Chapter 1 #3
“I need you to set his ribs,” Marion said. “Your brother has done well on the sternum, now we must connect the ribs to the spine.”
Skye swallowed again, sharing a look with Zephyr. She leaned forward, placing her shaking hands on Wyatt’s chest.
“There you go,” Marion praised before moving her hands to Wyatt’s stomach. “Pay attention to the right lung, it’s punctured. Tell me before you move that one, I’ll need to fix the puncture first so he doesn’t breathe blood.”
Skye’s face crumpled, and she sniffled before squeaking out, “Now.”
Marion moved quickly, flattening her hand along Wyatt’s right side. Wyatt made a gurgling noise, and Skye’s weeping turned to a sob. Zephyr grabbed Wyatt’s throat, tilting his head to the side at the same moment Wyatt sort of coughed, spraying Skye’s gown in more blood.
“He’s okay,” Zephyr said, since Marion was focusing. “If she moves his spine we could probably do the cord together.”
“Yes,” Marion agreed. “He’s leaking fluid, though, so he’ll have a horrific headache when he wakes up.”
“That’s unavoidable.” Zephyr replied conversationally.
I…was eternally grateful for Zephyr. He moved seamlessly beside Marion despite his fatigue, the two working together so perfectly they barely had to speak. Every few minutes, they would have Skye use her affinity to set a bone, or hold a nerve, and then they’d continue on.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Wyatt was at least looking like a human again. The swelling in his face was going down quickly, the purpling of his skin fading. Zephyr was shaking with exhaustion, and Marion looked even paler than normal.
Skye was fine, physically speaking. Psychologically, this would fuck her up pretty hard, but physically she was fine. No exhaustion. No sweat. Nothing that hinted at overuse of her affinity.
Eventually, Zephyr rocked back on his haunches, and Skye dove at him. He wrapped her up in his arms, blowing out a shuddering breath. A few shadows helped Marion into a sitting position on the ground, and she nodded gratefully as I brought her a glass of water from the dusty tap.
Zephyr nodded to me as I helped him drink from another glass of water. He shook slightly as he held onto Skye, and she rested with her ear against his chest, like she needed to hear her brother’s heartbeat to know he was alright even though he hadn’t been in danger.
I turned, giving them privacy, and helped Marion into a dusty armchair. She breathed heavily as she stared at Aiden, her brow furrowed slightly.
“He’s asleep,” she said simply. “The Royal Key cannot wake him?”
Skye sniffled loudly from behind the couch, and I sighed deeply. Marion didn’t look apologetic, she only seemed confused.
“Obviously not,” I replied for Skye.
Marion nodded. “Whoever knocked him out should be able to wake him. I was trying to explain this to Her Grace…Her Majesty…” Marion trailed off, seeming confused and I almost laughed.
My mother had just identified herself as the Queen without a coronation.
It was a good thing she’d only done it in front of her inner circle, otherwise that would confuse a lot of people.
“Well, then it was a good thing I showed up when I did. We’d be out of luck if my mother managed to pull Lena’s beating heart from her chest before she could wake Aiden and Raaz.”
Skye winced as she stood, blinking at me in confusion. Zephyr flopped down into another armchair, and Skye moved to sit on the ground in front of me, leaning back against my shins as if they were the back of a chair.
“That’s insane,” Zephyr wheezed a laugh.
“You should’ve seen her,” I said, idly placing my hand in the back of Skye’s hair. She leaned into my touch, and I scratched at her scalp slightly, delighted to see she was finally relaxing. Delighted that I was the one helping her finally relax.
“I never realized how ruthless the Princess is,” Zephyr said. “If she’s acting like this over her guard, I don’t want to imagine how she was acting when you were hurt in the military.”
I froze.
Skye felt it, turning to glance at me and causing her hair to slip through my fingers. Our eyes met, my dark brown to her silver, and without any speaking, telepathically or otherwise, we had the same realization.
“What? Was that rude?” Zephyr struggled to sit up, and Marion swatted at his arm, giving him a stern look. “Sorry,” Zephyr muttered indignantly. “I’m just saying, if she’s losing her shit like that…I’ve never seen someone act like that, I guess.”
I exhaled slowly, and Skye gently laid her cheek against my knee, then wrapped one of her arms behind my legs to hug my shins.
“You have seen someone act like that,” I said softly. “My mother was spiraling just like Skye.”
“About her guard?” Zephyr asked in disbelief. “That’s…”
He didn’t have to say it.
We’d all had the same realization.
My mood darkened. Skye didn’t move away from me, but Marion leaned back as far as she could in her armchair while shadows began to swirl along the sandy floorboards. “I think the time has come to have a very serious talk with our parents.”