Twice Born

Chapter 25

I gape at her. “How is this—” I indicate his bloody chest—“saving his life?”

She kneels down next to his body and grips the dagger, pulling it out of his flesh. His protests choke off into a groan. The blood flows faster, but it’s not as bad as I feared. She doesn’t seem to have hit organs or blood vessels.

I’m no less horrified by what she did. I think of Daniel, how I felt when Ashin stabbed him. How could she ever inflict that on someone who cares about her?

As she unbuttons his shirt, she says, “If you two bothered to pay attention to what Ashin and the group of Trackers said, you would’ve realized something. He kept talking about you and me, Bree, as if he had no plans to let Tristan live. The only reason he didn’t slit his throat is because he knew I would kill him. He tried to stall for time until his men arrived. I had to act quickly.”

She certainly acted quickly, in a way that chills the blood in my veins. Her decision was based entirely on logic. Cold and analytical. No emotions—good or bad—involved.

“I suffer injuries because of you, and you inflict them on me,” Tristan says. His mouth tightens in pain when she jerks his shirt off. “You really are heartless, Eve.”

She straightens up and glares down at him. “I’m sorry. The next time I have the opportunity to spare you a painful death, I’m going to step aside and do nothing, because that seems to be better than trying to save you!”

I grab the strips from her hand and return her glare before turning to bind Tristan’s wound. “At least show some concern.”

“Don’t waste your breath, Bree,” he says. “I don’t expect apologies.”

Eve sulks in silence as I finish wrapping the strips around his torso. His scars appear silver in the night, running in ridged lines over his golden skin. They curl over his shoulders and below his underarms. I imagine his father’s whip landing on his back, coiling around to the front and cutting bleeding paths across his skin. They tell a story of their own. Tristan might’ve gained freedom, but he lost something precious. His innocence.

When I finish, Eve bends down to help him stand, but he holds up a hand. “Don’t. I have just enough strength not to embarrass myself further.”

“Let’s move then,” she says, turning her back on us.

We follow close behind as she heads into the woods. Tristan limps beside me, his breathing labored and punctuated by occasional gasps of pain. I’m surprised at how relieved I am to see him alive. After everything he’s put me through, I can’t help pitying him still. And hoping he’ll become a better man someday.

Eve might hold the power to do so. But even if she reciprocates whatever feelings he may have, she’s just as lost as he is. She has a lot to figure out for herself.

At least they both have a choice. Daniel and I no longer do. They’ve taken away his will, and I can’t imagine how he’ll ever become normal again. The Trackers in the past—the ones Eve attempted to torture for answers—died the moment they opened their mouths. What if the same thing happens to Daniel if I try to manipulate this curse they’ve placed on him?

I can’t leave him like this forever. There has to be a way to save him, and I don’t plan to ever give up on him. Now that I know Henry is gone, I’m lost and aimless. Saving Daniel will become my new purpose.

Something interrupts my thoughts. I come to a sudden stop, tapping Eve’s shoulder to prompt her to do the same. My eyes search the tangled, shadowed trees around us. It’s difficult to see in the darkness, but my ears work just fine. “I heard something that way,” I whisper, pointing in the direction we were headed.