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“Fine.” I sat, wrapping my arms around my knees and pinning the front of my tunic in place as the laces loosened down my back.
He crouched beside me, uncorking the vial. Dabbing a thick liquid on his finger, he swiped it over my eyebrow. I hissed at the sting.
“Sorry,” Grae murmured, moving more slowly.
“No, you’re not.”
He chuckled. Grae had been right. I hadn’t even realized there was a cut over my eyebrow, the one on my chin hurting so much that I couldn’t focus anywhere else.
“Now your chin.” He said it like a warning and I braced for the pain.
His other hand reached out and threaded his fingers through mine, squeezing as he dabbed his finger along my chin. The sharp sting made me screw my eyes shut, inhaling a rough breath through my nose. I clenched my jaw harder, refusing to cry out in pain even if it meant cracking a tooth instead.
“I’m sorry,” Grae whispered again, blowing across my skin and drying the salve. The skitter of his breath on my face made my skin ripple.
“I’m fine,” I gasped out, trying to focus on his breath and not the endless burning.
“You don’t always have to be, little fox,” Grae whispered.
That name made my eyes snap open, finding Grae’s gaze inches from mine. That nickname had always made me feel like someone special. It brought me back to who we were to each other before all this. Before he was a crown prince, before he was my mate, he had simply been my friend, and we’d cared for each other. Whether lies and titles and time had irrevocably changed that, I didn’t know, but I knew that much to be true.
I knew thathadbeen true, at least.
The look in his eyes made me break our gaze, as if he was feeling every one of my thoughts in his mind.
Grae hung his head. “Can I see your back?”
I gave a brief nod, dropping my head in my hands, careful not to touch my sticky wounds onto the fabric of my trousers. Grae adjusted his footing, moving toward my back. His rough calloused fingers made quick work of the strings that ran down my shoulder blades. Whatever Grae saw made him snarl.
“That bad?”
His fingers traced the stinging balm over what must have been a giant bruise along my spine. So that explained why it felt like I was being kicked by a horse every time I breathed.
Grae’s fingers lingered in the middle of my back. His warm forehead pressed against the cool skin of my neck.
“When you were attacked last night, Ifeltit.” His voice was a pained whisper. Without thought, I reached back and threaded my fingers though his hair, holding his head to me. “And again today... I thought I might not get to you in time.” His lips skimmed the skin along my neck. “It was a horrible, helpless feeling, Calla. To know you were in danger but not be able to find you.”
I wouldn’t apologize. “I had to go.”
“Why?” Grae snapped, pulling away.
My hand dropped back to my side. Here it was—the argument I’d been bracing for since we got back in the wagon.
“What do you meanwhy?” I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around my bare back, uncaring as the fibers stuck onto the salve. “Youknowwhy.”
“I know the reason, but not the rationale. What exactly is your plan beyond killing Sawyn?” Grae corked the vial and threw it back toward his bag. “What is your plan tokillSawyn? She has anarmyof Rooks. Even if you do manage to kill her, do you really think they’ll just let you take her throne?”
“You think that’s what I’m doing here?”
“Isn’t it?”
“My sister is dead!” My chest cracked open and that festering pain flowed out in my poisoned words. “She’s gone, Grae. Never to wake again. Not unless I do what I’m doing. The only chance at saving her is in Olmdere.” I flung my hand toward the wall and the mountains beyond. “All I care about right now is finding Maez and breaking Briar’s curse. I can’t live knowing she’s still on that tomb. Sawyn, Olmdere, the throne,you—everything else can wait.”
Grae swallowed, steadying his breath. He seemed relieved by my answer, though he flinched a bit at the “you” part.
“My father didn’t want me to help my cousin, his niece,” he murmured. “In fact, I’m certain he has his soldiers out looking for us right now with orders to bring us home. I tried to convince Sadie and Hector not to follow me, but they wanted to rescue Maez as badly as I did.”
My eyes slid across his face. His eye was no longer swollen like it had been in his father’s office. He’d probably shifted to heal it.
