The Poison Season(42)

She rolled her eyes but finally took the blanket from him, draping it over her shoulders like a shawl. And then she set to work.

Jaren had never experienced a more exquisite, blinding pain than the alcohol being poured onto his wounds. It was so horrific that for a moment he thought he might faint again. But just as his vision started to tunnel, she was applying the cooling ointment to the wound, and he felt his pulse slowly return to normal.

“Can I ask you something?” he said when he’d found his voice.

Her eyes flicked up to his and then immediately back to his leg. She didn’t like maintaining eye contact, that was clear. “What?”

“That song I heard. The one the bird was singing. What was that?”

She bit her lip, worrying it with her two front teeth. He noticed there was a tiny gap between them.

“You don’t have to tell me. I was just curious. I’ve had it in my head for so long, and it’s been a bit maddening to not know the rest of it.” He hummed the little bit he knew.

Her eyes went wide, just for a moment, and she cleared her throat. “It’s a prayer.”

He winced as she tightened the bandage around his leg. “I think I must have heard it in my sleep, that night I camped by the lake. What kind of prayer is it?”

She blinked, her eyelashes suddenly damp. “It’s a prayer for lost things,” she said in a ragged voice. “A prayer for them to be found.”

Gently, he asked, “What did you lose?”

Leelo gasped and sat back, her hand once again flying to her waist. He hadn’t even meant to say “you.” But her reaction confirmed what he suspected: that she was the one he’d heard singing that night. For the first time, he admitted to himself that he had been wrong about magic. It was as if an invisible string had been connecting them ever since he camped on the shore, and it had slowly, inevitably, reeled him in.

“I’m sorry,” he said, holding his palms out as if she were a cornered animal. “I’m sorry I put you in this position. And believe me, I want to get home as badly as you want me to leave. If you have any idea where the boat is, I can look for it myself. There’s no reason for you to get dragged down by my foolishness.”

She shook her head a fraction. “You’re not the only fool here.”

“What do you mean?”

She ignored him, tidying up her belongings with clipped, precise movements. She removed the blanket and laid it over him, though he could see that her hair and clothing were still damp. “I’ll get you out of here. Just promise me you’ll stay in the cottage, no matter what happens. If another Endlan sees you, I won’t be able to help you.”

“Am I safe here?” he asked, glancing at the windows as if the trees might reach through and snatch him any minute, the way the roots had done to that poor bird.

The fact that she didn’t answer immediately frightened him. “You’re an outsider on Endlan ground,” she said finally. “I don’t know if you’re safe anywhere on the island. But I do know you’re safer here than anywhere out there.”

It was hardly reassuring, but he knew it was the best she could do. And for now, he was trapped on enemy territory with no other allies. His family would be worried sick about him. He couldn’t help imagining his sisters and father, glancing at the door every time it rattled in the wind, wondering if it was Jaren, coming home from another one of his wanders.

He could feel his thoughts beginning to spiral, and he knew if she left now he’d never fall asleep. It was late, and she was probably expected back at her house, but he didn’t want to be alone.

“I have sisters,” he blurted.

She was so caught off guard she laughed a little. “What?”

He blushed and hoped she wouldn’t notice in the dim light. “I meant to ask if you have any siblings. I have three sisters.”

She was silent so long Jaren was sure she wouldn’t answer. “I have one brother,” she said finally, and then immediately pressed her lips together in a flat line.

Saints, was her brother dead along with her father? He was about to change the subject when she finally sat back down again. Before she could stop him, he moved the blanket so that it was covering her legs, too.

She cast him a look he couldn’t read. “I have one brother and a cousin who’s like a sister to me. Sage. She can be...” She was quiet for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “Well, she can be prickly. But she’s family.”

Jaren smiled. “My youngest sister, Sofia, isn’t so much prickly as sticky, like one of those burrs that gets caught in your hair. She’s always getting into trouble and dragging you along with her.” As he talked about Tadpole, then Story and Summer, Leelo seemed to relax, even smiling from time to time. She kept her hand near her knife, but she wasn’t coiled like a snake anymore. If he could just get her to look at him as a person, not a threat from the outside, maybe he really could get back to his family.

Eventually, he couldn’t help but yawn, even though he’d napped through most of the evening.

“I should go,” Leelo said, removing the blanket from her legs and tucking it around him with surprising care. “My shift ended, and I’ll be expected at home.”

“When will you be back?” He hadn’t meant it to sound so needy, but her mouth quirked in the smallest grin.