Pushing me back until I was on the ground, Kerrick leaned over me. “This is never a waste of energy.” His lips found mine.

After that, it didn’t take me long to agree with him. And for a few hours, all thoughts of battles, ambushes, and assassinations disappeared. Replaced by every aspect, detail, and scent of Kerrick.

* * *

In the middle of the final preparations the next morning, Flea pulled me aside. “Avry, I need you to do something for me.”

Just by his queasy expression, I knew it involved magic. “I’m not going to like it, right?”

“No, but it’s important. And believe me, I’m not happy about it, either.”

Curious. “What is it?”

“I need you to tell Yuri to listen to my orders.”

Yuri? Oh, no. “You want to take him along.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you.”

Kerrick’s words trust me repeated in my mind. “All right.”

Flea tried to hide his surprise with a familiar smoothing of his features. All that time spent with Kerrick was rubbing off on him. He grabbed a lantern and led me down three levels to a small dark room. Inside, Yuri lay on a stone slab.

Guilt rushed into my heart. I’d been avoiding facing my horrible mistake since I’d arrived. And the poor man had been left all alone. “No light?”

“He doesn’t need it, Avry.”

I approached the young man. “If I’d been smarter, I could have cured him.”

“He was part of the learning process. Without him, you wouldn’t have cured thirty others.”

I glanced at Flea in suspicion. “Did Kerrick tell you to say that?”

Flea ducked his head. “He knew you’d be upset and I...” Now he met my gaze. “I was awful to you, Avry. I’m sorry. It just freaked me out and I couldn’t deal. At that time, refusing to use my magic made perfect sense.”

“And I pushed you too hard.”

“You had to, we’re at war.”

“What changed your mind?”

He gave me his lopsided grin. “Belen. Helping him, but even before when I caught a whiff of burned flesh...” Flea hugged himself.

“Yeah, horrific things can really motivate a person. Tohon’s dead soldiers convinced me to heal Ryne.”

“And not Belen’s school stories?”

I laughed. “No.”

“Quain owes me big!”

Trust the boys to bet on that.

“Are we friends again?” I asked Flea.

“Yep.”

My smile died when I returned to the task at hand. I approached Yuri and asked him to sit up. He didn’t move. I ordered him. Still nothing. It had been so long since I’d awoken him with my touch, perhaps he didn’t recognize me. Plus I’d avoided touching him since.

I pressed my fingertips to his forehead. “Yuri, stand up.”

He complied.

“Yuri, I want you to obey Flea’s orders from now on,” I said.