He hadn't said anything yet, hadn't even tried to stop me; instead, he was also gripping my hand tightly back.
Inside the alleyway, I turned my head in every direction. Panic was affecting my memory, and I was trying to piece together the direction we needed to head toward.
He never let go of my hand.
"You're bleeding." His voice was gentle, warm, calming.
"I'm fine." My voice was cracking, "Jean, he's hurt, but I can't remember." I felt the hot tears sliding down my face.
"We will split up."
I gripped his hand tighter, my eyes wide with panic.
"No, we have to.." Then I saw them, two other men behind us.
Where had they come from?
Kael quickly motioned for them to go ahead into one of the alleyways, and he then turned and pulled me through the only one left. The alley seemed infinitely long, my heart lurching at every silhouette, afraid it was Jean.
Had I really run so far while looking for help? The alleyway was neverending.
"He's up there." Kael's voice broke through my descent, and gave my hand a squeeze, stopping me from falling into the pit of despair.
Jean's eyes were closed, his skin pale and cold, but his breathing was shallow and slow. But at least he was still breathing.
Words choked me as I turned my frantic gaze back toward Kael.
"He's lost a lot of blood."
"Clearly." I answered more sarcastically than I had intended. My hands trembling as I pressed them over the wound, attempting to keep what little blood was left inside of the boy.
Kael rifled through his cloak, brow furrowed as he searched for something.
"Please, do something." my voice was lower, meeker, pleading.
His hand began to glow—no, shimmer—as he extended it toward the alley we'd come from. The blue light coalesced into a sphere hovering over his palm. With a motion, he sent it flying. It reached the crossroads and split into two smaller orbs, each darting down a separate path.
My eyes must have been bulging out of their sockets as I stared unblinkingly at Kael.
"The others will know where we are and head this way. Jensen has something that will help." He pulled my hand away from Jean's stomach and replaced it with his own. His palms glowed again, that same beautiful blue. "This will slow the bleeding until they arrive."
The alley warped and spun. My pulse thundered in my ears. Burning bile rose to my throat, and I barely had time to turn away before it came rushing out. It wasn't much, but it tore at my throat and burned my mouth.
This was all impossible. How could this be happening?
My mind jumped back to the ARK. Wasn't this what we had been working toward? I shook my head hard, trying to rearrange my thoughts, to rattle them into place. This could still be acting.
Oh, be serious, Mara, my inner voice snapped—the logical part of my brain fighting to keep control. The experiment worked. Now get yourself together and figure out how to get home.
The word echoed in my head.
Home. Home?
"Give me the elixir." Kael's voice was deep, commanding.
I turned to see him looking up at the two men who had gone ahead. One of them knelt and pulled a small glass vial from his cloak. The liquid inside shimmered yellow. He hesitated before handing it over.
"Jensen," Kael said low, but his voice carried, reverberating off the stone.
Jensen uncorked the vial and passed it to him. With bloodied hands, Kael swirled the contents until they shimmered gold. His hand glowed again, and the light was absorbed into the liquid, turning it a soft, luminous green. He lifted Jean's shirt, and I finally saw the wound.
It was worse than I imagined—more like something had been carved out than stabbed. Had it torn open from the run? Guilt dropped heavy in my stomach, and I doubled over, dry-heaving until my throat ached.
Kael poured the glowing liquid over the wound, and I watched—stunned, horrified— a the skin was pulling toward each other, closing the wound.. The image wavered, and whatever fragile hope I had left—that this was all just a game—snapped.
"That's all we can do for him," Kael said quietly. "It will stop the bleeding and heal the damaged organs, but it cannot restore the blood he's already lost."
"Thank you." The words escaped me automatically, calm and hollow.
"He won't make the journey back to Verdantvale," Jensen added.
"No, not in his condition." Kael nodded. "Bring the carriage around. We'll take them to the inn."
Jensen rose and walked off, but the other man didn't follow.
"What is it, Henry?" Kael asked, rising as well and wiping his hands on his cloak.
Henry stepped forward and removed his hood. He was a few inches shorter than Kael.
"There's something… interesting I found." He pulled out a knife. The handle was blackened, the hilt exposed, the blade charred and crusted with dark ash.
My stomach clenched tight as the image of the two burned men flashed through my mind.
"I believe this is the knife that injured the young man."
Kael took it, turning it over in his hand. "This doesn't look like it could cut through butter."
Henry's gaze shifted to me—sharp, bright azure eyes that dug into mine until I had to look away.
Kael noticed and turned toward me as well.
"Is this what was used on Jean?"
It was. It had to be, if it was the only knife Henry found—but that wasn't what I was going to say.
I might be going crazy, but I wasn't stupid.
"I don't know." I forced my eyes to stay on the knife instead of theirs. "It all happened so fast, I don't…" My voice trailed off. I looked away, feigning the perfect picture of a frightened woman while suppressing the dry heaves threatening to return.
"The knife was found with two men," Henry continued. He had no sympathy for a disheveled lady.
"Bring them in, then," Kael ordered.
"Sir… that won't be possible."
A small, bright purple light rushed toward us at that moment.
"Jensen has the carriage," Kael said, his attention returning to Jean. He and Henry knelt down and carefully lifted him. I followed close behind, my eyes fixed on the ground as I tried to think.
I have to start small, I told myself. If I let myself spiral about being in another world—about being so far from home—things would not go well for me.
I had killed two men. The thought finally formed in full. I had taken two lives, and I couldn't explain how. I had to focus on that—on surviving it.
It was more likely they'd help me if they thought I was a victim. And I was—a victim of circumstance, of faulty wiring, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought again of the bright flash in the hidden lab. No, not now. Self-preservation, Mara.
My head collided with Kael's chest. I hadn't realized we'd made it out of the alley maze and reached the carriage. He looked down at me, a gentleness in his gaze that loosened the tightness in my chest. Without a word, he stepped aside and helped me in.
It was a simple wooden carriage—two upholstered benches facing each other and four windows, one on each side.
Jean lay across one bench. It didn't seem like a safe way to travel. Kael climbed in after me and sat beside me.
Henry stood at the door but didn't enter.
"Find Belmont," Kael ordered. "And those men with the knife."
My insides knotted at that command. I struggled not to squirm, not to show any guilt, but Henry's eyes lingered on me before he answered and shut the door.
"Will he be alright traveling like that?" I asked, pointing to Jean.
Kael arched an eyebrow, then extended his right hand toward him. A ball of blue light shot across the carriage and enveloped Jean in its glow. Kael knocked twice on the carriage wall, and we lurched forward. The sudden motion jolted us in our seats, but Jean didn't stir—not even as the wheels struck the cobblestones.
Kael said nothing as we rode toward the inn, but I could feel his gaze on me. I didn't dare look back—not while I still didn't know what I was going to say, how I was going to lie.