Crown of Cinders (Imdalind #7)(19)
“That he brought back to life.”
“Don’t give me nightmares.” Wyn leaned against the trash can, a hand on her hip. “I mean, I used to kill people for a living and that …” Wyn paused, her eyes wide, before she forced a shiver, the exaggerated motion shaking her.
“What, you mean you don’t have them every night?” I tried to joke, but it had too much truth behind it. And, instead, it came out as an odd squeak that Wyn did not miss.
“We all do … about everything. I think that happens when you live underneath a sky the color of blood. It infects you somehow, like cabin fever. We should be happy we haven’t all gone crazy.”
I shot her a look at that, one eyebrow hiking up into the wisps of my hair, my brow pinching together as I tried to laugh, something she didn’t try to restrain.
“I did say all. Not all of us have gone crazy,” Wyn mused, a deep sigh coloring the words as she pulled out another box, inspecting the label with a squint. “But all the ones who follow Sain have. Seriously, how can you look at that crazy and still follow it around? Gah!”
“Maybe he cursed them all to see me as a giant, moth-eating lizard.”
“And him a romance novel model. Crazy nut-bags, the lot of them.”
“Romance models or Sain’s sheep?” I asked, entertained by the image of both.
“Both. You’ll see once you kill Edmund, free us all from the dome of doom, predict the future, and save the world. They’ll all come to their senses and see how dumb they are being. Not all in that order, of course,” she added as a desperate afterthought, wagging her finger in my face in warning as she winked.
“Oh, well, if I don’t have to go in order, then it seems much more manageable!” I couldn’t help the eye roll, something Wyn laughed at.
“You wait. You’ll do it. The ‘sight said so’ and all that jazz.” Wyn turned away from me, back to the dumpster and the task at hand, still not very quiet about it.
Trying to ignore the rhythmic clanking of glass and cardboard, I turned away, keeping my magic trained on the city in case someone decided to hear this racket and come running.
The red tint of Prague was fading into a bruise as the night stretched over it, a cloak that dragged over the city and dipped into the alleys in a deep purple that swallowed everything in a dangerous pitch.
We were running out of time, we couldn’t stay out here much longer. The shades of sunset we were bathed in were especially beautiful if you could ignore the danger the dark held.
“It’s almost sunset,” I began, walking back toward the pile of old office supplies she was wading through. “Do you think you can wrap it up in about five minutes?”
I hated asking the question, and I could see her shoulders tense up from where I stood. Her muscles were defined underneath the threadbare band shirt she wore. Jefferson Starship’s faces were all faded and distorted from years of washing and wearing.
“Well, you know, if finding this crap wasn’t so difficult, I would have found it months ago …”
“Point taken. You could always tell me what you are looking for.” I prodded gently, hoping not to enrage her with the question I had asked multiple times before. We had been out looking for the mystery medicine before, and her answer was always the same.
“Why? So you could go off and find it before me? No, thank you. If I tell you, you could go using your sight and finding it for me. I have to do this myself.”
I was met with the low dejection of an already impending defeat, a buzzing sadness that infected me and chased all of my fears away.
Wyn stood before me, broken and folded like a paper doll, every fear and vulnerability inside of her encompassing the alley like butter, in plain view for me to see, to understand.
And I did.
“I wanted to be the one to save him, Jos. Save him before the girl kills him. I have to do something, and lately, I haven’t been able to do anything other than put everyone’s lives at risk and destroy Ilyan’s precious cathedral and disobey orders—”
“You saved me from my father.”
“True.” The paper she was made up of straightened a bit, the snide, confident girl who had plowed her way into my life becoming more visible. “Sain’s an idiot, though. He’s probably going to kill himself soon if he’s not careful. Accidental maiming on a coat of armor or something.”
I laughed at the imagery that was far too good to pass up.
“Let me do this, ’kay?” she pleaded, the desperation in her showing.
I nodded, understanding that part far too well.
Sometimes, you’ve gotta do stuff on your own, just to prove to yourself that you can.
“I know, Wyn.” I stepped toward her, hoping she would see the truth in my eyes.
Wyn met my eyes, vials wrapped inside her grubby fingers as she stood there, her mind working and winding in the air between us.
I could almost feel the tension and fear that was seeping off her.
I guessed trust was harder to rebuild than I had always assumed it to be. It didn’t mean it wasn’t worth the effort, though.
“It’s for Thom,” she finally whispered, her voice so soft I had to take a step closer in order to hear her. “Dramin read in one of those books that you gave him about ephindredem… or something. I have it written down. It’s supposed to jump-start the heart.”