Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
brENTON
The campfire outside had long since turned to embers, and Hoshiko still hadn’t returned with Finley.
Through my mental connection with Hoshiko, I knew they were at the very least alive.
The island’s warm, salty breeze drifted through the fabric of the small tent I kept myself huddled in.
That wind carried the calls of various night creatures that called Vistos home.
Inside, where I lay on my side, resting my throbbing head atop my arm, the air felt heavy. As if the sky itself held its breath with me, waiting for Finley to return.
The broth Elias had brought me remained untouched, its steam gone and surface cooled. I couldn’t eat—not with my insides clenched tight, and every muscle aching from the aftershocks of the magic I’d wrenched out, even when it felt like I had nothing left to offer.
Solana was alive, though. Still ill from whatever attack Finley had sensed.
It was strange how she’d felt the dark magic before it’d struck while it’d remained cloaked from the rest of us. Not wanting to think about it anymore, I closed my eyes while I rubbed my temple.
I sensed Hoshiko before he landed, and in less than a beat, I was on my feet and out of the tent. Finley sat atop him, her chest and head leaning against his thick neck. When she didn’t move to jump off his back like she did earlier, I climbed Hoshiko’s scales to get to her.
“She’s not well, Brenton,” Hoshiko said. “Her magic . . . it took too much from her. She needs rest.”
“Finley,” I breathed.
A muscle on her cheek twitched, but otherwise, she remained still. Her grip on Hoshiko was weak, her fingers curled loosely over the pants of her fighting leathers.
“She collapsed after her magic took from her.” Hoshiko’s words were thick with sorrow. “My magic lifted her and kept her fastened, but—my magic also started malfunctioning. I couldn’t treat many of the burns that rose on her skin while she expelled her magic. I’m sorry I can’t do more for her.”
“It’s not your fault.” I traced a hand over her head, which she lifted to look at me. That single motion was slow as was the breath she released, as if it dragged against her lungs. With care, I scooped her into my arms. “I should’ve . . .”
Should’ve what? Gone with them and let Solana die? Should I have ripped the magic that tormented Finley from her soul?
Finley rested her head against my chest, and when she closed her eyes, I kissed her forehead. Her body slackened further. Too limp, too light. Too willing, without any of the fight I loved from her.
“I have you, Lolli,” I whispered.
Her skin was flushed, her hands and fingers blistered.
“I don’t know what to make of her magic,” Hoshiko said. “I believe her magic burns her from the inside out as she releases it.”
Was it always like this? I’d seen the way her magic exhausted her and even made her ill, but never this.
“I have to jump off Hoshiko now.” I kept my words low.
She tipped her head up to look at me. “Just don’t let me go.”
“Never.” I pulled her tighter to me, hating the way her body stiffened with a wince.
With my mate in my arms, I jumped off Hoshiko, doing my best to absorb the landing so I wouldn’t jostle her. She groaned, her head tipping to the side.
“I’m sorry, Lolli,” I whispered, giving her another soft kiss.
“I’m okay,” she said, eyes tired but clear. “You and Hoshiko are good nursemaids.”
I huffed out a laugh that made her lips tilt up in a small smile. “Then Hoshiko has my thanks for tending to you with such good care, but I can take it from here.”
“Take care of yourself too, Brenton,” Hoshiko said, extending his mighty wings before he took flight. “You are unwell, and I’m unable to heal either of you.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered. “Truly, Hoshiko, thank you for taking care of her.”
I considered taking her to the extra tent Elias had set up for her, but I wanted her close in case she needed anything.
Back inside my tent, I set her down gently on the mat I’d been resting on.
I draped a blanket over her up to her chin and allowed myself a few beats where I caressed my knuckles over her cheek, careful not to touch the blisters that remained.
Each of my movements was slow and soft as if with one wrong touch, I could split her open.
My own body ached from the magic I’d stretched too far, but it didn’t matter. Not when Finley looked like this.
Vulnerable and frail.
The flap to the tent shuffled open when Elias stepped inside. He cast a worried glance at Finley before he met my attention with even more concern. I shook my head before he opened his mouth to speak.
I’m fine, I mouthed.
His grimace was a mix of frustration and understanding. Put in a similar situation, he’d tend to Teddy before he would worry about himself.
