Page 78 of Locked
His skin felt burning hot, alarming me at first, but setting my worried heart at ease.
He'd made it through the night. He was sick as a poisoned jackal, but he was still alive.
That was pretty much all Zelle had asked us to do. Keep him alive.
Sorrel was sleeping fitfully on the floor. We still had about an hour or so before we'd have to be staked out at Zelle's place, so I scooped up Basil, placing him lightly beside Rif as I tiptoed out to the kitchen.
I started the coffee dripping and summoned six eggs from the carton in the fridge. I knew Rif likely wouldn't eat. And I didn't really feel like eating either, but breakfast seemed like a good idea. For both me and Sorrel.
I got the eggs frying in a skillet and pulled down the only two mugs from the cupboard. Rif didn't have as much stuff here as we had in our place, but then again, it was just him.
We'd asked him a few times to move in with us, and he never had. He liked being alone.
I wondered how that was going to translate once Zelle was out and living among us. Would she stay here with him? Go back and forth? Get her own place?
What I wanted to do was get a new place of our own. For all four of us. With plenty of room for Zelle to grow her plants and herbs. Eventually.
My stomach flipped when I realized just how close we were to that fantasy. There was this major hurdle we'd need to leap over, but after this was over…
I gulped. There were too many variables for me to start getting my hopes up now. I needed to keep my focus. I was going to battle today.
For my future. For Zelle's. For all of us.
There was a soft thump behind me just as I was plating eggs and pouring coffee.
I smirked. "You know, for a hunter, you're really terrible at soft landings."
Sorrel made a noncommittal sound. "Never had to perfect it before. I never spook the paintings. The statues sometimes. But never the paintings."
I chuckled and floated a mug of coffee over to him. As well as a plate of eggs.
He downed the coffee and the eggs, surprisingly. I hadn't expected him to do it without me pushing him a little.
"What are we doing with Rif?" he asked. "Leaving him here or taking him with us?"
That was a question for sure. If we took him with us, it was likely the witch could somehow make things worse. If we left him here, Zelle might not make it back in time, especially by herself.
"Kinden," Rif rasped from the other room. "I smell coffee?"
I huffed out a tiny laugh, refilling my cup and floating it out to where he was on the sofa. I walked out with it, helping him sit up and hold the warm cup in his mangled hands.
Sorrel had done a good job of bandaging him. He was able to grip the cup with little trouble.
He took a few draws from the hot liquid before speaking again, a little less raspy this time.
"Take me with you," Rifyr said. "I'll take Zelle's antidotes and bring her back here."
"How are you feeling?" I asked, skirting the issue.
"I feel awful, Kinden. I was poisoned and mauled by thorns. But if you leave me here, I'm a goner, so take me with you and I can take Zelle from the high rise and bring her back home after she fixes me up."
He was right, he'd die for sure if we left him here, so there wasn't much of a decision, really. It was just wrapping our minds around what had to be done.
I nodded in agreement and he finished his coffee in silence.
Sorrel was able to wrap him up in the blanket on the back of his couch, and I floated him out the door and towards the car. Sorrel ran his fingers lightly over Rif's forearms, drawing my attention to the greenish tinge in his veins and arteries that seemed to creep up from his wrists.
Sorrel looked like hell. I could tell he was sitting there beating himself up as we made our way down to the car. He was quiet, though. So I couldn't be sure of what he was telling himself.
