Chapter 312
Chapter 312
“What are you going to do p>
I splayed my fingers in the dirt, separating my pinky from the rest. “I’m going to cut off my finger p>
My mother went pale. “What? No. Avery, you can’t do that p>
“Please trust me.” I swallowed down the lump in my throat and positioned the knife over my pinky. If I could just get it in one swift move, it would be over quickly. The bones in that finger were small and delicate. I just needed to persevere. “If I leave a piece of myself behind, Gideon will think I was attacked by wild animals. That they dragged me off and ate me. He won’t come looking for a corpse p>
My mother shot to her feet, but crumpled immediately, falling to her knees. “Don’t do this!” she pleaded. “Avery, this is insane”
“I can heal it.” I met her eyes. “I healed Gideon’s wounds before. I can heal this too p>
My mother stared at me. Tears were streaming down her face. “Avery, you can’t p>
I didn’t give her a chance to finish. I took a deep breath, steadying myself.
Just do it, I thought to myself. Quick. Like ripping off a bandage.
The breath loosed from my lips just as I brought the knife down.
The pain was unlike anything I’d felt before. I bit down on my lip to keep from screaming. The blade hit the bone. Blood poured onto the dirt, pooling around my hand.
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My vision went white. I thought I might pass out.
But the finger came free.
I gasped and pulled my hand back, cradling it against my chest. Blood was everywhere. The severed finger lay on the ground, pale and lifeless.
My mother was beside me in an instant. “Oh, Avery, Oh, sweetheart.
I couldn’t speak. The pain was too much, Bu I forced myself to focus. I had to heal it.
I closed my eyes and reached for the moonlight. Even in the greenhouse, even with the sun rising, I could feel it. The Moon Goddess’s power flowing through me, like a cool hand on my shoulder.
I placed my good hand over the wound and focused.
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Chapter 312
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Warmth spread through my palm. I felt the flesh beginning to knit back together, the bone regrowing. It was slow and agonizing, but it was working.
When I opened my eyes, my hand was whole again, and the wound in my chest had closed, too, although I was still covered in blood.
My mother stared with her mouth agape. “How p>
“I told you.” I flexed my new finger. It looked exactly like the old one. “The Moon Goddess gave me this gift p>
I stood and wiped the blood off on my underclothes. I picked up the severed finger and placed it near the door. I didn’t need to do much else; the rest would be obvious. Deirdre was still laying on the ground, unconscious, and the greenhouse was a mess from the fight.
“We need to go,” I said. “Now, before anyone comes looking p>
My mother nodded. She was still staring at my hand, but she didn’t argue.
We left through the back of the greenhouse and headed toward the forest. I knew there was a river about a mile east. If we followed it downstream, it would take us to the border. From there, we could catch a boat to the human lands.
By the time we reached the river, the sun was high overhead. I could hear shouting and the barking of wolves in the distance. Gideon must have returned and was searching for us. We picked up our pace, crossing the river to dull our scents, then followed it downstream.
It took hours. But finally, somehow, exhausted, bloody, and dirty, we reached the border. There was a small dock there, and a boat tied to the post.
I helped my mother into the boat and untied the rope. The current grabbed us immediately, pulling us downstream.
Behind us, I heard the shouting grow closer The howls of wolves echoed in the air. I didn’t look back. I just grabbed the oars and started rowing.
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