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Eve followed thelass ball, but she soon returned with a wad of towels We packed the hier? Quinn’s poasn’t enough to even seal a cut Would Kade and Heli be willing to help? They had kept their distance I er and pain flared and he looked away Did I have the gall to ask hi

Valek returned He sat next to me and said, "Since you can’t talk, let me tell you a story"

Eve seeo?"

"No need You already know most of this" He squirmed into a more comfortable position "Devlen ell aware of Galen’s eavesdropping on our plans to rescue you In fact, he purposely kept thehts We had another way to free you Easier by far Quicker We would have been gone froo I liked that one very much But it included only you and Galen, and would have kept the status quo The Bloodroses would have continued to be passive sheep" Valek shrugged "If they give hiued the point, but Valek continued "Devlen wished to guide them To help them help themselves He clainificantly higher and reduced the chance of success Counting on people who have been repressed for decades isn’t a sound tactic But he convinced everyone it was the right thing to do Evenme his forearht I would be sick of teaching knife fighting" He paused "Is it a knife if it’s esture across e No worries about it dulling with use, either Just with it shattering" He ed him

"Oh yes And the ood people I’m always leery around the so-called reformed, but I trusted Devlen with h"

But not without paying a price How high? Too high in my mind if he died, but I was sure Valek would see it as one life given in exchange for seven--or rather an entire clan’s lives--a bargain

Devlen struggled to breathe I hovered over hi what to do Should I ask Kade and Heli? A shout cut throughfull out

He skidded to a stop "Is this what you’re looking for?" Opening his hand, he revealed a bottle of ink

I punched hi us all believe you were dead" He dropped a superrabbed the sword’s hilt "Ready?"

I nodded and he yanked The injury was extensive, but I ignored the jagged flesh and broken bones Concentrating on repairing the dalass statue I drained thewas left but a nasty purple scar along his torso

Too tired to stand, I snuggled next to Devlen in the war the day’s heat soak into my bones Truly happy for the first tiether We were es to recuperate Valek poured endless amounts of Leif’s teas down our throats Devlen had lost a lot of blood and needed to drink the one that tasted like dirty ater

"You can laugh You don’t have to drink this stuff," Devlen corunted and pointed to my cup My tea smelled like moldy mushrooms I sipped Compared to the sliood I glanced at le purple flower in a white vase and a dose of moon potion in a sealed vial I had set both aside for now

"Where did Valek get all these potions?" Devlen asked

"Fro well enough to discuss what must be done with Galen?"