move down my limbs—down my arms—as I let it release from my palms and fingertips. More and more, I pulled the light from my sun and pushed it outward.
Sweat collected at my temples. Pain began to radiate up my spine. I ignored it and kept going. "Cress..." Sorrell's voice was far away. "Roan's on his way—I sent out—"
Whatever he was saying was cut off as I shook my head and forced myself to concentrate on the task at hand. More light poured from me. My head began to ache. The warmth was dying down. It wasn't enough. Tears pricked behind my closed eyes. No, I had to give him more.
"Cressida," Sorrell's voice came from miles away. As if he were yelling over a vast amount of space. "You have to stop."
Stop? I thought. No I couldn't do that. Not until Orion was safe.
"Now, Cress!" Sorrell sounded angry. Had he ever called me Cress before instead of Changeling or Cressida? It seemed like such a stupid thought to have in the moment, but I couldn't help the wandering of my mind as I felt my body sag.
My eyes opened, but it felt as though I was lifting rocks off of them just to crack them. Beneath me, I saw that the black lines marring Orion's flesh had receded. Sorrell's ice cold gaze stared at me. "Stop," he ordered.
My head swam, and I had to put my hands on the stone floor to prevent myself from falling over. I was so dizzy that I didn't even notice that Sorrell had already stood and picked up Orion, slinging him over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Roan's coming," he stated. "He'll be here soon."
I would never know, I thought in the next instant because, as I tried to stand back up, the whole world grew distant and I felt myself falling back into oblivion.
Chapter Fourteen
Cress
The first thing I heard when the world slowly came back to me was someone talking—a female. Whoever she was, she was really close. Practically right next to me, and she was nervous. Was she crying? The sound of sniffles reached my ears and I couldn't keep my eyes shut anymore.
Before I could seek out the girl, my eyes settled on my surroundings. Familiar stone walls that didn't have bugs crawling out of the cracks. No cobwebs either. But what told me that I was truly, finally back in the Court of Crimson was the little buzzing noise and then a flit of wings above my head as a pixie carried a big, fat, delicious looking bread roll. My mouth watered. My stomach rumbled.
"Cress?" The sound of my name being called in that familiar voice had my eyes seeking the girl out.
"Nellie." Her name came out on a croak. Gods, my throat was parched, but I'd never been happier to see my best friend in my life.
Nellie flung herself at me, her arms going around my neck as I placed my elbows on the bed and tried to leverage myself up. The pixie above me jumped and the roll slipped from his tiny little hands and dropped on my head before rolling onto the mattress beneath me.
"I'm so glad you're awake," Nellie said. "We didn't know what to think. You collapsed on the way back and—"
"I'm fine," I assured her as the fingers of my free hand sought out the roll the pixie had dropped. I hoped he hadn’t been carrying it anywhere to go to anyone else because I was famished. I shoved the whole thing into my mouth until my cheeks bulged and then quickly hugged my best friend back. Sweet, delicious yeast—my Gods this was the best thing I'd ever eaten in my life.
Even as dry as my throat was, it went down easily and already I wanted more. Maybe being cooped up in a tower and fed mystery soup and moldy bread for days on end would do that to a girl, but right then, I could've eaten a whole mountain of these things.
I coughed and sat up even more as Nellie pulled back and wiped quickly beneath her eyes. "You have no idea how worried I've been," she said, reaching for something on the table alongside the bed. I sighed in relief as she lifted a mug of water towards me.
Without even hesitating, I took it from her and downed what was in the cup. "I think I have some idea," I told her as I finished the drink and handed the empty mug