Page 119 of Trivium

Loveleena glared at Ren, waiting for him to feel her wrath, but he ignored her.

On her knees, Zeina spat out whatever plants she had chewed into a third paste and cupped it against Ahmina’s neck. Lennox and Zeina locked eyes in unspoken conversation.

“Loveleena and I will go ahead, prepare the house for her. When she wakes up, bring her. We will be safe there for now.”

It took everything Loveleena had not to stab Ren in the back as they descended further into the forest.

80

ZEINA

Ahmina needed healers, badly. Zeina’s potions had stopped the bleeding and triggered her immune system to heal her wounds, but Ahmina needed a proper assessment and probably a blood multiplying potion. Zeina held her hand tight to Ahmina’s neck as Lennox picked her up and cradled her, one arm under her shoulders and the other clutching the back of her knees.

She was awake. Barely.

“She’s losing consciousness again. She’s lost too much blood,” Zeina explained, but Lennox already knew, answering with a single nod.

“When we get there, I’ll make her a blood potion. She will be okay.” She wasn’t sure if she said it for Lennox’s sake or her own, but either way it calmed her nerves a little. Lennox remained uncharacteristically serious.

They walked for a while, Ahmina’s weight and Zeina’s collection of plants slowing them down. But she needed every supply she could find to create potions for Ahmina once they got to the house.

Finally, they reached the river just as the rain began, and Zeina waded into the water, a welcome change from bramble scraping against her pants. The frigid water rushed against her legs, making her clothes feel heavy, but she kept steady. Ever since the lake, Zeina had grown used to the cold clinging to her. Actually, she had kind of grown to like it.

Just then, a dagger whooshed past her ear, slicing skin off the tip, blood pouring dramatically down her neck.

“Damn, can we ever just get rid of this fuck head?” Lennox cursed as he set Ahmina down in the shallow part of the river. Barrow approached with such an intensity, he didn’t have time to do anything else.

She reached for her own weapon, but Lennox stopped her.

“Run! Get help!” he called back to Zeina through gritted teeth, using every ounce of his strength to fight off Barrow. They were weak, she realized. They would need more than weapons to fend off Barrow.

Zeina didn’t need to be told twice.

81

AHMINA

Ahmina jolted awake as the icy water rushed around her body and rain pelted her head and face. Everything ached. Her hair was blocking her vision, and she lifted her hand to pull the soaked strands off the bridge of her nose

Her vision blurred, and it took a moment for the two shadows to come into focus. When they did, her magic surged, sending a wave of adrenaline through her.

Lennox and Barrow met each other in combat, move for move. Barrow’s dagger had blood on it, Lennox’s blood, and her body coiled with vengeance.

Slowly, she lifted herself out of the water and gripped her chakrams. Her hands were numb from the icy water. She glanced down at stretched knuckles to confirm her weapons were secure in her hand. Her body was still weak, but her anger lent her some strength.

Both men were too engrossed in their fight to notice her.

She knew she had one shot to get this right. If she missed, Barrow would send a dagger to her chest before she could say her own name. Her aim had improved, so much so that she knew she could hit him. Maybe even split his neck open.

She hesitated as a shiver ran up her spine at the memory of his dagger against the delicate flesh of her throat.

He just tried to kill you, she reminded herself. He deserves it.

But it wasn’t about being deserving. If she did this, if she killed him, she could never come back from it. No one would believe her story. She certainly couldn’t go around broadcasting that Barrow had targeted her because of her magic. She would be banished from the Academy for murdering a professor and charged as a criminal under Jarrian law. And not only that, but she would also have to live with the fact that she killed someone for the rest of her life. She would lose everything, even herself.

She couldn’t hear through the high-pitched ringing in her ears, but she willed her eyes to focus on the men fighting, strategizing her next move.

Lennox limped, his thigh an open wound. A cut on his bicep bled freely, dark crimson caking his forearm. He wasn’t the only one injured, though; Barrow had taken a hit to the shoulder, making his right arm weak. Even so, Lennox could barely hold him back.