Chapter 21
—Kienna—
Kienna’s heart exploded in the dark. They’d barely cleared Alverton before Tislin started to fade. She clung to him as their bodies fell from the sky. He caught them and disappeared again into the shadows. Over his shoulder, a Shade followed closely behind.
It swiped at Tislin’s foot. Before panic could completely bind her, Kienna lit her hands with embers in the hope they would serve as a beacon into the void.
Instead, the searing flames scared away Tislin’s shadows, and too soon, they were free-falling again, terror pulling them faster.
Tislin’s weight slipped, his head tilting back at a sickening angle.
His eyes fluttered shut as they gained speed.
Kienna clawed desperately at his arms. Tislin didn’t respond.
They plummeted from the clouds, straight toward the Goldmere.
The water would catch them, but from the height they were falling, they’d crack on impact.
The warmth of Tislin’s blood spilled through her fingers.
He was on the brink of death, and she’d be damned if she got this far only to succumb to the shadows.
She inhaled, clung to his chest, and pushed the heat of her body against his until a tiny flame flickered up his abdomen.
The smell of burning flesh made her wince, reminding her of the woman in River Storm.
Kienna pushed past the memory. The heat sparked Tislin awake.
His eyes went wild, and without warning, they flung into the shadows one more time before he softly dropped them into the Goldmere.
Kienna burst through the surface of the water, but Tislin was nowhere to be seen.
She sank back into the freezing river, opening her eyes in hopes of finding him.
His pale hair helped. Kienna swam fast, kicking her legs with all her might.
She pulled him up with her good arm. His limp body resisted the flow of water, but she didn’t give up.
She pulled as hard as she could. Her lungs began to cave, running out of air, and she feared she wouldn’t elude death twice today.
But they couldn’t die now. She still had to yell at Connak.
Tell Ash how grateful she was for his presence.
Maybe tell Danek she’d have his back, too.
Connak and Moira would never let her hear the end of it if she let Tislin die.
Kienna’s head finally bobbed above the water. She gasped for air, pulling Tislin up with her good arm and kicking her legs frantically to keep them both above the water. By some miracle, they were close to the shore.
Kienna gulped air. “Tislin, are you breathing?”
No response.
She pushed her legs harder to land. Ruva’s mind sparked back into hers, and she could already hear the panicked whining when Kienna reached the shore and pulled Tislin’s unconscious body to dry ground.
She’d never had to revive someone before.
Her head spun. Tislin was dwindling. She put her ear to his mouth to listen for breathing, then pushed her mouth onto his, blowing air as she pinched his nose tightly.
Hot tears ran down her face as she worked. Ruva appeared over a hill, howling. What happened?
Mistakes, she cried. Mistakes happened, and Tislin is dying! What should I do?
I saw this before, I think. Push your hands onto his chest. Hard. And fast.
Kienna straddled Tislin’s body, unable to move her right shoulder at all. Pain radiated through her entire body as she cupped her left hand onto Tislin’s chest and pushed where his breastbone met his ribs and pressed.
Harder.
Hesitantly, she pushed with all her strength, and the sound of Tislin’s ribs cracking rang out. She stopped, ready to pass out herself. She looked at Ruva.
Ruva barked. Keep. Going.
If Tislin weren’t already dead, Kienna would kill him. Her hands trembled.
I smell life on him, Ruva growled. Keep going.
Ruva was right. Kienna pushed past the tears and the crackling of his body. She slammed her left hand back into his chest, pushing repeatedly. After a while of pushing, she tilted his head back, pinched his nose, and blew into his mouth again. Nothing happened.
Exhaustion disoriented her, and pain radiated in every bone of her body. She loosened a desperate noise and began again.
She couldn’t bear the idea that Tislin was starting to feel like a loss.
Endurance slipped from her grasp, and her body trembled with its absence.
Her arm hung limply at her side. Kienna surrendered to defeat in a final, long exhale, and as the last shred of air left her lips, a cough escaped Tislin, and water exploded from his mouth.
Kienna jumped off him, twisting him to his side as Tislin spat the sludge.
She felt his neck, relieved at the steady thumping pulse against his skin.
Her work was far from over, but she let herself lie down for a moment. She deserved that much.
—Connak—
Connak dropped by Kienna and Moira’s apartment with Danek to say their goodbyes.
The Blades finished the larger portion of the ship, and they weren’t needed anymore.
He’d leave a few men, but the rest of his army could go back to being useful, scoping for shadows and making sure King Vaerin wasn’t on the move again.
He never expected to see Kienna slam through the door, dragging Tislin’s limp body.
