Journey of Flame

Chapter twenty-six

"He what?" I exploded after Zai explained everything.

"I know-"

"How could he put this on you? You're already dealing with so much!" I raged.

"He's desperate," she said. "And in a lot of pain, and I'm one of the only people he trusts enough to do it."

"Okay, so who else does he trust enough?"

"Voss," she murmured, and I winced.

"And that's it? No one else?"

"No one else," she said. "But I can't kill him. I already know I can't. These two days are to buy myself time to find him a healer before I have to break the news."

"And how do you think he'll take it?" I asked. "If you don't find a healer."

She blew out a breath. "I... I think it'll break him. And I worry he might try to take things into his own hands. So... I'll need to talk to Voss. He can keep an eye on him."

"You should talk to Luther too," I suggested. "He might be able to help."

She nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right." And then she groaned, rubbing at her face with her hands. "Gods, I hate this."

At this, Snowfall hopped up beside where she sat on the bed and curled up in her lap, and she managed to smile at the dragon. But it faded as she met my gaze again.

"I've never been faced with something like this before," she murmured. And she looked so sad, so open and vulnerable, that I found myself sitting down beside her. "I've seen death before. I've lost friends, but never quite like this. Never while knowing that so many people could save him if they wanted to, and yet they choose to let him die."

I reached out, taking her hand. "I'm so sorry."

She sighed deeply. "I was given an offer today. One that I'm not sure I can afford to refuse anymore."

"What is it?" I asked. Though I wasn't sure I wanted to know. It had to be bad if she had refused it, despite the situation we were in.

"A man I spoke to today said he'd be willing to heal Faxon, but what he wanted in return, I..." She shook her head. "I couldn't do it."

I swallowed hard, knowing that this wasn't about money. Zai had plenty of that to offer. What this man wanted had to be something different entirely. "What did he want?"

"Me," she breathed. "For a night."

I could only blink. "He... Zai, you can't seriously be considering this."

"Of course I'm considering it. He could be the only person willing to help us."

I shook my head. "It's not worth it. He... he will treat you badly, you know that, right?"

"I know."

"And he'll likely hurt you."

"I know, but-"

"And what if you get pregnant?"

"Then I'll deal with it, but-"

"That's a baby, Zai! You don't just deal with it!"

"I know, okay?" she yelled. "Gods-damnit, I know!" She sighed, letting her head fall into her hands. "But... All of that—everything you mentioned—I can come back from it. I'd find a way to come back. But Faxon can't come back from this."

She turned to face me. There were tears in her eyes, and I watched as one slipped down her cheek. "I have to save him. Even if it's at my own expense."