The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst

Author:Sarah Beth Durst [Durst, Sarah Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062888662
Google: eh3qDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2021-03-09T00:00:00+00:00

“I hate you,” Kreya heard Zera say.

Eyes still closed, Kreya smiled.

“Hah, you’re awake. Knew it.” Raising her voice, Zera called, “Jentt, she’s awake! Just faking it now to mess with us.” Her voice sounded brittle.

Squinting, Kreya tried to open her eyes. Sunlight stabbed them, and she closed them again. She’d seen enough to know a figure loomed over her, probably Zera, which meant she wasn’t dead. “It worked,” Kreya croaked.

“If you mean you almost killed yourself, then yes, it worked.”

“You’re alive.”

“I know I’m supposed to say thank you,” Zera said, “but I’m too pissed at you. There was no guarantee you’d survive the venom a second time. You were unconscious for days. Again. Idiot. Selfish, stubborn idiot.”

Her hand didn’t hurt, she noticed. Someone must have stitched up her wound and bound it properly. Her body felt like it had been flattened with an enormous rolling pin, but she could feel it, which had to be a good sign. “You’re welcome.”

She heard footsteps nearby and cracked her eyes open again. Zera was beside her, in a chair, and Jentt now filled the doorway. She managed a smile at him. “Are you going to yell at me too?” She was aware the question sounded pathetic.

“No,” he said.

But he didn’t come closer than the doorway.

“You’re angry.” It wasn’t a guess. It was an obvious fact. “I’m sorry I risked myself, but Zera was on the brink of death, and I knew—”

“You didn’t even wake me. Much less talk to me first.”

That was true. But she’d been afraid of what he’d say, that he’d try to talk her out of it. Not talking it over first allowed her to be brave. “I thought you’d tell me not to do it.”

“I could have helped you,” he said. “Instead I woke to you bleeding and unconscious. And missing—” He sucked in air as if trying to compose himself. “You used my knife, and you didn’t wake me. We’re supposed to be a team, Kreya. All of us, remember?”

She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the pain in his face.

“I know you’ve been on your own for a long time, but I’m here now—”

“And that means I could lose you again.” She opened her eyes, looked at Jentt, and then looked at Zera. “I could lose all of you. Nearly did. I can’t bear that.”

“And what if we lost you?”

“I—”

Amazingly, it wasn’t something she’d ever thought about.

Zera patted her hand, the one that still had all five fingers. “I love you too, idiot.” Leaning over, she kissed Kreya’s forehead. “Get some more rest.”

She left the room, and Jentt stepped back to allow her to pass. He lingered in the doorway for a while, looking as if he had more to say but pressing his lips together so he wouldn’t say it.

Exhaustion pulled on all of her muscles like a heavy weight. “Do you forgive me?”

He was silent for a moment. “No.”

Fine. She deserved that. “Will you forgive me?”

This time, he didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

Good enough.

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