Page 176 of A Tribute of Fire

Part of me wished that Jason would magically appear. I knew that he could have easily picked up Suri and Io and thrown them over his shoulders and run the rest of the way.

We reached the temple and the guards called out to each other in warning. “Intruders!”

“It’s Zalira, Ahyana, and Lia!” Zalira told them. “We need healers! Suri and Io are hurt!”

The guards came to help, picking up our sisters and carrying them off to the infirmary for us. We followed.

I expected to see Daphne, but she wasn’t there. Instead an older priestess I didn’t recognize seemed to be in charge, directing the other healers.

“They need antivenin,” I said, remembering what Io had said. “Terawolf bite.”

The lead healer’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, but she went to the cabinet to get what I’d requested and quickly administered it to Suri and Io.

I collapsed onto one of the beds. “Are they going to be all right?”

One healer was rinsing out Io’s mouth while another studied the bite marks on Suri’s arm and removed the tourniquet Io had made.

The head healer said, “Only time will tell. We will have to pray and hope.”

There had to be something we could do besides just that. “Where is Daphne?” If anyone could help, it was her.

The three healers exchanged heavy glances.

Antiope and Maia rushed into the infirmary, clearly having just woken up. They were both asking what happened, speaking over one another, and we tried to answer as best we could but it was all confusion.

Zalira cut through the noise and repeated the question I’d asked earlier. “Where is Daphne?”

Maia looked very sad as she folded her hands in front of her and said, “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, but Daphne passed away this afternoon.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

“What?” I asked, unable to comprehend what she was telling me. We had just seen Daphne. She had seemed to be in perfect health to me.

“It happens sometimes with the elderly,” Maia said, patting me on my right shoulder. “They can die suddenly and without warning.”

Nothing about Daphne had ever seemed old to me. She’d moved and worked like a much younger woman. I glanced over at Io and my heart broke for her. She was going to be so devastated when she awoke. I knew how much she looked up to Daphne, how much she had learned from her.

“Are the rest of you hurt?” Antiope asked.

All three of us shook our heads.

“Then come with me. We need to know exactly what happened.”

I briefly hesitated. Suri would be upset that her arms were exposed, but there was nothing I could do. The healers had to be able to access the wound.

We went with Antiope and Maia to the battle master’s office in the gymnasium and it was just how I would have pictured it. Clean and pristine looking, but with weapons hanging upon every available inch of the walls.

“Start at the beginning and tell us everything that occurred,” Antiope said after we’d all sat down.

Between Zalira, Ahyana, and me, we told them the whole story of all that had transpired within the last twenty-four hours.

When we finished, it didn’t seem like the battle master believed us. “Terawolves are extinct,” she said.

“Suri’s arm would beg to differ,” I responded more sharply than I’d intended.

Zalira joined in with her own sarcasm. “We probably should have told them they weren’t real when they were trying to eat us.”

I expected them to scold or lecture us for our rudeness.

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