Dayton casts his gaze around the grove. “The same as the rest of this place.” Then he stares at me. “Fix her, Fare.”
“Me? I’m no healer.” Panic rushes up my chest. Suddenly, I’m back on the fields outside of Coppershire, holding my mother in my arms as her blood runs over my hands.
“You’ve been training with Ezryn.” Dayton’s blue eyes are relentless, burrowing into me. “She is your mate. Do something. Do anything. Just save her.”
It’s so simple in his eyes—save her. Just do it. But he doesn’t understand. Doesn’t feel what I feel: the panic rushing through me, the crying out of my bond for hers, each of her weakening heartbeats sounding in my own chest, the image of my mother’s open-eyed stare.
“She needs you, Farron.” Dayton’s voice cracks. “I need you.”
I close my eyes. Rosie needs me to save her life. Dayton needs me to protect the woman he loves. Kel needs me to keep my promise that I will do anything for her. Ezryn needs me to save him from a life of guilt.
And I need to stop thinking and just do this.
I will not bear witness to any more final breaths.
I place my hands on Rosalina’s face, bringing my own body tight to Dayton’s. Wind bellows around us, carrying both a man’s cry and a wolf’s howl. I seek inward for my magic reserve, for the new knowledge I’ve learned since studying with Ezryn. Tendrils of orange power spark out from me, dusting over her figure.
There are no bones to be mended, no skin to be sealed. No blood to redirect back in the body, no oxygen needed to inflate the lungs. She’s simply … empty.
I don’t know what to do here. Even with my healing magic, what is there to heal?
“It’s her life force,” I whisper. “Everything’s been sucked into that huge storm. We need a way to replenish her.”
Dayton’s jaw twitches. “Okay, then.”
Panic surges through me with each pump of her weakening heartbeat. “Okay, then? Okay, then? Day, we need to do something now—”
“Use me.” He smiles softly. “My magic is at your disposal, Fare. Siphon my life force into her.”
“Day …”
“Our bargain. Through every storm and every season.” He grabs my upper arm, touching the gold and silver cuff. “There’s no time. Take my magic and use it to save her life.”
“I-I don’t know what I’m doing. It could kill you—”
His blue eyes flash. “Then kill me.”
“Dayton, no!” a high-pitched voice cries.
I turn to see a fae woman hanging on to one of the dead tree trunks, wind tearing at her short brown hair and robes. It’s the acolyte Dayton saved from the river, Wrenley.
She rushes forward and grabs Dayton’s arm, trying to tear it off Rosalina. “You can’t, Dayton! It’s too late to save her. She’s gone. Don’t throw yourself away.”
Dayton shrugs her off. “I’ve never been afraid of death.” He looks up at me and smiles. “And there’s no one I trust more.”
In this moment, I feel his faith in me. And I trust myself, too. Because I won’t let the world take him or Rosie from me.
Ever.
Ignoring the acolyte, I hunch over Rosalina and place one hand on her chest and one on Dayton’s.
“I’m going to start by funneling your magic into her,” I explain. “If I have to, I will also siphon your life force. Hopefully, a little will be enough to stabilize her.”
A guttural sound emits from his throat. “Everything I am belongs to her, anyway. Take it.”
I close my eyes and go inward. Not to myself this time, but into them. Fragments of my self spread out through my magic, seeping into theirs.
With this oneness between the three of us, I begin to weave the threads of life together.
Like I thought, Rosalina’s light is dim, barely visible. Dayton shines like sunlight on a turquoise ocean. His magic is familiar to me: he gave it to me once before, on the field outside of Coppershire, when he fought by my side to protect my realm. This I shepherd into Rosalina, feeding her with wind and sea spray and strength.
Dayton’s magic will replenish when he returns to Castletree, so I take it all, every drop, every spark. He will be okay without such power; I will watch out for him, as he has done for me for so many years. The only thing that remains is the slumbering beast within him, for that is his alone.
Rosalina’s light brightens, fed by this magic. But it’s not enough.
Now, I must take blood and breath.
I grit my teeth, feeling my own body weaken under this channeling. But I can’t stop. Not yet.
I’m sorry, Day.
He’s strong, I know he is. And so is Rosalina. She has always flourished on so much less than others.
Dayton cries out beside me, but I don’t dare open my eyes or tear myself from this inner space. His light flickers, but hers is growing…
Blood and breath and bone and water. Fires within, one I stoke and one I dim.
Just a little more…
“S-stop.”
A weak voice, but one that sends my bond bouncing through my chest. I tear myself out of our inward space, blinking against the light.
Rosalina pushes herself up from Dayton’s lap. Her face is too pale, eyes rimmed with dark circles, but she’s herself again, awake and alert. Dayton wavers, all color has drained from his face, and his hands tremble.
“Dayton,” she breathes, falling off his lap and letting him collapse against her. She turns to me. “What did you do?”
“He stole Prince Dayton’s life for yours,” Wrenley whispers, staring down at us.
“Farron,” Rosalina says, “is this true?”
“Give me a minute,” Dayton groans. “I’ll be ready to kick ass as soon as I catch my breath.”
I give a shaky breath of relief. That was too fine a line to walk.
Rosalina touches my face. “You’re here.”
“Always.”
She smiles at me, then props up on her knees, looking deep within the tempest. “Ezryn? Ezryn!”
I grab her arm to stop her from running straight into the storm. “Rose, wait. What happened?”
“It’s Ezryn,” she cracks. “He’s my mate. And he’s fighting the breaking of his curse.”
83
Keldarion
Wind and debris tear at my hair and clothes as I take another step into the storm. The air spirals in a vicious circle around Ezryn. Pieces of the grove have been torn into the cyclone: logs, branches, rocks, and chunks of dirt fly through the air. I hold my hand up to shield my face.
“The storm’s too strong,” Kairyn grunts beside me. “We’ll never get close enough to him.”
I wrap an arm around Kairyn’s shoulder. Somehow, he’s become even taller than me. His black cape snaps in the wind, and a rock tings off his helmet. “Keep going. Ezryn needs us.”
We both take another shaky step forward, fighting the gale. Shrouded by the flying rubble, I can see to the eye of the storm. Ezryn sits on his knees, hands in the earth. What is happening inside of him to trigger this? He would never destroy his home on purpose. Never hurt Rosalina.
I grit my teeth at the thought. The only thing keeping me from rushing out of the storm and finding Rose is my trust in Farron. He is mate of my mate. I know he will do what he must.