Grimacing, she floated toward the large bed on the other side of the room, where a mottled gray hand poked out from beneath layers and layers of thick blankets. “Hello?”
A wheezing cough greeted her.
That doesn’t sound good. What am I doing? I’m not a raug doctor.
“I came here to help.”
“Get out.” The voice was raspy and dry, more like a croak. The red claws at the tips of the raug’s nails flicked toward the door. “Let me be.”
“See, that’s not an option. You need help, and that’s what I’m here to do.” She floated slowly along the side of the bed, fighting not to wrinkle her nose.
The raug lying beneath all the blankets and furs didn’t look old enough to be so sick or on the edge of death. He’s huge. Bigger than Gúrdu. Ember stared at the bulging muscles of his arms and shoulders. Her eyes widened when she saw the black lines snaking up his arms beneath his gray flesh. Just like the skaxen. How the hell am I supposed to fix this?
His chest rose and fell with a constant wheeze, his large eyes closed over a grimace of pain and determination.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“If you don’t know my name, you shouldn’t be here.” The raug slowly rolled his head toward her, and his eyes fluttered open. “No. Send the other healers, girl. I don’t want a fae in here.” He broke into a fit of hacking coughs. The bed groaned beneath him as his huge body lurched, and he thrust his hand toward the door. “I said, get out.”
“You don’t want a fae in here, huh?” Ember waited for the coughing to subside, then reached for the edge of the blankets and cautiously peeled them away from his chin to expose his chest. “I don’t wanna be in here either, so it looks like we both have to do something we don’t like. Deal with it.”
The raug growled at her, his glowing orange eyes narrowing. “Where are the other healers? My healers?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Folding the blankets over his legs, she fought not to grimace at the thicker lines of black streaking across his chest and meeting in a dark stain over his heart. Assuming raug hearts are in the same place as human hearts. “Doesn’t look like your healers had much luck. Just think of me as a last resort.”
He sputtered and clenched his eyes shut, and for a minute, Ember thought he was choking. Then a grin split his lips, revealing sharp, pointed teeth and a black tongue behind them. She rolled her eyes.
“Last resort or last rites? The deathflame’s calling my name, either way.”
“Which you still haven’t given me, by the way.”
“Bah.” He turned his head away from her and lay still, breathing quickly and shallowly. “Do your best, then.”
“What happened?”
The raug grunted. “Apparently, I didn’t think to have a fae on hand every damn place I go.”
“Okay. I get it.” Big guy got tainted by the blight, and now he’s punishing himself for it. “Has it happened to anyone else?”
A low growl escaped him, and he kept his eyes closed. “No. I got this on a mining expedition, fae. Been in this room for three fell-damn days since I returned.”
“Then let’s hope I got here fast enough.”
He started to chuckle and fell into a fit of coughing even worse than the first one. Ember glanced at the stone shelves cut into the wall beside the bed and picked up the metal pitcher there to give it a quick sniff. Smells like water. Decent chance it’s safe.
She poured some into a copper cup and set that gently in the raug’s open hand. He grasped the cup, his nails clinking on the metal, and brought it to his lips without lifting his head from the thick pillows. Water spilled from the side of his mouth and down around his shoulders. When it was empty, he tossed the cup away. Ember started at the harsh clang of copper bouncing on the stone floor.
The raug twirled a finger in the air before his hand dropped to the bed with a thump. “Get on with it. If I’m at the end, I’d rather get there sooner than later.”
“You’ve got an awfully cheery view of things, don’t you?”
He grunted and said nothing.
“Try to relax, I guess.” Ember slowly reached out to hover both palms above the raug’s broad, black-streaked chest. She focused on her healing magic, and a faint purple light glowed between her palms and the sick raug. After a full minute with no effect, she frowned. I’m tasting bananas, so I know it’s the healing and not the throw-things-across-the-room kind of magic. What am I missing?
The raug wheezed. “See? No use for a fae.”
“Shut up.” Gritting her teeth, Ember placed her hands on the raug’s chest.
He gasped and lurched, his orange eyes flying wide open as he gaped. Ember almost pulled away from the instant burning in her hands but forced herself to keep pressing on his chest. I’m a full-blooded fae and the drow princess’s goddamn Nós Aní. This is gonna work.
The burning heat traveled slowly up her wrists and forearms, intensifying as it spread. Ember grunted against the pain and kept at her healing, even when the raug gasped again and started cursing in French. She would’ve laughed if she wasn’t so focused.
An unseen force propelled her away from the raug. Arms flailing, Ember tried to keep her balance and focused on the levitation spell Corian had taught her, but it winked out the next second, and her feet dropped an inch to the floor. Her legs crumpled beneath her and she landed on the stone floor with a thud, shouting in surprise and pain.
The room was eerily silent.
Ember rolled as
