Page 185 of The First Spark
Zane skimmed his swollen tongue against his parched lips, trying to restore some moisture to his mouth so he could speak, but his mouth was too dry. He settled for a smile.
With a cry of joy, Kalie crushed him in a hug. Fiery needles stung his abdomen. He winced, but as he wrapped his arms around her, the aroma of cherry perfume chased the pain away.
“I thought of you,” Zane rasped, stifling a cough. “You brought me back.”
Kalie’s long lashes flitted back and forth as her glittering eyes scoured his face. She leaned in, and he lost himself in the gentle caress of her lips. It was a quick kiss, but it spoke of all they’d overcome and all the tomorrows that had opened before them. A glowing warmth spread from Zane’s chest into his throat and made his eyes burn.
Threading her fingers through his hair, Kalie pulled back. She blushed, and a wide smile stretched across her lips.
The whys and hows didn’t matter; there would be time later to find out where they were, what had happened, how he’d lived. They were safe—or, at least, they seemed to be—and he couldn’t waste this miracle of a moment like he’d wasted all the others.
Then his eyes landed on Mylis, shivering and covered in bandages, hunched over his knees.
His smile vanished. Kalie’s did too. This wasn’t the right time.
She cleared her throat, slanting a wary glance at Mylis. “Let me get you some water.”
Water sloshed as ice cubes clinked. Kalie handed him a plastic cupand poured a second for Mylis. Zane drained the glass, letting a sliver of ice dissolve on his tongue.
Mylis was still struggling to grip the cup. Thick layers of plaster encased his hands. He managed a gulp, but a wince broke across his face as he swallowed, and beads of water sloshed down the front of his hospital gown.
Zane’s first instinct was to help him. Judging by the pity on Kalie’s face, she was thinking the same.
But she backed away.
The weight of a raised pulser hung in the air between them.
Mylis’s gown was paper-thin. No concealed weapons, no hidden knives or pulsers. Still, he didn’t take his eyes off Mylis. He’d been wrong before.
“Are you okay?”
Shivering violently, Mylis clutched at his elbows. That was a no, then.
In a flash, he was back on the bridge, staring in horror as Mylis screamed and thrashed in his chains.
Zane blinked himself out of the memory.
The intercom blared, paging a doctor to the ICU, and a supply cart rattled past the door. Kalie slid onto the dresser, pursing her lips.
“The painkillers aren’t doing anything,” Mylis rasped, gazing at Zane with bleary, bloodshot eyes.
Zane winced. “You should’ve stayed in bed. How did you even get up?”
“Nurse was busy. Hospital’s overcrowded. I stole some crutches.” Mylis shuddered. “I needed to see you guys, to explain…”
“Explanations can wait?—”
“Why did you do it?” Kalie demanded.
Zane frowned at her, and she crossed her arms. Fine. She had a point. Even with the Etovian Praetors posted outside the door, they couldn’t take any risks with Mylis’s loyalties.
“If it wasn’t for Roth, I would’ve starved to death at fifteen. Or died in a mugging, I don’t know. Either way, I owe your uncle my life.” Mylis’s voice was painfully hoarse. Something in Zane’s chest cracked as he watched him struggle to sip at the water. Most of it ended up on hissmock. “I knew it was over the moment the other guards turned on you. I would’ve died defending Roth, but there was no way for him to escape. I figured if I wanted to save him, I’d have to work from the inside.”
Kalie’s jaw tightened. “You made it sound like you hate him.”
“My whole life, people have been waiting for me to betray him. It was easy to pretend.” Mylis’s shoulders curled inwards. His soaked gown stuck to the mass of bandages underneath. “I tried tipping you off when I said Roth taught me to play the long game. You said it when we danced that night, remember? It was a long shot, I know, five cycles is a long time, but… I was hoping you’d pick up on it.”
A curious look flitted across Kalie’s face, but she scowled. “Forgive me if I was distracted by the pulser you were pointing at my head.”
