Neither girl could cope with that.

Chapter Forty-Four

The warmth of sunlight woke Lily from a deep, dreamless sleep. For a little while, she kept her eyes closed, watching the shadows behind her eyelids dance in the early morning light. As she broke free from her slumber, she smelled burning. Panicked, she snapped open her eyes, ready to fight whoever was threatening her friends, her newfound power flickering at her fingertips. She jumped to her feet and looked around with wildness in her eyes and heard a low chuckle. The final glimmerings of sleep fell away as she remembered they’d escaped.

They were safe.

Jem was kneeling in front of a fire, stoking it with deliberate care. Their bags were at his feet; he’d obviously taken the time that morning to liberate the packs from their hiding place.

Lily looked around at her sleeping place and stared, wide-eyed. The patch of grass on which she had slept was singed and black, as though someone had set fire to it. She looked down at her hands, and noticed her fingers, too, were covered in painless burns. She hadn’t just had a feverish sleep; this must be the magic.

Magic. That word still felt weird. Her own magic. Not Alice’s imaginary, yearned-for magic that didn’t actually exist in any world, let alone the Shadow Lands. Her very own. That was going to take some getting used to, but at least, she hoped, Alice could help.

Jem whistled quietly to catch Lily’s attention. He’d rolled the sleeves of his grubby white shirt up to his elbows and tied his hair back carelessly, the usual strands falling in his face. She stepped over Alice, who was sleeping soundly, and Grace, who was curled up close to her. The two girls were almost nose to nose, with their hands clasped together at their chests in between them. Grace’s other hand was resting gently on Alice’s cheek, as if she’d fallen asleep stroking her face. Lily felt a strange tug of understanding in her heart when she saw them together.

She finally understood.

Lily tore her eyes from the sleeping lovers and tiptoed across to Jem, a smile tugging at her lips. Jem glanced past Lily at Grace and Alice, his face mirroring hers.

Lily’s entire body still ached with sheer exhaustion from the battering she’d faced in the Shadow Sect’s lair. She could still feel the crusty dried blood on her face and neck. Jem noticed that she was struggling and reached out a helping hand to guide her to the ground next to him. He held it a fraction of a second longer than necessary and they locked eyes. He swallowed and went back to tending the fire absentmindedly.

‘I never thanked you, yesterday. For saving us all,’ Lily whispered, keeping her voice down so as not to wake the others. ‘But you took your time!’

‘Sorry, I got waylaid. But we did it. You did it. You did all the hard work.’

Lily snorted. ‘Hardly. I don’t know what I did. I certainly had no control over it. I’m sure I’d have collapsed to the floor and died amongst the falling rubble had you not carried me out.’