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"Cute," I said

Kiyo turned to iven him "You okay?"

"A little veno tomorrow"

He nodded, relieved, and then did a double take "You’re bleeding"

"Am I?" I asked, almost as surprised as he was

He hurried over tomy neck to look back "That’s the table injury"

"Take off your shirt And don’t even start with so erly lifted off the M&outhe shirt, I saw blood soaked in it

"Bad?" I asked

"I’ll know once I take the bandages off Please tell me you have more and that we don’t have to reuse these"

"I’ve got ht supplies"

Carefully, he peeled off the gash’s cloth coverings and tossed thelow of sunrise, I could see the fabric was completely red with blood

"You broke some stitches," he said wearily "I don’t have the tools to fix it" I’d once been kind of freaked out that he used his veterinarian skills to patch battle wounds, but now I kind of took it in stride

"Pain aside, is that going to h I’ll wrap it as et it stitched again Once we finish this craziness up, I can do it for you back in Tucson if you don’t want to explain it to your doctor"

"My regular one’s kind of used to this," I said

He snorted "I iine so"

I fetched ht was increasing,it easier for hies were tossed away, and I winced as he swabbed everything with antiseptic wipes

"I thought the danger didn’t start until ere in the crown’s cave," I muttered

"As often happens, mistress, you’ve ends say the path to the crown is perilous We are on the path Your testing has begun"

"Fantastic Ow!"

"I’ you from infection," chastised Kiyo That see, thankfully, and froauze and tape What he did was far froentle and steady his hands could be after seeing hilanced over at Deanna, who had siht I caught a glimpse of relief on her face My death would have put a serious hitch in our bargain

"How long until the entrance? When we lose you guys?" I asked Annoying or not, Volusian would be missed - especially if these snakes were just the warm-up act

"A few hours," said Deanna

I frowned, unsure if I should dread it or not We’d lose our backup but be thatthis anti-vacation

"I suppose it’d be too ht any painkillers?" asked Kiyo, still layering me up I felt like I had a quilt on my back

"Vicodin probably isn’t the best asset for i more like aspirin"

"Nope" But it did reantly thought I didn’t need theilance Not that I wanted to ad a doctor was that he’d always been onbetter care of myself I didn’t want to hear any I-told-you-so’s now And unsurprisingly, there was more advice to come

He finished the last of the tape and helpedthis is a nuisance, but any gentry healer could have fixed this up in their sleep Dorian’s got great healers Why didn’t he have one of them take care of this? He should know better"

I shifted around so I faced him "How on earth did this suddenly beco evil? Of course he offered to get a healer I refused because I figured other people needed it otten to ask Shaya

Kiyo’s expression relaxed and actually grew apologetic He looked away "Of course you did I’etting I’d be foolishly altruistic?"

Kiyo turned back, a small smile on his lips "What do you think? There’s very little I feel apologetic for when it comes to Dorian, especially when I’’s heir"

I smiled back "I’m sure he does too But it’s a ot birth control pills I still don’t want any kids My life’s stressful enough" Belatedly, I recalled his adoration of Luisa "No offense"

"None taken," he said, still s you I just keep thinking " The s what?"

"I don’t know That one day this will all get to you And I don’tYou’ll totally give yourself over to this world I’ll lose the Eugenie I know"

I grabbed his hand without thinking and squeezed it "Hey, stop that You said it yourself: trust enie Still split between identitiesbut nothing can change that"

"I know" He continued holding ers, which had been so objectivelyware, as those dark eyes stayed fixed oninto them like I used to, into those sexy, s that dangerous touch "Well," I said aardly, "seeing as it’s already light out and we’re up, weBreakfast in the saddle?"

Kiyo rose too, looking troubled "Sure The sooner we’re , the sooner we’re past any snake threats"

As we packed up and got back on the horses, I wondered if ere riding toward so: they’d been bad But I fought supernatural creatures all the time There’d been soto involve a hts to s to preoccupy er breakfast Kiyo’s presence The pain inbehind the scattered holes in the terrain

On the road went, just as it would through any part of the Otherworld I wondered how far it went To infinity? Or would a traveler sie, like on those maps made back when people believed the world was flat?

"This is it"

Deanna’s voice, though soft, seemed harsh in the elanced around, searching for what she’d found At last, I spotted a s tucked in one of the iron mountains

"That’s it? It seems sosmall"

"Out here it does," said Kiyo "We don’t knohat’s insideexcept that it’s going to coentry It’s a test you’re lucky enough to skip Hopefully"

"True," I murmured I still felt no ostensible effects from this land, but ould happen inside the o inside," said Deanna "I’ll just wait here for you to come out"

"I too shall wait," said Volusian, "in the hopes that you es, so that I may torment it for all eternity"

I pushed away the desire to order him away Even if he couldn’t follow us, I’d feel better having hiht here for defense e came out And ould come out, I decided fiercely There was no if here

I leftas I had no a the rest ofthe silver athalanced at Kiyo

"Ready?"

He nodded "I’ll go first"

It was a veryto do I let hi us luck The cave we entered was pitch black and cra and knew Kiyo had to walk slightly hunched We followed the twists and turns, scraping against the close, rough walls We spoke occasionally to check location, and I’d sometimes touch his back as well The deeper ent, the ain, I had no indications of weaknessjust an awareness

"Light," said Kiyo suddenly

I blinked He was right I saw no light source, but soht down the tunnel It started as only faint illuliht increasedas did the heat A roaring sound ca about this," I said

We rounded a corner, and my jaw nearly dropped The path ahead was blocked by fire To be precise, it was blocked by sheets of very neatly contained fire, giving the i froically flattened into sheets or not, the flah the corridor left no doubt that these bastards would incinerate us

"I think I saw this in a video gaaze was fixed unwaveringly on the fire blades There were five of them His face was blank, but the concentration in his eyes toldtheir patterns

"They’re staggered in a way that would let us get through," he said "We just have to watch the tih I don’t know aboutthe truth Kiyo possessed reflexes I didn’t have I could sit here for hours and probably not learn their patterns like he could

He frowned "Maybe I can just hold your hand Or put you on my back"

"What? No That’s ridiculous It’d affect your speed - throw you off" I studied the fla patterns There were spaces between each sheet "Maybe I can wing it, take them one at a time"

"Now that’s a ridiculous idea" Frustration lined his brow

"And to think, I would have given anything for heat last night We should have camped in here" My joke trailed off as an idea cah"

The look he gave me required no words to convey his opinion

"Seriously," I said I put ic withinand weaving them like a scarf Kiyo could feel the shift in te?"