Read The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 for Free Online Page A

“Daine, Jode couldn’t have restored my hand even when he was alive. I don’t know why you’re fixated on this, but there has to be another explanation—”
    “It was that bottle. The blue fluid.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    She was unconscious when I drank it. “It’s …” Daine scratched his back while he tried to put words together. “Last year, when we fought that thing in the sewers. Teral said that they were stealing dragonmarks. That they were going to steal
your
dragonmark.”
    Lei nodded. She shivered, no doubt remembering the chamber of horrors in the depths below Sharn.
    “You remember how we recovered a few bottles of black liquid down there? And gave them to Alina? Well, one of them wasn’t black … it was blue. And it had Jode’s dragonmark engraved on the seal.”
    “You’re saying … you
drank
his dragonmark?”
    “You’re the expert on magic here!” Daine said. “I don’t know what it was. But even the Jorasco healers couldn’t explain what happened to Jode, remember? I drank the potion, and then I saw Jode in my dreams. And now … I think he healed me.”
    “That’s impossible,” Lei said.
    “Tell it to your fingers,” Daine replied. “All ten of them.”
    Lei glanced down at her hand. “But he wasn’t in
my
dreams. And I told you, Jode couldn’t do that.”
    “If you say so,” Daine said. “Me, I’m not complaining.” He glanced at the other bedroll; the drow woman was still wrapped up in the blanket. “Have you checked to see …”
    “I wanted to help you first,” Lei said, glancing to the side.
    “Well, let’s see if the mystery healer paid our friend a visit.” Daine carefully drew back the blanket.
    Whatever force healed Daine and Lei hadn’t touched the dark elf. Her ebon skin bore dozens of cuts, and the blanket was covered with crusted blood. None of the wounds were deep, but the sheer number was appalling. Daine had seen far worse sights, but he still felt a deep weight on his heart. That warforged … thing … was looking for me. She just got in the way.
    “Heal her,” he said.
    “What?” Lei didn’t sound pleased.
    “You said you made a healing charm. I don’t need it. So heal her.”
    Lei hesitated, and Daine put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not asking you to like her, Lei. But the woman helped save you from the firebinders. She risked her life for us—less than a day after I beat her bloody myself. She was guarding our back when this happened.”
    Lei said nothing, and they stood in silence. Daine wondered what was going through her mind. Gerrion’s betrayal? “Lei,” he said at last. “Please.”
    She nodded and broke away from him, kneeling next to the drow woman. Lei took a silver coin from her purse and passed it over the injured woman, starting at her feet and slowly moving toward her head. A faint, resonant chime filled the chamber, and the multitude of cuts began to fade. The power of the charm was limited, and only a few of the injuries were completely healed. But deep gashes became shallow wounds, and signs of infection disappeared.
    The chime came to an end. The drow woman appeared to be sleeping, and Daine studied her. She was unquestionably elven, with fine features, large almond-shaped eyes, and long, pointed ears. Like most of the other elves Daine had encountered, she was short and slender—athletic, but built for speed instead of strength. Where most elves had light complexions, this woman’s skin was pitch black, a shade far darker than he’d ever seen on a human. This darkness was broken up by a web of pale white tattoos, abstract but almost hypnotic in their complexity. Her long hair was the color of moonlight, silvery-white and shimmering in the reflected flame. This cloak of hair covered more than her actual clothing. Vambraces made from some opalescent shell covered her forearms, and she wore shin-guards made from the same material. Aside from this armor, she wore a short, dark loincloth and a