Page 59 of The Night Burning

Oh, my heart.

Shane’s desperate eyes met mine. “She didn’t come downstairs for breakfast. I thought she was being lazy and I let her be. I had some things I could do from home, so I worked there.” His voice broke. “I should have checked on her earlier.”

I walked up to him and slipped my hand into his, not caring who saw us now. “It wouldn’t have changed anything.” It was harsh, it hurt, but it was the truth. If he had found her earlier, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that she was now the second victim of the crystal’s poisoning.

“I-I’ll give her some of Lavinia’s potion,” Jay said. He hobbled away from the bed and disappeared into a side door, where the supply room and restrooms were located.

“Is there anything I can do?” Lucille asked. She stood at the door.

“If you can, don’t let anyone but Killian, Lavinia, and Almae enter,” Shane said. She nodded. “Thank you.”

With another nod, Lucille left the room and closed the door behind her.

I watched as Minsi’s breathing grew ragged, her chest rising and falling quickly. Anger lashed through me. It was clear someone was toying with us. And I wanted nothing more than to get my hands around his—

And what? I couldn’t even kill a Whitecrest wolf a couple of days ago. In my entire life I had only killed once and it had been a demon who was set on killing me, who had killed my mother and dozens of other wolves in our pack.

I didn’t regret killing Phell, but the idea of killing again made me queasy.

Tyren sat on the bed, now wearing hospital scrub pants. He looked at his sister. “Why her?”

“I wish I knew.” Shane’s chest rumbled with a suppressed growl. “I spent hours touching the damn poisoned crystal yesterday and it didn’t affect me.” He touched her arm. “If I could, I would trade places with her.”

I would too. “It seems to be random, but as we can see, this will continue spreading. How’s the land?”

“Another three feet taken,” Shane said.

Tyren looked at us. “What do you mean?”

Shane’s nostrils flared. “This same poison is killing the land.”

Tyren’s eyes rounded. “What? Are you serious? What … what do we do now?”

It pained me to say it, but … “Shane, I know you don’t want to—I don’t want to either—but we need to think about leaving. If we leave, the land might still die, but at least the people won’t get sick.” I looked at Minsi and my vision blurred with tears. “At least, no one else will.”

Shane’s jaw ticked and his eyes hardened. He thought for a moment. This was clearly weighing on him. “I’ll think about it.”

22

RAIKA

Shaneand I stayed by Minsi’s side for hours. Jay gave her the potion that supposedly delayed the poison’s spread and helped with the pain. Lavinia and Almae came to check on her, and also on Hamill. Killian came to check on Shane, report, and receive more orders.

Shane was in no mood for orders, and he told Killian to do what he thought was right and be done with it.

Tyren went home for clothes and food, but came back with his tablet so he could sit beside Minsi and play video games.

I left for a couple of minutes, only to come back with a pile of books. “In case she feels better and wants to read something.”

Shane shook his head. “Always the optimist—one of the many reasons I love you.” I glanced around, afraid someone had heard him, but there was no one in here.

I settled the books beside Minsi’s bed, but she had barely opened her eyes since she fell ill earlier this morning. I doubted she would be reading any books soon.

Rue came in near nightfall. She demanded Shane and I take a break while she watched over Minsi.

I had to pry Shane from Minsi’s bedside.

Outside, Shane and I walked to the main square under the mostly cloudy sky. The rain was gone, but the chill remained. A wolf’s blood ran hotter than a human's, and we didn’t feel cold easily, but I wasn’t used to any type of cold. I pulled my thin jacket tighter around myself.