip.

My blood ices.

I spread my hand across her spine—unnaturally warm—and give her a gentle shake. “Orlaith?”

She mumbles something incoherent and digs her face deeper into my chest, shuddering again.

Shaking the cage of the thing trapped beneath my ribs.

“Orlaith,” I growl, threading my hand up through her hair and giving it a firm tug, pulling her head back, her mouth popping open the slightest amount. “Open your eyes. Now.”

“Stop yelling,” she mumbles, her words a garbled slur. “You can get the same message across without raising your voice.”

“Then open your fucking eyes.”

She groans, prying them open, revealing the whites shot through with a burst of red.

My heart stills.

Some of the light has sponged from her crystalline irises despite the blades of sun that have been carving across her back all morning.

“You’re not well.”

“I’m fine,” she slurs, closing her eyes, trying to nestle against me again. My grip on her hair doesn’t waver, and she makes a frustrated grunting sound as she tries to tug her head forward. “I’ve got a headache that I need to sleep off. So if you’ll just—”

“It’s midday. You’ve been sleeping all night and half the day.” Her eyes drag open, pupils tightening on me. “You have a fever. You’re sick.”

A line forms between her brows, gaze drifting to her right hand. Her eyes widen slightly before they whip back to me.

“I’m fine,” she blurts.

Too fucking quickly.

I thought we were over this.

I push into a sitting position, reaching around her with my right arm, holding her wide, wild gaze as I wrap my hand around her wrist and give it a tug. She digs the tips of her fingers into my shoulder, and my eyes flare.

“You don’t want to play this game with me.” Outside, the sky darkens, dulling the shards of sunlight splitting down into the cavern. “Not right now.”

A look of pained resolution crosses her face as she mutters a curse beneath her breath and loosens her grip on my shoulder, allowing me to wrangle her arm free. She leans back a little, and I coax her hand between us, eyes narrowing on the red welt that’s forming on her knuckle.

I frown, inspecting it closely. “Did you get bitten by something?”

“Probably,” she murmurs, but there’s hesitation in her voice, her attention locked on the sore.

I grip her chin and lift her face, forcing her to meet my stare. “I’m only dealing in absolutes. Yes or no.”

She chews her lip a moment, then shakes her head. Something niggles at me I can’t quite put my finger on … but then I home in on the bitter, biting scent seeping from her pores.

Guilt.

My blood ices as a thought slits my mind, leaving a bloody gash. Her cheeks pale, like she can see the question brewing like a fucking Blight boil.

“Did you climb the wall, Orlaith?”

Silence. Not even a breath.

I draw my chest full of air, blow it out slowly, though it does nothing to soften the sharp slashes shredding through my guts.

Splintering my bones.

“The one I told you not to go over. Did you climb the fucking wall?”

She winces, looking like she wants to curl into herself and hide.

Slowly, she nods.

My canines slide down, every muscle in my body tensing as my skin threatens to split. The sky rips open, spilling a torrent of rain that roars at the cavern’s tight entrance, the silver scripture on my skin digging its fucking spikes in.

I bet the stars had a laugh last night while I slept with her upon me, certain I’d found a way to be with her while skirting the stones. Feeling true happiness for the first time in over a thousand years.

I bet they had a real good laugh knowing the seeds were already planted—that they’d already made their move.

“Maybe I did get bitten by something?” she blurts as I shift my body. “Maybe—”

I tuck her against the wall, then grab her necklace and set it into her hand. “Speak into that shell, Milaje. Call Kai. He might be able to help.”

If he can heal a wound on her leg, he can heal her fucking disease from the outside in.

Or at least try.

“I’ll be right back.” I stalk toward the exit, snatching my pants; halfway out when she calls my name. I stall, looking over my shoulder at her—arms bound around her legs, tears puddling her lower lids, lips sapped of all their hue. She itches at the boil, bursting it.

This bludgeoning pain in my chest feels worse than death.

“Where are you going?” she whispers, her scent screaming the words she’s not saying.

She’s scared.

Of me, the storm, or the wound on her hand, I don’t know. But there’s only one thing that matters now.

That we find a way to veer the course of this brewing tragedy.

“To get our swords. Tell Kai we’ll meet him by the cliff at Lotton Cove. That if he’s not there by sundown, I’ll skin him alive.”

Her eyes widen as I spin on my heel and leave.