Cervical vertebrae. The higher the number, the closer to the skull and the worse the injury. “Don’t talk.”
“C4 is crushed,” the medmage whispered. “Spinal cord damaged. It hurts to breathe.”
I resumed chanting, pulling the magic to me in a desperate rush. His neck wasn’t just broken. Broken would be okay. The fight had flattened Doolittle’s neck. The crucial upper vertebrae had shattered, cutting the link between his brain and his body. He was shutting down.
“Nonsense, Darrien.” Aunt B crouched by him. “Of course you can. Kate will heal you.”
No, I can’t.
“I’m bleeding internally. I can’t stop it.” His voice dissolved into a hoarse groan.
Heat rolled down my cheeks.
“Don’t cry.” Doolittle smiled. “Please don’t. I had a long life . . . A long useful life.” His voice broke into a horrible noise. He sounded like he was choking. “I’m . . . ready.”
“We’re not!” George cried out.
My lips moved. I willed him to live with each whispered word, but he was fading, slipping through my fingers. Doolittle had saved me more times than I could count. I would keep him alive. Whatever magic I had, it was his. It would have to be enough.
Live, I willed. Please, please live. Please don’t go.
He slipped further away from me. I was losing him, just like I had lost Bran.
I chanted, concentrating all my will on that little spark.
The world faded. The noises receded.
My lips moved, whispering the words on, and on, and on . . . It was a very simple chant that most people in my line of work learned. It was designed to boost the body’s regeneration, and I poured all of myself into it. Only the next word and the tiny bit of magic it invoked mattered. If only I could claw myself open to get at the magic to keep him alive, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
My lips were numb. I couldn’t feel my legs. The bottom half of me turned into a hole filled with pain. Too much magic drained too quickly.
Doolittle’s eyes rolled back in his skull.
“Kate!” George yelled.
“Let me through!” Hugh roared in the back. “Let me through, damn it!”
Half a dozen snarls answered.
The chant had consumed me. I’d sunk every iota of my magic into it and now I struggled to break free. My voice was a mere whisper. “Let.”
Curran crouched by me.
“Let him.” Let him in.
Curran rose. “Let him through.”
A moment later Hugh knelt by Doolittle. “Broken neck.”
“Yes.”
Hugh looked at me, his blue eyes studying me.
“Do you want him to live?”
“Yes.”
Hugh rocked back, raised his head, and closed his eyes. Magic pulsed from him, like the toll of a colossal bell. It touched the bloody floor. Blue vapor rose from the blood, streaking upward.
The air around Hugh began to glow. I felt the magic move, a massive heavy current of it. So much power. Holy shit.
I held on to Doolittle with my magic, afraid to let go. I chanted, keeping him tethered to life. The ache in the pit of my stomach grew into a steady burn. A cold painful fire spread from my stomach into my chest and neck.
Hugh’s body shook from the strain of the magic vibrating around him, fighting to break free.
Hugh opened his eyes. They glowed, filled with a supernatural, electric, luminescent blue. He spread his arms, palms up . . .
The magic tore from Hugh and spilled onto Doolittle in a deluge. Bones crunched.
Hugh blinked and his eyes looked normal again.
“Done,” he said. “He’ll live. You can let go.”
I fell silent. The magic snapped, shorn. The fire inside me splashed through my head and I had an absurd notion it spilled out of my eyes.
Raphael ran into the room. “We spotted another one. He’s injured and heading for the mountains.”
Hugh jumped to his feet. Curran spun, half rising, and looked at me.
“Go!” I told him.
He took off, nearly colliding with Hugh as they ran out of the room.
Doolittle’s chest fell and rose in a steady, smooth rhythm. He was breathing.
I slumped back and realized my jeans were soaked through. I was sitting in a puddle of my blood.