Page 101 of Keldori By Daybreak

“And you would’ve been dead if I hadn’t healed you.”

“Yes. The mystery skin mold. I remember all too vividly.” Ciarán scratched at his chest and reached for the other steamed bun.

“What are you doing?” I glared at him.

“Eating.”

“You have the rabbit jerky.”

“If you’re still hungry, we can buy another one. Or we can go find something sweeter.” The steam from the meat inside the bun swirled up around his face as he took a bite.

The pickle crunched in my mouth, and I leaned over the plate between us. “Sweeter? Like chocolate cake?”

“We have money, but not that much money.”

“How much could chocolate cake cost?”

“A lot. Chocolate is a rare delicacy in Skalterra.”

“Oh.” I sat back.

“Is chocolate cake your favorite?”

“No,” I said, finishing off the pickle and reaching for the rest of my steamed bun. “But you like it. Or, I guess, Liam did.”

“Right.”

That “mercurial sense of whimsy” fled, and silence settled over our table. I shoved more of my meat bun into my mouth, hoping that might take the edge off the quiet.

Ciarán cleared his throat. “Also, now that you’re properly awake, I wanted to say sorry about your friend.”

I cocked my head at him, and with a mouthful of food, I asked through the tether, “What friend?”

He blushed. “The girl that Ferrin turned rotsbane.”

“Oh.” My food turned ashy, and I forced myself to swallow it. “She wasn’t my friend anymore. It’s okay.”

“It’s okay she turned into a rotsbane?”

“No! I just meant—” I cut off and rubbed at my temples. “I hated her. She was horrible to me, and she’s the reason I can’t stand to be in the woods. I told you all about it once when you were still Liam, but it doesn’t matter. She’s dead now. Or worse. She didn’t deserve what Ferrin did.”

“With any luck, Ferrin is dead too,” Ciarán assured me. I grimaced, and he sighed. “What, you think he survived that?”

“We did.”

“We have an onchú.”

“And he’s Ferrin.” I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t really remember much.”

This conversation had taken a depressing turn, and Ciarán must’ve thought so too, because he stood up forcefully.

“Right,” he announced with sudden conviction. “Chocolate cake. There’s bound to be some somewhere in Willow’s Grave.”

“It’ll be cheaper if we wait until Keldori,” I said. “You’ve got seventeen dollars in Liam’s wallet. You could afford tons of cake in Keldori with that.”

“I’m not waiting for Keldori and neither are you. Come on.”

He took me by hand, and I shoveled the rest of my bun into my mouth as he pulled me after him.