Llew didn’t want to get up. Her back was deliciously warm curled against Jonas’s torso. Even her bottom and backs of her thighs shared heat with his thighs, and his arm, looped over her waist, provided another counterpoint to the chill biting at her cheeks, and shoulders; one cold and damp against the ground, the other cold and damp from the settled dew and the light breeze whisking through the trees in the pre-dawn.

  She supposed they would warm up faster if they got moving. Still, she took a moment to imagine that a new child may already be forming within her belly and what that might mean. She would be able to heal Jonas with a touch. Would carrying his baby allow her to defeat Braph’s bug? Surely. That shared blood connected them in a way nothing else could.

  Was it too early to know? How had it worked the first time? One day she’d been normal, and the next she’d gained Syakaran strength. She guessed that was the time the barrier between them would’ve broken, too. Would that still happen now, with Jonas weak as he was? She had to hope so. They were hardly in a good space to raise a child at the moment, either, but they would have months to get that right. In the meantime, they needed to break that Aenuk-Karan barrier if Llew was going to keep Jonas healthy. It would almost certainly make it easier when it came time to attempt to return his powers.

  She rolled her hips, pressing back into Jonas.

  “Morning,” Rowan said from his watch post only a few steps away.

  Right. Yes. Not this morning, then. Llew sighed. Besides, she still didn’t know if she could grow any baby again. Even Syaenuks couldn’t grow back what was no longer there, and she had no evidence the Quaven doctor had left Llew her womb. At her least charitable, she could imagine him taking the opportunity to stop future Aenuks being born. But they had no time to despair over the unknown. Time to get on the road.

  “Morning,” she responded.

  She went to move Jonas’s arm, hoping he would resist, pull her tight against him and nuzzle the back of her neck, or rise enough to kiss her on the cheek, or behind the ear. It really didn’t matter where. Sadly, his arm remained relaxed and unresponsive as she moved it aside. She sat up and rubbed her shoulders vigorously, generating a modicum of heat that soon dissipated again, but it got a little blood flowing, at least. She looked back at Jonas, expecting to find him blissfully asleep.

  His eyes were open, if listless. Lifeless? Like her father in the night.

  “Jonas?” she gasped and gripped his shoulder, shaking him. Her eyes burned with the first tears. “Jonas?!”

  Jonas’s arm flailed in the air, brushing her hand aside. “Stop. I’m fine. Just tired, ’sall.”

  “Thank all that is holy.” Llew released a breath and wiped her eyes with her wrist. “I thought you were gone.” She slapped his shoulder. “Don’t do that to me.”

  He grimaced, giving her a flat look.

  “Shall we move?” Rowan asked through chattering teeth, rubbing his own arms to warm up. “I’m sure Elka will find us today.”

  “Yeah, let’s get going.” Llew jumped up and held out a hand to help Jonas up.

  He looked up at her for a few seconds, then raised his arm limply, waving it around like he was trying to line his hand up with hers, but he was far from making contact. She’d expected he would half sit up, meet her in the middle. She leaned farther, hoping she remained balanced enough not to topple once she took his weight. His hand met hers, his grip far from firm.

  “Um—” she started. She thought of letting go to throw herself forward and grasp farther up his arm, but she was pretty sure she’d end up falling on top of him. As tempting as winding him might have been, she would’ve settled for shaking him. It wasn’t time for games.

  Jonas relaxed his arm, letting his hand slip from hers. “I’m tired, Llew.”

  “That’s why we need to move.” Llew swung her arms, faking enthusiasm. “Get the blood flowing.” She jogged a few paces on the spot. “Warm up, wake up, and all that—”

  “No,” Jonas said. “I can’t.”

  “‘Can’t’. Why not?”

  Jonas managed a feeble shrug.

  “Are you in pain?”

  He shook his head. He hadn’t even lifted it from the ground.

  “What’s going on?” Rowan stepped closer.

  “I don’t know.” Llew studied Jonas. He hadn’t moved at all, except to brush her hand aside and give her funny looks. “Can you feel your legs— leg?”

  She got a flat scowl for that one. “Yes, I can feel everythin’. I just—” He blew his words out, like he was too exhausted to control the breath. “I’m just tired.”

  “Okay.” She drew the word out slowly, forcing herself to remain calm and trying to think of what to ask next. “Do you think you can wa—, you know. Get up? I’ll help.” She extended her arm again, bending farther, curving her arm, ready to support more of him.

  He lifted his arm and let it flop again.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “No.” For the first time, Llew thought she caught the hint of panic in Jonas’s voice.

  “What’s going on?” Rowan asked again.

  “How far is the road? Is Elka going to be able to find us here?”

  “No, we’re pretty deep. I was planning on making our way closer to the road today.” Rowan frowned down at Jonas.

