Chapter 22
Needle and Thread
Still kneeling with my weight on my heels, I stared at the empty space on my lap where Tarrin had been before Sidrick valenned him away.
A sudden shot of adrenaline jolted through me, and I bolted to my feet, needing to be with Tarrin. To help him. The moment I was upright, the world spun and my legs buckled.
“Whoa,” Artton said, placing gentle but firm hands on my elbows to steady me. My body jerked at the touch, but not strong enough to make a difference.
“I… I have to be with him,” I said, my head still spinning as I took a weak half-step forward.
“I’ll take you to him. I promise. But you’ve lost a lot of blood. Let’s take a breather before we go back, okay?”
My mind screamed at me to say no, but my body nodded before I slumped forward and Artton lowered me to the ground.
Finally processing his words, I looked down to my arm, only to find that my wound hadn’t healed at all; in fact, it was worse. With shaky hands, I accepting the skin of water Artton offered, taking slow sips before handing it back.
Head clearing, I said, “Why didn’t it heal?”
“I suspect,” he answered, looking to the border then down at my arm, “your powers chose to protect you from the greater threat.”
I scoffed. “Well, at least it did something this time.”
Ignoring my comment, he ripped off a strip of fabric from his shirt and wrapped it around my arm. I hissed in pain, which soothed shortly after he tied it off.
“You have no idea how dangerously reckless that was, do you?” he said, finally speaking his mind.
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture.”
Artton glared down at me as if trying to convey his point through sheer will.
“Look,” I said. “You wanted me to dispel, and I did.” I waved a hand toward the border.
“Cute,” he said, tone flat.
Knowing my body wasn’t quite ready, but unwilling to be judged by Artton, I gritted my teeth and pushed myself up slowly enough to keep the vertigo to a minimum, then held my hand out, letting him know I was ready.
Artton’s brows knit together, his glare intensifying before he huffed and gave in. He valenned us just outside the familiar doors to the suite we’d stayed in as guests during the solstice.
Without hesitation, I freed my hand from his grip and walked through the doors, following the hurried voices.
“What are you doing?” I demanded as a strange female reached for Tarrin’s abdomen.
She stopped and looked at me along with Sidrick and Kai. “Changing his dressings.”
My focus snapped to Sidrick. “Where’s Caius?”
“In the Spring Court.”
“Why aren’t they back yet?” The female grabbed at the edge of Tarrin’s dressing. “Don’t touch him,” I snapped, stepping up to his bedside, effectively blocking her.
The room seemed to still, but I paid it no mind. “Why aren’t they back yet?” I barked, staring Sidrick down.
“It’ll take some time, Nylee—”
“Does he look like he’s got time?” I snapped.
“Lady Nyleeria,” the stranger started, the condescension and honorific instantly making my blood boil. “Let me help. I’m versed in such things.” Her calm voice grated on my every nerve.
I whirled on her. “Really? You’re versed in healing a human who’s been sliced so deep you can see his shredded muscles under the flap of skin I had to pull together before I wrapped it?”
“Well, no… but—”
“Please leave.”
Artton stepped toward me. “Nyleeria, she’s just trying to help.”
I glared at him with everything I had. “The only help I want is Myron’s.”
Kai stepped toward the female and said, “You can go. I’ll help Nyleeria”—her eyes darted to mine—"if she’ll allow it, and we’ll let you know if we change our mind."
The female scowled at Kai before relenting with a huff.
Sidrick walked around and stood at the foot of the bed, looking between me, Kai, and Artton, but all I could focus on was Tarrin.
“I need water. Fresh bandages. Some salve. A needle and thread. Thicker thread, if possible. And the strongest alcohol on hand,” I said to no one in particular.
“What do you need a needle and thread for?” Artton asked.
“To sew his flesh back together,” I said, shooting him a withering look. “Any other stupid questions?”
Caius’ second winced, and had it been at any other moment, I might have felt satisfied from his reaction, but there was no time for games.
These fae, so used to their magic that they didn’t have the faintest idea of how to help a human—and honestly, they’d better pray that Thaddeus didn’t find another curse to rid them of their healing abilities, or they’d be as fucked as they were the last time around.
