جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

ARREN. The faction was quieter at night. Most people were inside by the time I walked through. A few stragglers heading home from late shifts. Some kids still playing near one of the communal areas despite the hour. I’d spent the last three hours at the main hospital going over supply lists with the healers. The treatments Ellaria had designed were working. Faster than I’d expected. We were already seeing improvement in patients who’d been critical two days ago. It should have felt like progress. Instead it just reminded me that the clock was ticking. That every person she saved brought us closer to the day she’d pack up and leave and I’d never see her again. I shoved my hands in my pockets and kept walking. “Arren!” I looked up and saw Dalor running toward me. The kid was nine now. Tall for his age and lanky in the way boys got right before they hit their growth spurts. He had Katerina’s dark hair and a face that didn’t look anything like mine no matter how many t

ARREN.I was in a meeting with the supply coordinators when Kade walked in.I took one look at his face and knew something had gone wrong.He caught my eye and tilted his head toward the door.I stood up. “We’ll finish this later.”The coordinators nodded and started gathering their papers. I followed Kade into the hallway and the moment the door closed behind us he said, “The hospital. You need to get there now.”My chest tightened. “What happened?”“Patients are crashing. Multiple beds. The treatment isn’t working anymore.”The words landed hard.“How many?”“I don’t know yet. But it’s bad.”I was already moving.Kade fell into step beside me as we headed for the exit. “They’re saying it happened fast. Patients who were stable this morning started showing symptoms again. Worse than before.”My jaw clenched.We reached my car and I climbed in. Kade got in the passenger side and I tore out of the parking lot without bothering with a seatbelt.The hospital was only ten minutes away but

ELLARIA. Tatum’s face crumpled the moment I told him. “Two days?” His voice came out small. “But that’s so long.” I crouched down in front of him and smoothed his hair back. “I know, baby. But it’s important. I need to help some people who are sick.” “You’re always helping sick people.” His bottom lip trembled. “Why can’t someone else go?” My chest went tight. “Because I’m the one who knows what to look for.” “But I don’t want you to go.” I pulled him into a hug and held him close. He wrapped his small arms around my neck and buried his face against my shoulder. “I’ll be back before you know it,” I said quietly. “And Mirela’s going to stay with you the whole time. You’ll have so much fun you won’t even miss me.” “Yes I will.” I closed my eyes and breathed him in. Two days felt impossibly long when he was looking at me with those blue eyes full of tears. Mirela came up beside us. “Hey, gremlin. What if we make cookies while your mom’s gone? The really messy kind with all the

ELLARIA.We hit the ground and kept going.The world turned sideways and my body slammed into rock. We were tumbling again.We were falling down a slope.Branches tore at my arms and scraped skin off. The sting bit through even with the panic flooding me. Rocks bit into my legs and my hip. My shoulder crashed into something solid and white pain exploded through me.I tried to grab onto something but my hands found nothing. Just air and leaves that ripped away the second I touched them.Everything was moving too fast.Arren’s grip on me broke.My stomach dropped and it felt like my insides were trying to escape through my throat.I was alone in the fall for one horrible second. Tumbling through empty space with nothing to hold onto and no way to stop.Then his arm hooked around my waist and yanked me back against him.The relief hit so fast I almost sobbed.His chest slammed against my back and I felt how solid he was. His other arm came up and locked around my head and shoulders.He w

ELLARIA. I was still staring at Arren when he pushed himself up off the body. He rose to his full height slowly and his hand went immediately to his side. His face twisted and he let out a sound that was half groan and half curse. Blood seeped through his fingers where he pressed against the wound. My eyes locked onto his hand. Onto the dark red spreading across his skin and dripping down to his hip. “Let me see it,” I said. “No.” His voice came out rough and hard. “We don’t have time.” I looked down at the body lying in the sand between us. At what used to be the man’s head but was now just a mottled mess of blood and bone and broken flesh. My stomach turned over and I had to look away. I swallowed hard and tried to push down the bile rising in my throat. Arren was already moving. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. His grip was tight enough to hurt but I didn’t complain. “We need to go.” He was already pulling me toward the trees. I nodded because I couldn’t fi