This is not treachery.
This is freedom.
In the middle of Heaven and Hell, the days of rain and mist are long gone. Now, the Gap World is a kingdom of light and darkness, goodness and evilness, sunshine and clouds. When clandestine forces weave toget...
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SAVING VIRCUS hadn't been difficult. In fact, it'd only taken me an hour to heal some flesh wounds, and then he'd been awake and standing in front of his father. I hadn't known what to make of the two of them apologizing, talking, hugging, and then apologizing some more. I hadn't known how to react when the governor reassured me that magic would return and the executions would end, either. Could someone be so involved in politics to let his son be attacked by a monstrous creature? And if yes, what had made him change his mind in a matter of a few seconds and then order me save him? I didn't know. But at least the governor had a good side in him, too, even if he'd let it shine through all the rotten parts of him a little too late.
I just hoped he would keep his word. I just hoped that we had somehow managed to reach the ideal of success, so that my parents and the rest of the magicians wouldn't have to live in jeopardy anymore.
I was well aware of the fact that only time would be able to provide me with the kind of answers I needed. The thing was that time had never been my ally.
Saving Josh had been the most demanding thing I'd ever attempted to do. Standing next to him now, in one of the rooms in the governor's house, I couldn't stop studying the wounds on his head and neck. I'd never seen anything like that before, and I certainly did not want to encounter something similar ever again. The damage had been heart-wrenching, and I was sure that even someone as experienced as Jersen would have flinched at the sight of Josh's battered head.
At some moment, I'd been certain that if the wolf had attacked him a little more ferociously, Josh's brain would have been visible through his skull. I couldn't think about that scenario for more than two seconds without wanting to puke all over the marble floor.
The good thing was that for now, he was almost stable. Almost. Without herbs and ethers, the pain he'd experienced throughout the healing process must have been insurmountable. It'd actually taken me so long to close the deeper wounds that now we were deep into the midnight hours. The moonlight crept in the room through the open window and made Josh's face appear even paler. I had to admit it to myself: despite everything that had happened between us over the past few years, it hurt me seeing him like that.
I shook my head, trying to empty my mind from the image of him sprawled on the floor with a long pond of glowing blood around him. I had to get it together because nothing was over yet; I still needed to return to the Gap World.
Standing up from the armchair, I made to let go of Josh's hand, but he squeezed my fingers. The movement so painfully tender that it was more like a plea.
"What's wrong?" I asked, taking his hand in both of mine.
"In case—" he paused, swallowing hard. "In case something happens to me, I want you to know—"