“We don’t have any salve,” Sidrick supplied.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself not to lose it on them.
Mercifully Kai stepped in. “Sidrick, go get the needle and thread. Bring as many options as you can find. Artton, I’m sure the library has something on salves, and the kitchen should have the supplies you need. I’ll help Nyleeria with the rest.”
“Why not just wait for Myron?” Sidrick asked.
It was Artton who answered for me. “He might not have that much time, and there’s no knowing if his powers can help.”
With that, the two of them left the room.
I looked up at Kai. “Can you hand me the water, please?” I asked, pointing to the decanter on the nightstand.
I didn’t bother with a glass as I greedily brought the jug to my mouth and drank it down until it was empty. Kai promptly took it and left to refill its contents.
Wiping my mouth dry with my arm, I didn’t hesitate before getting to work.
I started with Tarrin’s abdominal wound, pulling the bandages off one layer at a time with gentle fingers, but no matter how careful I was, the last layer clung stubbornly to the freshly clotted wound forcing me to pull it away too.
I worked as fast as I could, quickly losing count of how many times I thanked the Mother that Tarrin was too far gone to feel any of it.
My soul, on the other hand… felt every painstaking second.
Finally freeing the last vestiges of fabric off, I took a step back, assessing the damage as a whole.
It looked…
He looked…
Gods… I couldn’t find the words. It was the horror in the cabin all over again.
Eyes burning, I brushed his damp brow.
“What did they do, Tarrin?” I whispered.
The clink of Kai placing a basin of water next to me drew my attention away. Wanting—needing—to clean the grime from his face, I lowered my hands into the warm water and grabbed the cloth that had settled on the bottom. Squeezing the excess, I reached the warm cloth up to Tarrin’s forehead.
My hand hovered over his face as tears spilled down mine. I realized then the cloth was stained and my hand began to shake. Confused, I looked over to the water. Bloody. The water was full of blood. I looked to Kai for understanding.
“It’s from you, darling,” she said, gently taking the cloth from my hand, returning it to the dirty water. Gently, she cupped my hands in hers, and it wasn’t until then that I saw that there was so much caked on blood that I could barely see skin below.
“Here,” she said turning me away from Tarrin. It wasn’t until then I felt the tremble in my body that was now a constant companion. “Let’s get you washed.”
For the briefest moment I followed her like a flower needing sun, only to resist the urge as my duty pulled my focus back to Tarrin.
“I’ll clean him up while you take care of you,” she coaxed, gently shifting me away. Okay?"
I found myself nodding, finally giving in as she led me to the bathroom across the suite.
After she left, I stared at myself in the mirror, unable to comprehend how much of Tarrin’s blood marked my body.
My shoulders bobbed with silent sobs as I lifted Sidrick’s shirt over my head, hastily wiping off as much of the gore as I could before slipping into the clothing Kai had brought for me.
Dressed in fresh linen, I pressed my palms against the vanity and I took a few steadying breaths before looking at myself in the mirror. “Tarrin needs you. Now is not the time to fall apart.”
Jaw set, I swiped away the tears, straightened my back, and stepped out of the bathroom.
I came back to find Tarrin washed and with new set of undergarments, the three fae looking as if they’d just finished.
My focus shifted to Summer’s commanders. “Did you get what I asked for?”
“Yes, it’s all laid out for you here,” Kai answered, rolling a tray over to the side.
“Thank you,” I said stepping toward the tray.
“How can we help, Nyleeria?” Artton asked in the softest tone I’d heard from him, and damn if it didn’t make me feel like a breeze could make me shatter to the ground.
Biting back the flood of emotion, I assessed what they’d brought me, which seemed to be everything I needed.
Turning my focus to the patient, I quickly cataloged his injuries now that I could see them clearly.
Once I had a plan of attack, I grabbed the bottle of alcohol by the thin neck, popped it open, brought it to my lips, and took a long, hard pull on the clear liquid before wiping the back of my hand across my lips and putting it back down.
It fucken burned, but every nerve in my body was already on fire.
Artton and Sidrick looked at me with wide eyes on the other side of the bed, and I couldn’t tell if they were impressed or terrified—either way, I didn’t care.
