Page 11 of Blood of the Fallen
“Go right ahead,” I could almost hear a roll of the eyes in Ila’s voice.
Retreating steps sounded, and a moment later, Ila stepped in. She was carrying a clay cup, covered with a piece of cloth.
I gave her a weak smile. “I can… go elsewhere if my presence here will cause trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She waved her free hand. “Desna can find fault even in perfect things. It’s who she is.”
I lowered my eyes to hide my relief. I didn’t want to leave Kall or Maki’s side.
“Here, this is for you.” Ila offered me the clay cup.
Some deep-seated instinct made me distrust the offer. A frown started drawing my eyebrows together, but I stopped it before it fully materialized, and took the cup from her hand. After what she’d done for me, I had no right to refuse anything she asked of me.
“I know you don’t want to drink it,” she said. “But the trials are close and you need to be able to shift.” She glanced down at my fading coda—the Lux Academy tattoo that kept my shifter magic from manifesting. Next, her gaze fell on Kall and Maki. “That’s if the trials can still take place, I just—”
“They will,” I interrupted her. “And I’ll drink the tea. I’m sorry I was so difficult before.” I removed the cloth from the top of the cup and gulped the tea down.
Ila watched me, her eyes huge with surprise.
When I finished, I handed the cup back. “It’s good,” I said, even if its bitter taste wasn’t exactly pleasant.
“Thank you, Sheela,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, don’t thank me. I should be the one… You and Bethel saved my life.”
“It was mostly Bethel and Kall and Maki and Novuk.” She smiled shyly and sat down. “When Nirliq raised the alarm, no one could’ve stopped me. I shifted right away, and Bethel climbed on top of Novuk. Kall and the others were going so fast I nearly lost them. I had to push myself to the limit to catch up. They’re so incredibly fast.” She smiled sheepishly. “Bethel put out the fire with her magic, and while the triad attacked the guards, we cut you from the tree.
“She started a healing spell right away. She borrowed my strength to increase her power. You were so badly burned.” Her eyes wavered with unshed tears. “I thought it might be too late. I thought…” She shook her head as if to dismiss the awful possibilities. “But Bethel is strong. She’s special, like you.”
I reached over and took her hand. “Thank you. Thank you for saving me even though I’ve been awful.”
“You’ve been through a lot. Since the day they took you… I wish so many times they had taken me too.”
“No, don’t say that!”
“You called my name, and all I could do was watch as they rode away.”
“I… I called your name?”
She nodded.
“They told me I was a baby when…”
“That’s a lie. You were four.”
“Four? I don’t remember.”
“They must have erased your memories using magic. It’s not hard to do on someone so young.”
I thought I’d been violated enough, but it turned out there was more.
She smiled tenderly. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I thought for a moment, then realized I felt the same way. “Me too,” I admitted.
“Really?”
“Really.”
