Aren rubbed the back of his neck, his face pained. He clearly wanted to go. “It’s too dangerous to go by myself,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll wait until things settle down.”
“When was the last time things settled down for us, Aren?” Em asked. “That may never happen.”
“I’ll go with you,” Galo blurted out. Em and Aren both looked at him in surprise. He shared the emotion. The idea had been in the back of his mind for days, but he wasn’t sure he was crazy enough to actually make the offer.
Mateo was going to be really, really mad.
He pushed the thought away and looked at Aren. “You need help, don’t you?”
“Sorry?”
“Going to Olso. You just said it was too dangerous to go by yourself, and none of the Ruined can go right now. Wouldn’t a human be more help to you anyway? You said we fuel your power.”
“Y—yes?” Aren stuttered, unable to believe what Galo was clearly getting at.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Why?” Aren asked, with growing incredulity.
“You need help. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I want to help.” He turned to Em before Aren could protest. “If that’s all right with you. Can you make it to Royal City by yourselves?”
“We can manage.”
“Tell Cas I went with Aren? And tell Mateo . . .” Galo winced. “Um. Tell him I’m sorry. But I had to.”
“Sure. I can do that.” She traded a look with Aren, raising her eyebrows just slightly, and Aren nodded. If Galo were going to guess, that was a You better not let him die look. Nerves exploded in his stomach. Mateo was right. He really did feel the need to save everyone.
Em reached down and squeezed Aren’s hand briefly. “Be careful in Olso. I hope you find Iria.”
“I will.”
Em took off, the Ruined following behind her. Aren strapped his bag to a horse, and Galo mounted another. He’d lost his bag when Olivia attacked, and he certainly didn’t have time to look for it now.
“That cut looks bad,” Aren said, pointing to his face. “Do you want to bandage it before we go?”
He gingerly touched the gash above his eyebrow. His fingers came away bloody. “It’s fine. I’d rather put some distance between us and Olivia first.”
Aren nodded. He looked down at his shirt, which was covered in blood. “Good idea.”
They rode west, in the direction of Olso, until it was pitch-black. Galo’s head was pounding and he wondered if perhaps he’d hit it so hard that he’d lost his mind.
He was going to Olso.
With Aren.
There was still time to turn back. He could apologize and say that perhaps the blow to the head had been harder than he thought, because he’d temporarily lost his mind. Aren wouldn’t try to make him stay.
Galo let out a long sigh. He wasn’t going to back out. As much as the logical part of the brain was screaming at him, he couldn’t ignore the little voice that said Aren needed, and deserved, his help.
“Let’s stop here,” Aren said after they’d been riding at least an hour. “There’s a stream over there, and we should let the horses rest.”
Galo nodded gratefully. He needed the rest as well. He hadn’t slept much the past few days. He’d been busy racing messages between Aren and the Lera soldiers.
Aren dismounted his horse, then took the reins from Galo and led both horses to the stream to drink.
Galo slumped down against a tree, letting out a breath as he pressed his palms against his throbbing forehead.
Aren grabbed his pack off the horses and opened it. He pulled out a clean rag and poured some water on it, then grabbed a jar from the bottom of his bag. He walked to Galo and sat down, lifting the rag to his head.
He stopped suddenly, hand still poised. “Do you mind? We should clean it so it doesn’t get infected.” He held up the jar. “It’s a salve to help heal the wound.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
Aren pushed Galo’s hair back and wiped the cloth across the wound.
“You came prepared,” Galo said.
“I had nothing to treat my burns after fleeing the Ruina castle,” Aren said. “I’d never needed anything; Wenda Flores or Olivia healed me the few times I was injured. Now I always have a bag packed with medical supplies.”
Galo winced as Aren dabbed the salve over the cut above his eyebrow. “Olivia didn’t heal your burns after you rescued her?”
“She couldn’t. You can’t heal an old wound. The window is very short.”
“And you can’t heal at all?”
“Sadly, no.” Aren scooted back and lifted his shirt to examine his own wound.
“Do you want help?” Galo asked.
“I’m fine.” He grabbed a fresh rag and began cleaning the cut. “It doesn’t seem fair, does it?”
“What?”
“That Olivia can heal and I can’t. She has no interest in healing anyone.” His next words were quieter. “Your power is a gift, but you have to choose what to do with it. My mother used to say that.”
Galo didn’t know how to respond, and silence stretched out between them as Aren finished tending to his wound.
“Why did you come with me?” Aren asked softly.
Galo let out a short laugh and leaned his head back against the tree. “Because I’m crazy?”
“That was my first guess.” He paused. “You don’t really even know Iria, do you?”
“I think we’ve spoken maybe five words to each other.”
“So . . . ?”
Galo stared up at the sky, black in between the tree branches. “Mateo says I have to save everyone.”
“Is that true?”
“Maybe. A little. I was a king’s guard, it was my job to save people. Or protect them, at least.”
“True.” Humor crept into Aren’s voice. “Are you going to protect me, then?”
“It seems so.”
“You should sleep,” Aren said, pulling a blanket from his pack. He tossed it to Galo. “I’ll watch.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll need to sleep more when we get closer to the Olso border, so my powers are sharp. And you look ready to pass out.”
Galo tucked the blanket under his head as he lay down. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Aren said quietly. “For coming with me.”
“You’re welcome,” Galo said. “Do you think Iria is expecting you to come?”
It took Aren several seconds to answer. “I don’t know. I told her I would, but . . . I don’t think she’s going to be happy to see me.” He said the second part quietly, almost to himself.
“Why not?”
“I was going to leave her in Lera and go with the Ruined. She was really mad.”
“You’re going to break her out of prison. I think she’ll come around.”
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
Aren looked at him skeptically. “Seriously?”
“Of course. You had a really tough choice to make. You couldn’t just abandon the Ruined to Olivia. Not when you’re the most powerful one.”
“The most powerful one,” Aren repeated under his breath, almost like he didn’t believe it. “This is crazy, isn’t it? Going to Olso right now?”
“Yes. But I’d do the same thing. Obviously.”
“I guess that means you’re crazy too.”
Galo smiled as he closed his eyes. “I guess so.”
TWENTY-TWO
CAS BURST OUT of the castle door and ran down the dirt path. The sun was setting, and he shielded his eyes as he squinted at the main gates. Four guards stood in front of them, matching terrified expressions on their faces.
“Open them,” Cas said breathlessly.
The guards did as he ordered. Beside him, Jorge tensed. He gestured at a few other guards to surround Cas.
Em stood on the other side of the gates. She wore black pants and a loose gray tunic, both of which were dirty. Her dark hair was pulled back haphazardly, and she had deep circles under her eyes. She was obviously exhausted, her olive skin paler than usual.
Behind her were more Ruined, most of whom Cas had never even seen before. There were about sixty, most of them just as haggard as Em.
But there was no one else. No Lera soldiers. No Galo.
His heart dropped as he met Em’s eyes again. She didn’t smile at him. He stepped forward slowly.
“Galo?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“He’s fine,” Em said quickly. His heart shifted back into place. She closed her eyes briefly, like she was too tired to think. “I’m sorry. I should have said it right away. He went with Aren to Olso. To rescue Iria.”
“He went where?”