Page 34 of Secrets of Ruin

“We’ll do both those things.” Cole rested his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Right now, all you have to worry about is ensuring you both stay healthy. Rest, Kaylia.”

She knew Cole was right but couldn’t stop herself from adjusting the padding covering Brokk’s poultice.

“His ciphers,” Orin muttered from where he stood on the other side of the bed. “I’ve never seen them fade like that before.”

“They starved him,” she whispered.

“From the looks of all of you, they starved you too,” Lexi said.

Sitting in the chair across from Kaylia, Lexi’s hands glowed white as she kept them against Brokk’s side. Her arach ability to heal would also help speed up the process, but none of it was fast enough for Kaylia. She wanted to see and talk to him now.

“They did,” Kaylia agreed, “but not as bad as him. If he hadn’t been able to drink my blood through the bars and that of the nymphs they stuck in there with him, then he’d be far worse off than he is now. And it wasn’t until yesterday or today, or whenever it was, that he finally fed the dark fae part of himself.”

“Was that when they put nymphs in with him?” Varo asked.

“No. He killed all of them.”

“Why would he do that?” Orin demanded.

All their eyes bore into her, but she was too tired to go into details. Besides, they’d figure it out soon enough.

She rested her head on the bed beside Brokk’s and yawned as her eyes drifted closed. “How long have we been gone?”

“A little over three months,” Lexi replied.

It was such a short time, but it felt like an eternity. “Did anyone from our group of searchers ever return?”

“You’re the first to return out of the many who entered the Valley.”

“I hate that place.”

And those were the last words she uttered before passing out.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

When Kaylia woke again, it was to discover that someone had draped a blanket over her. She pulled it closer and nestled into its warmth before memories returned, and her head shot up.

Instantly, she focused on Brokk. He remained unmoving, his breathing sluggish, and his hand in hers. She squeezed his fingers before carefully releasing them.

Since he hadn’t been able to feed, his ciphers remained faded. That would only slow his healing, but she couldn’t do anything about it while he remained unconscious.

With tender fingers, she peeled back a section of the cloth on his poultice to inspect his back. The thick paste protected his brutalized body, but she could see enough to know he was healing.

It wasn’t as swiftly as it should have been. She settled the cloth back into place and rested a hand over his as she stroked his cheek and beard. At least he still didn’t have a fever.

Clasping his hand again, she lifted her gaze to Sahira and Orin, who sat across from her. Sahira held Orin’s hand in both of hers.

Kaylia’s eyebrows drew together as she stared at those hands. Orin and Sahira?

She couldn’t think of a more unlikely pairing; not even she and Brokk were that odd, but she was too concerned about Brokk to question it.

“Has he shown any signs of waking?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Sahira answered.

Kaylia closed her eyes as anguish twisted inside her, and with her free hand, she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. Now that everything had settled down and she wasn’t rushing around to ensure Brokk’s treatment, the stench of her filled her nostrils.

While in the dungeon, surrounded by filth, waste, death, and blood, she’d grown accustomed to the reek of that place and her. Free of the dungeon, with the fresh scent of herbs, fresh linens, and clean immortals, the unbearable stench made her stomach turn.