“Kai,” I said, letting the burn fuel my courage, “can you please take a cloth, dip it in the alcohol, and wipe all of his smaller cuts clean?”
She nodded and did as I asked.
Focusing across the bed, I said, “Neither of you has done stitches before, have you?”
They shook their heads, confirming what I already knew.
“Okay, I have an idea. Are you able to use your magic to pull on things or push, like pulling a blanket over you?” I asked.
“Yes,” Artton answered slowly with raised brows.
“Great. And how precise can you be with your fire powers? Could you use just an ember to singe a single hair if you wanted to?”
“Sidrick would be better at that kind of finesse,” Artton admitted, his counterpart nodding in agreement.
“Okay. This is what we’re going to do. Sidrick, see where it won’t stop bleeding here?” I said, pointing it out before looking to him for confirmation. “As we go along, I’m going to need you to cauterize where I tell you.”
“You want me to burn his flesh?”
“Yes. In the woods, we’d use flame or heated iron if we needed to stop the bleeding. Your powers are going to mimic that.”
To his credit, he looked more fascinated than disgusted—though the same could not be said for Artton.
Ignoring it, I continued, “I need the two of you to use your magic to pull his flesh together again. You’ll need to pucker it slightly so I can get the needle through and tie it. After each tie, Sidrick will burn the thread instead of us cutting it so we can move as fast as possible.”
Artton stared at me with a faint glimmer in his eyes.
“What?” I asked, almost afraid he’d tell me I was out of my mind.
“You’re thinking like a human and a fae. I like it.”
I snorted. “Well, as long as you approve.”
My comment got a smile out of all three of them, which faded the second Kai held out the needle and thread.
Poised and ready to begin, I looked toward the door, wishing more than anything that Myron would walk through that door and save me from having to sew Tarrin’s flesh back together.
Knowing it was a pipe dream, I turned back and began.
It took the three of us a few tries to find our rhythm, but doing it this way took a fraction of the time it would have had I been doing it myself—or if we were all human. Even if we all knew how to stitch.
Cauterize. Thread. Pull. Tie. Cut. I kept repeating this mantra to myself every time I dug the thick needle into warm flesh, unable to let myself remember that it was Tarrin under my hands—no, all I could think was cauterize. Thread. Pull. Tie. Cut.
I’d been so focused that it took me a moment to realize there was not more flesh to mend.
Standing back, we examined our handiwork. Considering how large the wounds were, we’d done a decent job of it.
“Now what?” Artton asked.
The second I dropped the needle and thread, my body violently whipped to the side as I retched the remainder of my stomach’s contents into the basin.
Kai took it away immediately and handed it over to the guys.
Who grabbed it? I didn’t know.
“Take a seat, Nyleeria,” she soothed, rubbing a hand along my back in long, languid motions.
I wiped my mouth with the fabric at my elbow, avoiding the blood on my hands. “I’m okay,” I rasped.
“I’m sure you are. But have a seat anyway.”
Seated, she offered me a glass of water. As I went to take a sip, nausea roiled once more. I handed it back to her and swallowed.
I had to finish this. I couldn’t rest.
Pressing my palms against the wooden arms of the chair, I pushed myself up and grabbed the salve.
Its putrid scent did little to calm my stomach.
Holding my breath, I began applying it to Tarrin’s angry wounds.
Artton reached over for some, and began mirroring me on the other side. Sidrick joined. Then Kai.
Once done, we placed clean bandages over the wounds until the only thing left was to wrap a final layer around his torso to keep everything in place while applying pressure.
Artton’s large hands hooked around Tarrin’s side before carefully rolling him to the side, exposing his back to me.
Fresh tears fell. “Oh Tarrin,” I breathed, placing a soft hand on his back I traced the midnight-black bruising across his entire back.
I felt Artton’s gaze.
Tears still falling, I worked with Sidrick to pull the bandages around my friend, the bruising disappearing under the fabric.
By the time we’d finished, Kai had cleaned the room around us, getting rid of any evidence of what we’d just done.
Artton and Sidrick hovered at the door while I ran a clean cloth along Tarrin’s cracked lips, slowly dripping water into his mouth as I stroked his hair and prayed to anyone who would listen for him to live.