But she was going to walk out of here. She was going to live if it was the last thing I did.
Letting my human form go, I was at my most vulnerable, but I was going to need everything. I extended an arm toward her and she reached out, her fingers disappearing in my light.
I focused everything into that touch, sending a jolt of energy into her body, knowing that whatever was in us would do its thing, healing her from the inside out. It would give her a chance to get away. Hopefully Baruck would be more focused on me.
A sob rocked her body, and I squeezed her hand. Then I saw her eyes flare with realization. She knew what I was doing, what it meant.
“No.” Her voice was a hoarse, tired whisper.
She tried to pull away, but I held on, ignoring the desperate panic in her eyes. I squeezed her hand. I wasn’t letting go. Not now.
Not ever.
Suddenly she sat up and grabbed my sister’s arm while she still held my hand. A pulse of light went through me, shining so bright that Baruck seemed to disappear. It arced high in the air, crackling and spitting. It went down into Dee. Her light connected with mine.
Baruck’s shadow halted.
The arc of light streamed above and shot down, right into the center of Kat’s chest. A second later she was above us, slipping free from my grasp, and she was above me, hovering, her hair flying out around her. Power built among the three of us, kicking the regenerative abilities into high gear. As it sparked, Dee and I slipped back into our human forms.
Dazed, I pushed to my knees, reaching for Kat. What was she doing…?
I could feel her pulling the particles out of the air, holding them close to her. It wasn’t possible, but power coiled inside her, a tremor of the very same power shuddering deep inside me. This…this wasn’t possible.
Screaming, she let it go.
Climbing to my feet, I stared in awe as it smacked into Baruck’s chest. The air pulled tight and snapped. Intense light flared, and I threw my arm up, shielding my eyes. When it receded, Baruck was gone and Kat…
Oh, God.
“Kat?”
She was on her back and her chest…it barely moved. The scent of death was in the air. I shot to her side, dropping to my knees. She let out a rattling breath and raw panic exploded in my gut.
All of this… We came this far—I saved her and she took everything I’d given her, and instead of getting the hell out of there, she used it to save us.
She scarified herself for us.
I didn’t deserve that. No way did I deserve this from her.
I pulled her into my arms, and she felt as light as a breath, as if a part of her that made her whole was already gone. “Kat, say something insulting. Come on.”
Dee stirred and rose to her feet, panic filling her voice. I didn’t take my eyes off Kat. Moving my fingers along her face, wiping away the traces of blood…but there was so much. Under her nose, the corners of her lips, her ears…and even pooling under her eyes.
This wasn’t right.
I knew what I had to do. “Dee, go back to the house now.”
“I don’t want to leave,” Dee protested, wrapping her arms around her waist as she stumbled closer. “She’s bleeding! We have to get her to a hospital.”
Kat’s eyes fixed on me, but she didn’t move. Horror climbed through my chest, digging in with claws.
“Go back to the house now!” I yelled, and then forced myself to take it down a notch. Dee couldn’t know what I was about to do again. “Please. Leave us. Go. She’s okay. She…she just needs a minute.”
I turned my back on Dee, pushing the tangled waves of hair out of Kat’s face. When I was sure Dee was gone, I let out a ragged breath. “Kat, you’re not going to die. Don’t move or do anything. Just relax and trust me. Don’t fight what’s about to happen.”
There was no sign she’d heard me, but I wasn’t giving up. No way. Lowering my head, I pressed my forehead against hers. My body faded out, and I slipped into my true form. Heat coursed from me into her.
Hold on. Don’t let go. I knew she was beyond hearing me, but I kept talking as I cradled her head. Just hold on.
Focusing on her, I felt myself slip inside her. Then I could see it all: bones knitting, cuts healing closed, torn muscles repairing, and blood flowing through her veins fast, but flowing without obstruction. She had been a mess, and it killed me to know what kind of pain she had endured.
I felt something click inside me. For a moment, I felt a strange feeling—a fluttering in my chest, next to my own heart, like our hearts were one, beating in sync, but then…then something else was happening. There was a tearing inside me, a rendering of my being—splitting into halves.