She felt her magic building inside of her. The first signs of blackout hitting at the edges as the panic rose at the thought of what he was asking. She couldn’t do it. She certainly wasn’t ready. She’d never asked to be a symbol.

“I need to sit down,” she whispered. “Or I’m going to black out.”

She pulled out of his hands and sank into a seat. Her vision dipped around her. Placing her head in her hands, she rocked back and forth, counting backward from a hundred. She had to get this under control, or she wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“What’s wrong?” Dozan asked. He didn’t precisely sound concerned, but it was as close as she’d heard him since she was twelve—when he’d carried her away from a brutal beating and taken care of her. Back before he was King of the Wastes. Back before everything.

“I’m having blackouts. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to see if Amond could figure out what’s happening.”

“Your precious Helly can’t figure it out?”

“She said it’s magic sickness.”

Dozan scoffed. “You’re seventeen.”

“That’s what I said. But we don’t know enough about my magic. It seems to be triggered by stress, but I can’t exactly stay away from stress right now. So, I wanted a second opinion.”

“Fine,” Dozan said.

Her head whipped up. “What? Just like that?”

“Did you expect me to say no?”

“I expected to bargain.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You’re going to help me take down Lorian Van Horn, yes?”

She nodded. She wanted nothing more.

“Then, you’re going to need to be well enough to do it. I’ll fetch him.”

Kerrigan gaped at him as he disappeared from his office. She’d never in a million years thought that Dozan would just allow her access to his personal healer. Not without a fight and enough sexual innuendo to cloud the room with lust.

A few moments later, Amond stepped into the room. He still wore the red vest and black shirt that marked him as one of Dozan’s men. His light-brown skin was glossy and serene, and he had sharply pointed ears and full lips. She knew that he’d given up his tribe affiliation to work for Dozan, but she never found out why he’d done it. Or where he’d learned this sort of magic.

“Hello, Kerrigan,” he said soothingly.

“Hi.”

“I heard about your dilemma. Shall we get started?”