It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts

Author:Andrew Shvarts [Shvarts, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780759555990
Google: 0YINEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1368057950
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2021-07-05T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

Now

The next few hours are a haze.

I remember a few scattered images: the Nethros lifting me up on their shoulders, the crowd swarming the arena, the professors shouting and arguing, the heat, the din, the light. I remember my heart thundering against my ribs, the world throbbing red and black, the pain and exhaustion and exultation and relief. I remember the world growing dark before collapsing hard onto the grass.

I awake in the infirmary, a long stark-white building at the far end of campus, in a firm bed hidden behind a billowing white canopy. I can’t see the other students there, but I can hear them, other victims of the Balitesta game. The room hums with moans and groans, a few scattered sobs and other more awful sounds, hacking gasps and crunching bone. There’s a bandage wrapped around my head, holding a gauze to the cut in the back, and my skin is glowing a soft, sparkling green. Healing Glyphs. Good ones too, because all those aches and pains are gone, replaced by a floaty numbness.

“Welcome back,” a voice says.

I roll over. It’s Talyn, sitting in a chair by my bedside. He’s still wearing his gear from the Balitesta game, dirt-stained leather, and he looks rougher than I’ve ever seen him, with messy hair and a long gash running along his forehead. “What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I wanted to make sure you were all right. You fell pretty hard back there.” His lips twist into a playful smirk. “If you died, I wanted to make sure I was here to hold your hand and hear your dramatic last words.”

“You’re out of luck then, because I’m definitely not dying.” I sit up. A dull pain flares in the side of my temples, but otherwise, I feel fine. “Are you even supposed to be in here?”

“No.” He shrugs. “That’s what windows are for.”

I have to fight back my smile. “You didn’t have to come here.”

“I know. But I wanted to.” He slides forward, extending me his hand. “Now, are you going to lie there for another hour until a nurse comes to check on you, or do you want me to show you just how I did it?”

Now the grin’s too strong to fight. I take his hand, savoring its warmth, and I let him help me up out of the bed. My body aches but I can still move well enough, and we sneak out of my canopy, ducking behind a pillar and then sliding out through an open window. We’re on the first floor, but the window is still up pretty high, so Talyn goes first and then helps me out, one hand firm on my hip and the other holding mine. He’s strong, deceptively strong for that lean frame.

Once we’re both on the ground, he steps back and offers me his arm. “Now then. May I have the honor of escorting the glorious victor back to her dorm?”

“Only if you promise never to call me that again,” I say, and slide my arm through his, and, Gods help me, I love how he feels.

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