Halim peered over at Reece, who gave him a weak nod. The boy’s eyes were filled with wariness more suited to an old man. When he returned his attention to Kera, his lips thinned. “You should go back to the human realm where you are safe from what’s been happening here.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t know what was happening in Teag. It seemed calm enough. “Teag is my home. It always will be. Please help us?”
The furrow between his eyes deepened. “The council blames Dylan for our troubles, as do the rest of us. He’s not wanted here.” He glared at Reece. “Or anyone like him.”
“I’m like Dylan,” she reminded him. “Does it include me?”
A long moment stretched by before he shook his head. “Follow me.”
Kera quickly bent to help Reece to his feet. “Wait. Halim!”
He didn’t look back.
Reece’s body shook with laughter that left him cringing. When he recovered, he sighed. “Compassionate little shit, isn’t he?”
Clearly the boy felt Kera had abandoned them for the human realm, and in a way, she had. Clearly they blamed Dylan for their current troubles. Did everyone honestly believe a power-hungry warlord like Navar was the best choice for Teag? She could understand the council’s elitist mentality. It would never change, but Dylan had freed so many from the threat of death and oppression that hung over them.
They tagged after the boy, and with each step, Reece grew heavier along with her worry. “Hang on. We’re almost there.”
When they finally broke through the trees, Halim stood waiting for them in the open space in front of the caves. He looked up from sharpening his knife and snorted. “You made it. Didn’t think he had it in him. He looks half-dead.”
“I feel half-dead,” Reece muttered.
“Where’s Signe? Didn’t you tell her I was here?”
Halim pocketed his knife. “She’s inside.”
When he moved past her to leave, she touched his arm, stopping him. “Help him, Halim.” The command in her voice surprised even her. He hesitated, and she latched on to her newfound authority.
It was almost as if he did what she asked against his will. But with his help, they entered the mouth of the caves where a gathering of men stood arguing the merits of warfare and how long they could withstand an attack.
“An attack from whom?” she whispered to Halim.
He hushed her and urged them forward.
“The caves are safe,” a young man spoke over the rumbling of the others. “To venture out is pointless. Let them haggle and snap at one another.”
“So sayeth you,” a tall gangly man said. “You are a first. Whichever way the wind blows, you are safe. One thing I’ve learned, never trust a first.”
Kera knew the young first. He had married a human and was one of a handful of firsts who strengthened the spell keeping the caves safe. She couldn’t believe her ears as the group’s anxiety rose, sweeping over them like a fetid wave.
“I have been faithful to everyone here,” he said in his defense.
Fear and accusations flew between the men, and no one gave the three of them a second look. She and Halim shouldered Reece’s weight as best they could and rounded a bend. The strong smell of alchemy, the discipline of magic and science her people practiced, hit her and she slowed. The odor was sharp and unpleasant, and she was surprised to find it here of all places.
The smell rolled along a thin corridor to her left. “What goes on down that way?”
Halim’s face grew pale and uncompromising. He struggled not to say anything, but the years they had shared scrounging for food were strong enough to override whatever uncertainty he had adopted. “The few remaining firsts are helping us prepare for the worst. We don’t plan on going down without a fight. But then, what do you care?”
The sting in his voice drew her up short. “I care, Halim.”
He shrugged and stepped aside. He refused to meet her gaze, staring at the ground. “It’s not far now. I have things to do. Important things.”
So gruff. So unwelcoming. This was not what she had expected. “Thank you for your help.”
He nodded and retreated back the way they had come.
The cave echoed with emptiness. The battle to see Navar deposed took so many lives. As Kera made her way to Signe’s small niche, she could sense the deep mourning of those who remained.
At an arched doorway painted a cheerful lilac, Kera swept back the heavy partition and ducked in, literally dragging Reece with her. Signe jumped up from her sewing, her only means of survival in a place no person would willingly live. Her lion’s mane of red hair framed her surprised face. “Kera. Where have you been?”
Not waiting for permission, Kera unloaded Reece onto Signe’s bed and stepped back, rolling the tension out of her shoulders.
Signe’s gaze went from Kera to the man now sprawled on her bed, and she pulled her friend closer to the partition separating her quarters from the rest of the cave’s inhabitants. “Who is that?”
“Reece. A friend of Lani’s from the human realm. He’s been attacked by millispits. I did what I could, but he needs more.”
Signe reared back, and though she fought it, she ended up peeking over at Reece. “Why bring him to me?”
“You’ve dealt with his type of injury. Besides, he is the reason Lani was out there that night. He meant something to her. I figured—”
“She was meeting him?” Anger edged her words and hardened her delicate face.
“He didn’t actually say, but look at him.”
Though at present he wasn’t at his best, Kera could see why Lani had risked so much to see him. He was pleasant-natured and handsome enough and strong to a stubborn degree. He shouldn’t be alive, yet here he was. It wasn’t so far-fetched to believe he might have offered a way out of Teag for Lani. A better life, one free of fear.
“There is nothing for him here.” Signe crossed her arms over her chest and said loud enough for Reece to hear, “I cannot help him.”
Reece struggled to sit, a pathetic show at best. “I’m not so bad off. You can take me home.”
Kera frowned and pointed at him. “Stay put.”
She pulled Signe back into the passageway. The strangeness of her clothes and the squeak of her rubber-soled running shoes drew strange looks from the people hovering near Signe’s small niche. They’d seen Kera moving through the narrow passages with a stranger who could barely walk, and though bitterness tinged the haggard planes of their faces, their curiosity pulled them closer.
Kera ignored them all, her focus on Signe and the shock of her words. “What do you mean you cannot help him? Do you know what I went through to get him this far?”
“Who did you bring?” a man asked.
The distrust in his voice confirmed what Halim had told her. She had only known love and adoration from these people, but by the way they glared at her, they were far from adoring.
A woman clutched Kera’s arm, drawing her attention. The sunken eyes hiding in her face reflected the fear and uncertainty that had permeated their lives since Navar’s death. “You promised to save us, but it’s worse than before. Now what do we do?”
Kera glanced from one misery-filled face to the next. “I—”
“Go about your business.” Signe swept her arm out and pushed the woman away. “All of you, go. This has nothing to do with you.”
“What is going on here?”
Signe pulled Kera through the crowd, an unyielding edge sharpened her jawline. “I won’t help him because he is the reason for Lani’s death. How could you save him?”
Kera followed, confused by the change in her friend. “Place the blame where it rightfully goes. Navar was the reason for Lani’s death.”