She nodded.
“Holy Toledo. You did all that?”
She nodded again, only this time with less vigor.
“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on him. You should get some sleep. I’ve seen freshies who look more alive than you do.”
Gem stepped back, ready to chain herself to the armoire. “I’m staying here. I’m not leaving him. I’m the one who did this. Don’t you understand? I can’t leave him. I have to fix this.”
“Fine, fine,” he said, tossing up his hands. “Let me see if he has any extra blankets.” Wyatt got down on his knees and peered under the bed. “And Bingo was his name-o.”
After pulling out a heavy blanket that felt like mink, he spread it in front of the fire and tossed her a spare pillow. Wyatt hovered near the bed and stared at Niko. “Seems weird to just leave him like this. Should we put a blanket on him? You think he’s cold?”
The men had laid Niko down on top of his blankets, his clothing still the same beige outfit that Cyrus had forced him to wear.
Slave clothes.
Gem walked to the armoire and pulled out pants she’d seen Niko walking around in at night. They were loose and black with a low crotch. “Can you put these on him?”
Wyatt looked at the pants she placed in his hands as if they were alien objects. “You want me to strip him naked while he’s unconscious? I think there are consent laws against that.”
Gem clenched her fists, her thoughts still on Cyrus’s abusive behavior. “When you’re done, I want you to burn what he’s wearing in the fire. Every scrap of it. If I find out that you put them in the laundry, Wyatt Blessing, I’ll post our address at the local cemetery.”
“You’re a pushy dame. Fine, fine. But shoo. Give a man his privacy.”
Gem took a candle and wandered into the bathroom. She stared at her ghostly reflection in a mirror, which seemed out of place in Niko’s room. Crush was right. Dark circles around her eyes made her look sickly, and though her hair was wound up in two tight buns, it looked as if she’d stuck her head in the dryer. After splashing water onto her face, she grabbed the hand towel neatly folded over a towel ring. Niko was organized, but she guessed he had to be in order to know where everything was. Gem soaked the towel in hot water and wrung out the excess.
“Are you done?” When she received no response, she peered through the doorless opening and saw it was safe to enter.
Wyatt stood near the hearth, holding the tattered beige garments. “Why do you want me to burn these?”
Without answering, Gem grabbed the clothes and hurled them into the flames. The fire ate them up quickly, burning away the torture and humiliation woven into the threads.
She sat on the edge of the bed and used the damp towel to wipe away the dried blood on Niko’s mouth and temple. Her light had healed his wounds, but unfortunately, it hadn’t been enough to wake him from his slumber.
Gem barely noticed Wyatt grumbling about unfinished work as he left the room. She meticulously washed off the blood spattered on Niko’s face, neck, and chest. When she finished, she sat back and sighed. Her eyes traveled down to the Creator’s mark on his left pec. For some, that unique mark was a badge of honor. It linked every Mage to the one who created them, a family crest of sorts. How did Niko feel about his? All these years, he’d been associated with a tyrant who’d enslaved his Learners. And even worse, Niko had to share that mark with the most abhorrent men. In some ways, it was a blessing that he couldn’t see it. If Gem had endured the same fate, she might have burned hers off with a hot iron and sealed the scar with liquid fire. Fortunately, her Creator had been her hero, and she couldn’t imagine what others, including Raven, had suffered.
When she touched his arm to see if he was cold, Niko’s skin felt as warm as a windowpane in June. Gem got up and moved the screen in front of the fireplace so no embers could escape. Then she draped the damp hand towel over it. As much as she wanted to lie down and rest, something compelled her to open the book. Her mind wouldn’t stop turning, and sleeping felt like a betrayal. She rounded the bed and looked down at the floor. What she’d once considered a treasure was now a curse, a demon at her feet.
Gem bent over and collected the red book that Niko had spent a thousand years protecting. It somehow felt heavier in her arms than before, and the weight of that was from the knowledge of what it could do. She had vastly underestimated its power, and now the burden of that responsibility rested heavily on her shoulders. After crossing the room, she sat on the blanket Wyatt had spread out for her. The fire’s heat penetrated her camouflage leggings and black sweater, making them uncomfortably warm. After unlacing her boots, she set them out of the way and lay on her side, the book inches in front of her.
How long could Niko remain catatonic without food or water? He would waste away to a pile of bones. Every Mage knew the main forms of death that could kill them, but starvation? Gem once heard a rumor about the rotted remains of a Mage who had been buried alive regenerating after someone had given him healing light. Sickened by the thought, she drew up her knees to lie in the fetal position. This was the single worst thing she’d ever done in her life. Worse than not attending her Creator’s funeral. Worse than translating stolen documents for money.
Even worse than attempting suicide.
Her eyelids grew heavy as the fire’s heat enveloped her like a blanket. While she stared at the pages of the closed book, she thought about the sleeping warrior behind her. After all he’d done to protect civilization, this was his reward?
“I’ll make it right,” she whispered. “I promise.”
Chapter 2
The next day, the heavens opened up, and rain poured down. The thunderstorm had only been the preamble. It was as if the fates were displaying their contempt. Though Wyatt had prodded her to give him all the details, Gem didn’t feel comfortable revealing the secrets of the red book, not until she spoke to Viktor. Since she didn’t have the ability to destroy the book, anyone who knew about it posed a threat.
Crush had one thing right: Gem had needed sleep. She hadn’t thought she could do it, but after snoozing for almost eleven hours, she’d never felt more revitalized. With a clearer head, she cast aside any negative thoughts and focused on a plan.
If the book had the power to create a spell, it must also have the power to reverse it. The answer was somewhere between the pages, and Gem needed to do some serious digging. To ensure privacy, she barricaded herself in Niko’s room by locking the door. Despite Wyatt’s noisy interruptions throughout the day, she worked tirelessly on translations. Gem had previously only scratched the surface with the complex language, and now that she had more time to devote to the work instead of making up fake translations for Cyrus, the process was going much more smoothly. She filled several pages in her notebook while sitting cross-legged by the fire. Niko didn’t have windows, but Gem preferred working by candlelight. She’d brought in lanterns since Niko didn’t have any. The only thing she hadn’t done was change clothes.
Late that afternoon, Wyatt pounded on the door. “Open up, Gem. I made you something to eat. You’re not going to turn down this delicious food, are you?”
She sat up straight and thought about his tempting offer. Her stomach was growling, and it had been an awful long time since she’d last eaten anything. Deciding a break was in order, Gem stood and headed for the door. As she drifted past Niko’s bed, she stole a glance at him. Seeing him lying there, unmoving with his eyes closed, sent a chill up her spine. He didn’t look like how she imagined a comatose patient would. He simply looked like a sleeping man who might open his eyes at any moment.