Several cries erupted around me, but I ignored them, and kept fighting against the iron. I felt myself waver on my feet, but Ristan was quick to hold me up against himself, which allowed me to keep fighting against the deadly metal. There were so many bullets—too many. The iron had already started fusing to his cells and was poisoning his system, making it impossible for it to begin the healing process. I started at his shoulders and began to pull the bullets with my magic and, at the same time, forced the blood filled tissue to expel the iron and tainted tissue.
I cried out as I sent everything I had in energy, and more strength and magic than I knew I had, into his system. I was hoping it would be enough, as I pushed and pulled the iron bullets to me. At first, the metal and its toxins resisted me, but I pulled harder with everything I could find in myself. Pain filled screams erupted around me as if every male inside the room was a part of him, or attached on a mental link. My vision wavered. I saw little grey lumps begin to reemerge through the entrance wounds as I continued to push and pull, so many of them popping up, rolling off and falling on the floor with pinging sounds as they hit the linoleum and bounced everywhere. I closed my eyes and continued my task, systematically working through his body from the shoulders to ankles; wherever I could find iron to pull.
When I couldn’t do anymore, I opened my eyes and sagged wearily against the bed. I was afraid to find that the metal had won the battle. Every one of Ryder’s men that had been in the room, had been taken to the floor with the pain of me pulling the iron out of Ryder’s body. They all felt it, even though Ryder remained unconscious the entire time. Everyone was watching me, including Eliran, who looked from me, to Ryder, and back again.
“You removed the iron,” he said softly as if he were afraid to believe it was true. He glanced at Ryder’s men as they struggled to their feet. “You removed it all?”
I tried to get words out, but nothing came. Blackness was fighting for my mind, and, before I could give warning, I felt myself crumbling to the floor. Ristan caught me and hefted me back up easily.
“Eliran,” he shouted.
“Get her in the room with the tanks; I’ll find a cot for her. She needs to rest. I have no idea how she does that, but, right now, she needs rest before she passes out from tapping out her system,” he replied.
I was fighting the darkness this time, refusing to allow it to descend and steal away my consciousness. I blinked repeatedly until the stars broke away, and I could see once more. Silver and black patterned eyes looked down at me as strong arms carried me from the room. “Ryder?” I asked, worried that I had failed.
“He has to go in the tank, Syn. It will speed up the healing process so we can get him to a state where he can feed. You may have removed the iron, but he took a lot of internal damage from the bullets,” Ristan replied.
Ristan held me until one of the healers pushed in a small bed that he positioned next to one of the giant tanks, and then Ristan tucked me onto it. I watched as Ryder was brought in, naked and covered in blood. He looked as if he was asleep if you could ignore the blood, which I couldn’t, but I wasn’t fooling myself. He was severely injured, and in my head I knew it.
His men came in and helped remove him from the gurney. Eliran followed closely behind them, attaching cords that flowed from a beeping machine to Ryder’s naked flesh. It took four of his men to hold him above the huge tank as Eliran finished the last few connections. When he was done, they released him into the water, with an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. He sank lifelessly to the bottom of the tank. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as they watched him until his body slowly began to rise, and stopped in the middle of the tank and floated there. Dristan closed the lid on the tank as Eliran turned a dial on the bottom, at the control panel, and millions of tiny bubbles started popping up crazily from the bottom of it. They’d stuck Ryder in a giant fish tank. I couldn’t quite picture what Adrian had described earlier; this was an amazing blend of Fae magic and technology.
“I am far more optimistic about his recovery, now that you removed the iron from him,” Eliran said as came over and held out his hand. I accepted it and let my eyes move back to Ryder. His hair was moving in the water as if he was weightless.
“When will he wake up?” I asked, wanting him to do so already.
“That depends on how much damage he took trying to save his men. I couldn’t open him up because—”
“Enough,” Zahruk said, strolling in. “He needs to heal, Synthia. Ryder will pull through this by morning; he’s very strong.” He was very confident, as though he know something I didn’t.
“I’m staying,” I whispered, reaching out to place my hand on the tank.