Chapter Nine
The house wasquiet when I let myself back in and hung up my jacket. A door opened, and I turned to see Tor emerge from the hallway. He paused when he saw me, and his ears slowly turned a dark grey at the ends.
“Hey, Tor. Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sure? You look upset?”
“I am not upset. Adam was explaining females to me.”
Given the way his cheeks started to darken, I could imagine what he was explaining.
“Ah. That was nice of him?”
“He wanted to apologize for being rude.”
“Then, yes, that was nice of him. Are you hungry?”
Tor’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head as he gave a single, hesitant nod.
“I think there’s some roast left. Let me see what I can whip up while you sit and tell me more about where you use to live.” I moved toward the kitchen. “I was talking to Angel and Eden, and they told me that Uan’s family is thinking of returning him to the caves. Do you think they can fully heal him that way even after he’s been up here?”
Tor sat and watched me check the cupboards.
“What do you mean?”
“The girls said that the crystals changed you. Made it so you were reborn. Do you think being away from the crystals undid that change? What if they get there and he dies?”
“No. That is not how the crystal works. If he dies while wearing a crystal in the caves, he will be reborn, whole and healthy. He only needs to live long enough to make it to the caves.”
“And what are his chances of that?”
“The hellhound hurt him badly. If we were in the caves, he would have already asked one of us to end his suffering.”
A scrape of noise from the hall brought my head up. Adam stood in the hallway, clinging to a wall. Sweat beaded his forehead and he looked white as a sheet.
“Does it work on anyone?” he asked.
“Adam.” I dropped the can to the counter and hurried to his side. “You shouldn’t be walking. You said it hurt.”
“It’s fine,” he said even as he leaned on me.
“Would it work on me, Tor?” he asked.
It took me a moment to understand what he was saying.
“Are you insane? You’re not going to the caves so Tor can kill you. You do get that’s what he’s saying, right? They’re either going to kill Uan or let him die and hope their magic works to bring him back.”
“Yes. I fully understand what I’m asking.”
I looked at Tor, who hadn’t moved.
“I don’t know, Adam. When Mya was in the caves, she grew very sick. We returned to the surface to save her, and she did get better. But when the infected bit her, she didn’t become stupid. Mya believes the crystal began to change her, making her more like us. Drav believes it was sex with him that made her immune because Eden is also immune but did not go to the caves.”
“Wait, what?” Adam asked. “The women sleeping with the fey are immune?”
“Cassie believes so since two of the women bitten did not turn stupid.”