“Why lie down?” Valek asked.

“Just in case you pass out. Unless you want to hit your head on the floor?”

“I’m not the fainting type,” Valek muttered, but he settled on the mattress.

“Have you been injected with your blood after losing your magic before?” Hayes asked, knowing full well Valek hadn’t. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” He tied a band around Valek’s bicep, right below a cut that had been sealed but still remained bright red. Hayes traced his thumb over the injury, and Valek sucked in a quick breath. “This is getting infected. Do you want me to heal it now or after?”

“Later. If my magic returns, I’ll be able to heal myself.”

“That’s good to know. I can always use help in the infirmary.”

“Walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Yep.” Hayes pressed the needle into Valek’s arm and pushed the plunger. Red liquid disappeared into his vein.

I suppressed the impulse to hold his hand. The baby’s magic-sucking ability might interfere. Instead, I hovered nearby.

Valek stiffened. He squeezed his eyes shut as his fingers curled into fists.

“Talk to me,” Hayes said. “What’s going on?”

“It burns.” He arched his back. “Too hot...” A red flush swept over his pale skin, leaving beads of sweat in its wake. Valek jerked again. Then his head lolled back.

I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands as I stood there, utterly useless. Glancing at Hayes’s calm expression didn’t help. “Is he all right?”

The Healer touched Valek’s neck. “The toxin in his body is fighting the clean blood. It has overwhelmed his system.”

“And that means?”

“He lost consciousness.”

I bit back a sarcastic reply about stating the obvious. Instead I asked, “Will he wake up?”

“I hope so. Time will tell.”

Must. Not. Strangle. Healer Hayes. Once I clamped down on my panic, I dragged a chair closer to Valek’s bed and sat down to wait. There was nothing else I could do. As I watched my husband thrash about as if in the grip of a fever, I alternated between sitting and standing. Each position eventually caused my lower back to ache.

The hours added up. One day turned into two. I slept in the next bed, close but not touching. Visitors came as our friends and family returned from the various garrisons. Leif mixed his sustaining teas.

I paced around Valek’s bed. After everything he’d gone through—being knifed in his heart, being captured by Owen, fighting Onora and the Commander—to be taken out by his own blood? The desire to scream at fate clawed up my throat.

On the third day, Healer Hayes suggested I touch Valek. “The baby might neutralize the magic, and he’ll wake up.”

Without his magic. Better than without his life. But it was the “might” that caused me to hesitate. When I heard that Ari and Janco had returned, I asked Fisk to bring Janco right away.

I pounced on him as soon as he entered the infirmary. “You saw those survivors in the Greenblade forest. Did they say anything about the Harman sap that might help Valek?”

Janco’s movements lacked his customary grace. He appeared tired and was probably in pain. The mischievous spark didn’t flash from his gaze as he stood next to Valek’s bed. “Wish I could help, but all I know is Selene reduced the concentration of the sap until it stopped killing her test subjects. She would know. Did she survive?”

“I don’t know.”

Energized, Janco squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll find out.”

“I doubt she’ll cooperate.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem.” A fierce expression gripped his face.

For the first time in days, I had a reason to hope. However, the next day Janco returned with Ari, and they both looked glum.

“Sorry, Yelena,” Janco said. “The survivors of Selene’s experiments were freed, and they managed to find and kill her.”

There was nothing left to do but try Hayes’s suggestion. I stood next to Valek’s bed and cupped his sweaty cheek. He stilled and sighed. But he didn’t wake.

“He might be exhausted,” Hayes said. “Give him some time.”

* * *

While we waited, there was a succession of meetings in the Council Hall. At one point, everyone who had been involved in stopping the Cartel, plus the two Master Magicians and Cahil, all assembled in the Hall. Twenty-eight people total, if you didn’t include the three scribes who took turns writing everything down. Each of the teams reported what had happened at the garrisons. Fisk and I explained what had occurred at the Citadel. Then I related Valek’s adventures in Ixia.

“Do you think the Commander plans to invade Sitia in the near future?” Councilor Tama Moon asked me.

“As long as the Sitian Council remains in power, he will not get involved or attempt to take control of Sitia. However, if you are compromised again, the Commander will act.”

“Noted. And you say he’s open to having a Liaison again.”

“Yes.”

“Yelena, would you be willing to resume your duties as the Liaison?” Councilor Featherstone asked.

Would I? I rested my hand on my belly. Hiccups vibrated against my palm. “Not at this time. I’m going to be busy with other duties the next few years.”

Smiles ringed the room, but I couldn’t share their good humor while Valek remained unconscious.