Kilian’s gaze softened an inch, but the look of icy wrath on his face did not change as he assessed the leaves covering my body. “This is why the link was silent,” he muttered. “Mud leaves. Can you walk?”
Aaron cleared his throat. “She really shouldn’t. She’s suffered multiple third-degree burns.”
“Then I’ll carry her,” Kilian said roughly. He scooped gentle arms beneath my legs and waist, drawing me into his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face against his shoulder, breathing him in. He felt so warm and safe, and so much like home that I trembled. All the fear and pain I had felt the past few days tumbled to the surface, and I held onto him like a lifeline.
Kilian ran a soothing hand across my hair and pressed a quick kiss to my temple, then turned to Aaron. “Thank you. Whatever you need, Valhan House will oblige.”
“The blades,” I murmured against Kilian’s neck. “The weapon.”
Aaron stared down at the ruby-hilted daggers, hesitation curling his lip. “I’d like to keep them. To study them.”
Kilian glanced above the elven’s head, to a whiteboard I’d missed from my vantage point at the bed but could now see quite clearly. It was filled with notes and drawings, red string linking different points, and a map of the boundary separating Cosanus from Lortan, with various checkpoints marked out.
“It’s not yours to keep,” Kilian said. “And I don’t advise you to continue searching for a way to cross the boundary. There is nothing but death waiting on Cosanus.”
Aaron’s mouth set in a grimly determined line, like he didn’t much care about the supposed threat of death. His eyes remained focused on the daggers, clearly unwilling to part with them.
“They won’t help you cross over,” Kilian said, eyes falling to the blades. “They don’t serve that sort of purpose.”
“What purpose do they serve, then?” Aaron asked, unable to help his curiosity. I wanted to know too.
Kilian narrowed his eyes. “It is not your business. Give them to me, or I will take them from you.”
“Don’t be rude,” I chastised weakly. “Aaron saved my life.”
“And I am grateful for it, but if he wants to keep his, he will not delay us any longer.” He looked down at me. “You’re injured.”
Aaron gave the daggers one final wistful look, but at the menacing glare Kilian shot his way, he hastily thrust them toward us, muttering, “I don’t want any trouble. Just go.”
Kilian adjusted me so that he could sheath the blades in the bandolier across his chest and I murmured a quick, final thank you to Aaron before we left. Kilian’s arms were strong around me as he took me away from the hut, from Aaron, from the closest encounter I had ever had with death.
“You came for me,” I whispered when we were out of earshot of the hut.
He peered down at me, eyes glowing once more. “Of course I did. I’m just sorry it took so long. As soon as Caleb came back without you, I tried reopening the scry, but I told you how temperamental it is. It didn’t allow me to input the coordinates fast enough. And when I eventually did manage to open it, you weren’t there. I spent days searching the border for you. I thought you hadn’t managed to cross. I nearly went out of my mind.” I felt his throat bob hard as he swallowed.
I stroked the side of his neck, more to remind myself that he was real. He was here. “How did you find me?”
“Calendula.”
The single word was enough to make me shudder in relief. “She’s okay?”
“She’s resting at the house. She flew nonstop across the Green Sea, from Greyhaven to Lomask to tell me what happened. Where to find you.”
I stopped breathing entirely. “She did what?”
“She flew an ocean for you.”
Emotion choked my throat and tears pressed against the corners of my eyes. Sprites could barely fly for a few hours before sleep took them. Their bodies couldn’t handle the exertion. For Calendula to have crossed the Green Sea, it musthave taken her days of continuous flight. “That’s impossible. How did she do it?”
“She drew on our oath. The power that flows through me also flows through her. It’s old magic.”
“But she’s alright?”
“Yes, Lirah. Areyoualright?”
“I’m fine.” My skin still itched, but it was more uncomfortable than it was painful. Nothing compared to a few days ago. “The geysers got me.”
“Conserve your strength,” he murmured. “You can tell me all about it once I’ve gotten you back to the room and given you a healing tonic, a hot bath and some food.”