Mar

10| Not Related by Blood

The door flies open, and I stumble into the Plunkers' kitchen. Running so far while carrying Asher has left me no breath to announce myself, but the door does that well enough as it crashes against the wall.

"What in the world? Mar?" Mrs. Plunker's eyes widen as she takes in the scene. "Is that— Oh-no."

"Save him." My tears make it hard to see or speak. I'm shaking but determined not to drop Asher. His breaths are so shallow.

Mrs. Plunker's horror solidifies into authority, and she moves as fast as I have ever seen her.

"Dr. Plunker, get in here!" She clears the centerpiece from the table. The doctor appears as Mrs. Plunker produces his bag of tools and I set Asher where she instructs.

The table is for eating, but they understand Asher is not supper. I'd be more worried if she told me to put him on the stove. Humans do weird things sometimes, and many of the doctor's tools look like mutated knives. Or forks.

As the doctor peels away Asher's ruined shirt and makeshift bandage, Asher catches his arm.

"Constance," he whispers, gray-green eyes barely open. "Call Constance. Great-grandmother will—" His words end in a wince as the doctor pours something over his wound.

"Are you hurt, too, Mar?" Mrs. Plunker reaches for my wrapped arm.

"I'm fine," I growl and pull away.

A cry from Asher yanks my attention back. The doctor only makes his wound bigger.

"Stop! You're hurting him." I shove at the doctor.

Mrs. Plunker's arms wrap my waist and tow me aside. "Do not interfere, Mar."

I fight her hold. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"Go outside, Mar," Asher orders.

"No." I don't want to. I'm here to protect him.

"You brought me here, and you led Nabal straight to these people. Go outside and make sure he didn't follow you."

New worries crawl over me, and I slink out the door, loath to leave him, though he's right.

I want to kick something, and the screaming barrel is an easy target. It launches over the porch rail and splinters on the ground. A resounding crack followed by silence. I am angry and vigilant, arms crossed, gaze sweeping the yard with constant strokes. I don't feel bad about breaking the barrel. It isn't alive. It can be fixed or replaced. When living things break...

No, I can't think that way. I trust Dr. Plunker. He'll make Asher better. Even out here, I hear them, but as moments march on, I hear Asher less and less, then not at all. I listen hard, waiting for him to make any sound, but he doesn't.

Panic explodes in me. I turn, about to burst through the door again when footsteps perk my ears. It's a hum-horse's tread.

With a snarl, I leap off the porch. The riders come within sight before my feet hit the ground. In the lead, the hum-horse clears the edge of the trees and unfurls his wings, all of him a raging mass of flames the color of Asher's eyes. He is the largest hum-horse I have ever seen, his shoulders higher than I can reach standing on my tiptoes. He stops inches from me, not because I am here, but because he won't fit on the porch.

His rider slides down his wing, completely ignoring me, and disappears through the door before I can confront her.

"Stop!" I bark as the other two dismount behind the hum-horse.

"We're with Lady Constance," one says as he unstraps a bag from his saddle.

"Mar, let them pass." Esperanza swoops in on Fengari. "They're here to help Asher."

As the two men rush past me, I growl but do not make myself any more of an obstacle. I trust Esperanza, yet I will not wait out here while all these strangers surround my Asher. I'm almost at the door when Esperanza catches my arm.

"You shouldn't have taken off with him like that." Her tone strips away any hero status I thought I had.

"I wanted to save him, and Uncle wasn't going to let me stay."

A slight smile curves her lips. "You call him Uncle?" With a shake of her head, the smile disappears. "He's not your uncle, Mar. He's Asher's uncle, and you took Asher away from the people who could help him."

The words sting, and I wince, shoulders hunched, eyes on her face but not meeting her gaze. I search for any mote of forgiveness.

She pulls me into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Mar, but if we lose him... If Asher dies..." She chokes on the words, and her tears wet my neck.

"If Asher dies, the world will end," I say.

"How overdramatic." She releases me and ruffles my hair. "Though you probably care about him as much as any of us."

"Mother always talks about how important family is."

Esperanza wipes her tears. "Asher's mother is not your mother, and she'd have a fit to hear you call her so."

"But Asher is my family. He considers you family, too, though you're not related by blood. You're like Dr. and Mrs. Plunker."

Her eyes widen, and pink blossoms on her cheeks as she turns away from me. "Don't let Asher's mother hear you say that either."

"Even Fengari knows. That's why he carries you, though he belongs to Asher."

"How wise you are for a three-year-old."

"Two-and-a-half."

"You're nearly four. It's been sixteen months since you and Asher were attacked in the woods and you ran off."

I flinch.

She hugs me again. "He believed you'd come back if you could. After a while, he figured those monsters must have killed you, but he never stopped looking."

"I... I want to go back inside." My voice is small and high-pitched. Words stick in my throat, and it's difficult to swallow around them.