  “Think you can lift him?” Llew asked.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Pick him up, and let’s get moving.”

  Braph had said Llew could fix Jonas, but that she might need to kill him to do it. That was when he was merely ‘normal’. She would almost certainly have to kill him now. She could only hope she carried his baby again, and if not that, the soul in the tree in Taither could connect with him. But Taither seemed even farther away now. If the bug attacking him didn’t stop, he’d most likely be dead before they reached anywhere near the Quaven border.

  She closed her eyes and sent out a silent prayer to whatever deity was out there that might listen as she collected Jonas’s crutches. Her knuckles whitened around the wooden aids and Llew breathed through a brief desire to shake Jonas awake. She’d told him she wasn’t losing him, and she’d meant it. She may have lived alone for seven years, but being with Jonas was better. Damn it all.

  “Which way to the road?”

  Grunting, Rowan heaved Jonas over a shoulder. “That way.” He waved to their left.

  Llew forged ahead leaving Rowan to follow. She didn’t intend for him to have to carry Jonas for long, just closer to the road where they could keep watch for Elka. When she caught a glimpse of the dusty trail all traffic heading north from Northhollow took, she signaled a stop.

  Rowan stooped and let Jonas slip from his shoulder. Jonas gave every indication of being unconscious, giving himself no aid as he slid to the ground, floppy. But his eyes were open. Rowan puffed out a breath and shook out his arms, rolled his shoulders.

  “Thanks.” Llew spared Rowan a brief grateful smile then got down on her knees beside Jonas. “You okay?”

  Jonas shook his head, and his ‘no’ was barely audible through the emotion choking him up.

  Llew positioned herself as comfortably as possible, dragged his torso into her lap and pressed his head to her chest.

  Rowan leaned over them. “Are you going to be able to heal him?”

  “I don’t know.” Llew’s words came out hoarse, and not much louder than Jonas had managed. She wrapped both her arms around him and held him to her like her favorite plush pony the morning she’d woken to discover her father had abandoned her. Not abandoned. Led Braph astray. But she hadn’t known that at the time, just as she didn’t know if she could save Jonas. Things would look different when they were safe.

  Jonas allowed himself to sob silently into Llew’s embrace. He’d lashed out, hiding his fear behind anger when he’d first begun to lose his powers. That he would allow himself to let go in her arms – let her feel his fears – had a strangely empowering effect on her. His fears were well founded – she was scared, too – but his faith that she could bear his burden with him shored up her determination to do so.

  “Stay with me,” she whispered against the back of his head. “Your son will fall in love with you once he gets to know you.”

  He stilled at her words, breathing deeply.

  “There will be a way,” she said. “All you have to do is stay. I’ll do the rest.”

  He relaxed into her, as if he’d fallen asleep. Only the flutter of his eyelashes against her shirt let her know he was conscious.

  Rowan rested a hand of Llew’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  Llew looked up at him. “Yeah,” she said. Whether it was true, she didn’t know. She wasn’t the one drained of everything she had, she wasn’t the one missing half a limb and, at least for now, she still had Jonas, so she supposed she was okay. But she was beginning to panic. She’d thought they could save the Aenuks and Jonas’s son whether Jonas regained his full powers or not, but they certainly couldn’t do it if Jonas could barely stand on his own. Everything she’d come to value and hope for since she’d walked out of Cheer lay crumpled against her chest. “I hope Elka makes it through.”

  Rowan squeezed her shoulder. “She’ll make it. Ma wasn’t going to let them see her at the house, so there’s no reason to think she’s compromised.”

  “I hope your ma’s okay.” Llew was sick of leaving a trail of hurt and destruction behind them. If only the rest of the world would let them be.

  Rowan made a noise in the back of his throat, casting some doubt on his following words, “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  Jonas slept, his head in Llew’s lap, his brow furrowed. She kept running a hand through his hair, taking care to work any knots free without hurting him. Less than a month ago his hair had been short. Now, it fell past his shoulders again, magically regrown by Braph to make him more recognizable to the Turhmos public. With that thought, maybe they should have cut it again. She liked it short, and she didn’t. She couldn’t deny that a look from him with his hair short and slightly spiky did things to her that his longer-haired self didn’t quite, but there was still an under-current of revulsion at his resemblance to Braph. She turned her thoughts from the magician, not wanting to invite him into her thoughts, her head.

  Rowan placed himself with his back to a tree, just out of clear sight from the road. He nodded to Llew, signaling his alertness, and permission for her to be at ease. With a grateful smile, she let herself forget, for the moment, that they were on the run and hiding. It was just her and Jonas, and they were on their way back to Merrid and Ard’s farm. No hunting parties. No Braph.