Page 96 of The Incendiary

Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t sure his kindness would extend to me showing up outside his door without warning. Even if multiple lanterns were lit through the curtained windows, and he was clearly awake.

“Hello,” I greeted him awkwardly. “I’m Fera.”

“I’m… Abram.” He blinked down at me. “Can I help you, Fera?”

Abram. I recalled Finn mentioning him while discussing Caz’s leg injury. He was the son of Nestor, the main physician in the Winterton Caves.

“Sorry to bother you, Abram,” I said earnestly. “Do you have any pain management serum?”

His thick brow furrowed. “For what?”

I needed a good excuse. I had to assume Abram reported everything back to Elias.

“It’s my cycle.” I shifted on my feet while my cheeks heated in embarrassment. “The cramping is terrible.”

His jaw slackened like he didn’t know how to respond to a topic he was unprepared to discuss at this hour. Good luck to him relaying this interaction to his commander. “Of course.” He cleared his throat. “Please wait here.”

I folded and unfolded my arms while waiting, unsure what to do with myself. All I could think about was sending Shera off as quickly as possible.

Gods, please don’t let it be too late.

“Here you go.” Abram returned and offered me two small vials of clear liquid.

“Two?” I asked.

“Sure.” His discomfort was gone. “I have an older sister. She often comes to me for the same thing.”

“Thank you.” I backed away, gravel crunching beneath my boots, hands folded in genuine thanks. “Good night.”

He gave me a short nod. “Rest well, Fera.”

The moment he closed the door, I sprinted toward the nearest gate, then crept along buildings or walls to remain unseen by drowsing, patrolling guards.

“Leaving the fortress,” I told Shera. A few steps past the door, I paused and glanced back upon noticing that the buzz of power I knew to be Simeon’s wards was more like a weak hum, much quieter than before.

“I’ll be there,” Shera answered, breaking me out of my concerned daze and back to the task at hand.

Branches smacked me in the face, crunched and snapped beneath my boots as I ran faster than ever before. Cold nighttime air bit at my eyes as I ran, but any tears I cried were for him. For his pain. The possibility that he might be free from it was almost too much to bear.

I skidded to a stop when violet eyes glowed at me beneath the moonlight.

“Are you that eager to see me?”

“Usually, yes.” I took the vial from my pocket and discarded the liquid before rinsing it with water from my canteen. The moon and stars were bright in the cloudless sky, and I felt equally bright with hope. Even as I unsheathed the knife from my hip and hissed out a heavy breath as I dragged the sharp blade across my palm.

“Ary, what are you⁠—”

“I think my blood is the key to breaking Gavin’s oath.” She watched me bleed into the open vial. “Can you take this to him?”

She shifted back to sit. “I promised not to leave you.”

“Please. For all he’s done for both of us.”

The more I squeezed my palm, the more the sharp sting turned to a throbbing ache. I clenched my teeth to keep from wincing.

“Can you find him, Shera?” I asked her more urgently this time.

She stood up and began to restlessly pace. “I can try, but my magic requires something of his in order to track him.”