Page 67 of Staff of Nightfall

After a moment, Dresden relaxed. “I know you love him. But what if you don’t even know what you did? Will you remove it if it harms him?Canyou remove it?”

“I told you, it’s different, Drez.” Regulus sighed. “Less one-sided. More like we’re both connected to each other. And there’s another difference.” He held up his hand, showing his palm for some reason. “I cut this hand on a fish scale a little bit ago. It healed almost instantly—and there wasn’t a chance of it being fatal. And the healing process didn’t hurt.”

“Hm.” Dresden waved a hand. “But that’s tiny. Maybe that’s why it didn’t hurt.”

Regulus picked up the knife he’d used to clean the fish and wiped it off on his pant leg, then stuck it in the fire to finish cleaning it. “Fine. Let’s check.”

“Regulus!” Adelaide gasped and stood. “Don’t you dare!”

“It’s a protection enchantment, right?” He looked at her, completely calm.

She didnotfeel calm. “I mean...yes, but I don’t know how...or what...”

“Well, if it doesn’t work, you can always heal me anyway.” Regulus grinned. “Besides, it can be payback for misguided training at the neumenet tree.” With that, he plunged the knife into his upper arm.

“Regulus, this is—” At the exact moment the knife cut into Regulus’ arm, just as he winced, Adelaide grabbed her own upper arm and winced. It wasn’t like when he had stabbed her at the neumenet tree. More like an echo or memory of that pain. Still sharp, but not as painful as the real thing. He pulled the knife back out. As his arm healed, the pain in her own arm subsided and a tiny amount of her power left her.

Regulus looked down at his arm and wiped away the bit of blood smeared over his skin and the edges of the hole in his sleeve. “Good as new.”

“I...felt that,” she whispered.

All three men looked at her.

“What do you mean, you felt it?” Father’s brow furrowed.

“Not like actually being stabbed, but a softened version. An echo of the pain.”

Regulus looked horrified. “Are you sure?”

Adelaide hesitated. Maybe shewasjust remembering the pain of being stabbed in nearly the same place. She needed to know. “I’m going to turn around, and then you do it again, somewhere else. I don’t want to ask you to hurt yourself again, but—”

“Okay,” Regulus said, his expression grim.

She turned around. A moment later, something slashed across the back of her right calf. Deep, too, but more of a quick stinging sensation than an actual cut. She grimaced and grabbed at her calf, but it was unharmed. The pain subsided, and she turned back around. Regulus had turned white as the clouds drifting above them. Dresden’s mouth hung open. Father’s expression was stoic and unreadable.

Regulus looked at her, the blood on the back of his right calf, then back. “That’s...no.” He shook his head. “No.” He stood and charged past Dresden toward her, rolling up his sleeve. “Take it off.”

“What?” She drew back. “No!”

“I’m not letting what hurts me hurt you, too.” He shoved his arm toward her. “You have to remove it.”

“But...” She stared at the mark on his arm, her mind racing. “It’s a small amount of pain. And I don’t bleed. It’s all right—”

“No, it’s not!”

“I agree with Regulus,” Father said. She shot him a hurt look.

“You said this thing is more two-sided,” Dresden said. “So what happens if she gets hurt?” She hadn’t thought of that.

Regulus turned toward Dresden. “I don’t really care—”

Adelaide snatched the knife out of Regulus’ hand and jabbed it into her thigh before Regulus could stop her. She sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. Compared to the pain Kirven had put her through, this was minor. She pulled the knife back out. The wound continued to bleed down her thigh, showing no signs of healing. She tossed the knife toward the fire and held her glowing palm over the throbbing cut until it closed.

“I...didn’t feel anything.” Regulus sounded ashamed.

“So not completely two-sided then,” Dresden said. “But it seems like the benefit is all yours right now, Reg. Which I’ll admit doesn’t seem like sorcery’s methods.”

Adelaide glared over Regulus’ shoulder. “I told you. I’m not a sorceress.”

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