By Fairy Means or Foul: A Starfig Investigations Novel(49)

I cleared my throat a few times before I could speak, and even then my voice came out raspy and harsh as though I hadn’t talked for a long time. “You know I didn’t.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Let me see if I can get you something from the outpost. Do you have any gold?”

I nodded.

“You want to sit up?”

“Nope. Going to lay here until I can move without barfing.”

He patted my shoulder.

“Fair enough. You stay here and I’ll get you something to wear. Uh, just so you know, your markings are amazing.” He rose and vanished through one set of gates.

My markings? I looked down at myself. My body was covered in the tattoo-like scales that full-blooded dragons sported. I’d have smiled if I didn’t hurt so much.

While Quinn shopped, I let my stomach settle and tried to keep as still as possible. Shifting was a queasy business.

But even an unsettled stomach couldn’t diminish my wonder. If Quinn hadn’t figured it out . . . if I hadn’t trusted him . . . so many things to be grateful for and yet all I could do was lay on the ground and moan. Not exactly the triumphant moment I’d pictured hundreds of times before, though the zombies had been fun.

Shifting changed everything. Would I still be welcome in the Elder? What would my father do? What did it mean that Quinn and I were wizard and familiar? Would he always be able to read my thoughts? So many questions. My mind, however, was tired. Almost as much as my body. I closed my eyes and just drifted.

By the time Quinn returned, I felt almost ready to stand on my own. I groaned and sat up, my muscles screaming. Fucking basilisk boners! Shifting hurt. Considering all the zombies I killed in both forms, I shouldn’t be surprised either. This was the part bards left out of all those ballads about heroes that humans seemed to favor. I didn’t think I’d move comfortably for at least a couple days.

Quinn held up a thick leather belt and a long white tunic that didn’t seem too many sizes bigger than me.

“Where did you find this?” I asked.

“It’s for a small child,” he said, keeping his eyes averted.

Of course. Slipping it over my head, I shimmied into it, then pushed myself to my feet. Ugh. I needed food and a bed pronto. I stumbled when I tried to walk. Quinn slipped under my arm and braced me.

“I think we both need some rest,” he said.

We weaved our way back to the Watering Hole. As soon as we entered, the patrons burst into loud applause. Quinn and I must have looked like morons standing there with our mouths agape. Chairs scraped as the giants stood and gave us a standing ovation. Quinn recovered first and performed a shaky bow. I considered it, except I would be more likely to tip over than straighten back up.

Before I could force my body to bend, a key flew toward us. My reflexes were slow so it bounced off my chest and hit the floor. Unfortunately, so did Quinn and I.

We both lay there, stunned, trying to struggle back to our feet. Once upright, I watched as Krofom picked up Quinn under his arms and hefted him like he weighed less than nothing.

“Sorry,” Krofom said, blushing. “I forgot you’d both be exhausted.”

“You knew we’d come back.” Quinn smiled.

“Yes, little wizard, I had another vision. Your room is ready and I placed a tray of food for you both up there. There’s also a bowl of warm water to wash with and some bone-setting powder.” He eyed my outfit. “Nice onesie, dragon.”

“It’s a tunic,” I grumbled.

“Of course.” Krofom kept a straight face. Barely. He handed me the key and wished us a good evening.

Retreating to the room, we took turns washing up, then I applied the bone-setting powder. A breath hissed between Quinn’s lips as the powder did its work. I cringed when I heard a distinct crack of bones resetting and mending. Quinn groaned, his teeth gritted as the healing continued. It didn’t take long, but I could see it cost Quinn to act like it wasn’t extremely painful.

Once the healing completed, we sank down on a huge sofa and ate every last bite on the tray, even though the portion was definitely giant-sized. Having shifted, I was ravenous, and I guess when Quinn’s powers activated it took a lot out of him too, because he ate more than I ever imagined a human eating.

I must have been more tired than I realized, because it was only after we’d eaten and were settling down for the night that I noticed his ring was smashed, the ruby gone.

“Your ring . . .”

He shrugged. “It happens.”

I could tell he wasn’t as unaffected as he pretended. I’d seen his knapsack with his pitiful belongings, after all. That ring meant more than he was saying.

“Did I do that?” My voice sounded dejected even to my own ears.

“Don’t worry about it, Twig. It was an accident. It didn’t really help me when I needed it anyway. Kind of like my family. Without you I would have been zombie fodder.”

“I’d never let that happen.” I leaned against him, needing his touch. “I’ll replace the ring. I’m sure my dragon can find a similar acting stone. It might take a little while—”

A finger over my lips silenced me.

“I don’t care about the ring.” Quinn’s eyes shone glassy in the low torch light. He leaned in.

“You don’t?” I swallowed, the air feeling suddenly charged.