He hated himself for turning off his mind and leaving her helpless.
That didn’t matter now as Connak and Danek rushed to them when Kienna collapsed to the floor.
Danek caught Tislin’s body as she fell. Moira hurried over with a towel, helping Connak turn her over.
“Tislin’s covered in blood,” Danek said.
Moira froze, staring at Tislin. Tears formed in her eyes. “Put him in my room,” she said. “I’ll get Kienna’s ready for her.”
Danek carefully carried Tislin to Moira’s room.
Connak searched Kienna’s body for any wounds, but all the stains appeared to be from someone else.
He touched her shoulder. Dislocated. She screamed back to consciousness the minute he tried to push it back into place.
Unable to put it back in as she writhed, he picked her up as gently as he could and carried her across the kitchen into her room.
Connak set her down, then glanced back. Kienna would be fine aside from the shoulder. The blood had to be Tislin’s.
“Go,” Moira said, her voice a whisper, fighting fear. “I’ll sit with her and let you know if something is wrong.”
Connak crossed the apartment to Moira’s room and growled. Danek had cut Tislin’s leathers open to display a long gash across his abdomen. The scar was poorly sealed, as if branded into the skin. It festered with a throbbing red.
“How’d she do that?” Danek asked.
“We’ll worry about that later,” Connak said, crossing the room. “We need to reopen the wound and stitch it properly.”
Danek jerked his head to Connak, eyes wide. “He doesn’t look like he can take that.”
“I’m sure it was necessary, but Kienna cauterized a wound that needed a lot more work first. He’ll die from it if we don’t.”
Connak ripped out his blade and dug it into the scorched flesh. Tislin’s eyes shot open, screaming. Danek pushed on Tislin’s chest as he desperately attempted to sit. Tislin’s ribs were broken, too. What the hell did they get themselves into? Connak sliced until the wound bled again.
Shadows erupted in the room around them, swatting and swarming until Connak shot a bright light from his hands and held it out. The shadows shrieked and recoiled. Danek panted. It wouldn’t be worth putting him at risk while so unstable.
“I’ve got this,” he said. “Go check on Kienna.”
“There’s a lot of damage,” Danek argued. “We can work faster together.”
“It’s your chance to be her hero, Danek. Go fix her shoulder.” Connak fisted his hands, angry about the whole situation. He should have been here. He shouldn’t have let his pride get in the way of the work needing to be done. Frustration took hold of him.
Danek didn’t leave as easily as Connak thought he would when he said it. It was the hesitation in his stance that made Connak respect him a little more, but ultimately, he went.
Tislin watched the shadows swirl around the room to hide from Connak’s light. Connak sighed. “What did you get yourself into, Captain?”
“There were Shades,” he said under his breath.
He must have been in excruciating pain. Connak could heal the dagger wound and the ribs, but Tislin would be sore for weeks to recover from the shadow work he did.
“How many?” Connak asked as he dug his magic under Tislin’s skin.
“Perhaps two,” Tislin winced. Baring his teeth, he said, “I saw one clearly…it stabbed me…the other nearly had Kienna before I…pulled us out.”
“So, the wards…” Connak tried to keep his temper down. “Care to explain why she was there in the first place?”
Tislin closed his eyes, attempting to pull the shadows in. He exhaled. “We owed her something.”
“Her death?”
“Some trust.”
Connak’s jaw clenched. “And?”
“She burned the building. The weapons have been neutralized for now.”
His jaw clenched again, along with a twitch of the eye. “Care to explain—”
“I removed her charm, Commander.” Tislin winced as Connak shifted to his ribs. Connak needed to give the dagger wound time to set in the muscles before he continued. “I scared her until she burned. I put it back on immediately. I swear it.”
Connak remained silent, having nothing to say to soften the blow of his anger.
Tislin leaned back to watch the ceiling, and the healing wordlessly continued until a scream sounded from Kienna’s room.
Danek must have popped her shoulder back into place.
Wails of pain from Kienna’s strained body soon followed.
“It’s okay, Kienna, you’re safe,” Moira’s voice carried.
“I was trapped in there,” Kienna yelled. Her voice turned into a stifled mumble as the bedroom door closed.
Connak shifted back to Tislin. “You do understand that if she died, Tristian and I would have—”
“Yes, Commander,” Tislin grunted through the pain. “I understand more than most.”
“I need a drink.” Connak stood. “Your body will be fine mending itself until I return.”
He left Tislin with the shadows and lights filling the room to keep them in place until Tislin regained his strength. Connak almost went to Kienna’s door next, but he really needed that drink first. He went to the only place he could think of now.
It was time to involve Tristian.