“Hoshiko asked me to bring you this,” he said, handing me a small bag before he turned back to Finley.
“There’s a healing oil and balm, some rags, and clean water.
Nothing magical, but I hope it brings you relief.
” He gave her a tentative smile. “It seems, despite his earlier snarling, Hoshiko has taken a liking to you, Finley.”
Finley let out a small laugh, and Elias clapped my shoulder before he retreated. With Elias’s offerings in my hand, I knelt beside her, cupping her right hand.
The blisters were worse than I originally thought. Raised and red, some peeling at the edges, each one a reminder that her magic punished her more than it served.
“I’m okay, Brent,” she whispered.
“You’re not.” It came out harsher than I intended, so I kissed the unburned skin at her wrist before reaching for the basin.
I poured water and oil into the bowl, then soaked a rag and wrung it out. She watched me with those enchanting eyes as I brought the rag to her hand, dabbing carefully at the scorched skin.
She winced, and I froze.
“We need to get you out of this uniform,” I said, keeping my tone even and steady.
She hesitated, but I didn’t give her time to protest.
“This isn’t about modesty, Lolli,” I said. “I can’t heal you, at least not tonight, and we don’t want these blisters to become infected.”
Her throat bobbed, but she nodded.
With steady hands, I worked the buckles loose, keeping my movements deliberate. Not once did I let my gaze wander. My only focus was on her wounds. The sight of her burns sliced through me in ways no blade ever could.
I eased her out of her fighting leathers, draping one of my shirts over her shoulders and guiding her arms through the sleeves. Then I helped her tug on one of my soft cotton shorts from the human realm. She looked small in my clothes. Fragile in a way she’d never permit herself to be seen.
When I moved to fasten the ties at her waist, my attention caught on her wrist.
I froze.
A familiar thin bracelet circled her wrist. The same bracelet I’d given her on my fourteenth birthday. Each tiny crystal held hand-picked flowers that I’d shrunk and dried to fit into the round orbs.
My chest tightened with an ache that spanned every year between that moment and this one.
She still had it. Wore it even now. Despite Etienne. Despite everything.
I traced the worn edge of one of the crystals and swallowed hard. “You kept this.”
Her eyes softened, and I couldn’t cage the emotions writhing inside me. So I didn’t. I let her see it all—how much it meant to me that she hadn’t let go of me entirely.
Tears and pain brimmed behind her eyes. “It was all I had left of you.”
My lungs burned with anguish.
“I never meant to not choose you, Brent.” Her voice broke, small and shattering and cutting deeper and deeper into me. “I never meant to live a single beat of this life without you.”
Her words hollowed me out, leaving me empty and wanting. But I couldn’t fall apart now. Not when she trembled before me, blistered and hurting. My pain could wait. Hers couldn’t.
I took in a slow breath, steadying my hand when I dipped the rag back into the basin and pressed the cool cloth gently to her skin. She hissed, and I forced myself to stay calm, to move with gentle and deliberate touches.
“What happened when you released your magic?” I asked quietly, even as fury raged in my chest at the sight of her wounds. “I’ve never seen it harm you like this before.”
“It always burns.” Her admission was tight and brittle.
“In the past, I’ve been able to heal myself while I’m doing magic, but I couldn’t this time.
It felt like my magic was punishing me. It kept demanding more and more out of me.
” A breath shuddered from her parted lips.
“Even Hoshiko couldn’t contain it. I was terrified I’d hurt him, or worse, but it was like my magic had full control, and it wouldn’t stop taking from me. ”
Again, her eyes welled, and I caught the two tears that fell, careful not to brush my finger across her burns. My throat closed at the tormented look on her face. I didn’t know what to say, so I kept tending to her, carefully pressing the cloth to each blister before smoothing the balm over them.
“He wouldn’t leave me,” she said, her voice hitching. “I begged him to, but he wouldn’t. I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to be the cause of you losing him.”
Her eyes, red and shiny, met mine, and I leaned down to press soft kisses to each lid. “I’m glad he stayed with you. I’m glad you weren’t alone.”
She shook her head, more tears streaming down her face.
“I hate it.” Her lips pulled down in a deep frown.
“My magic. I hate it. Not this.” She turned her left hand over to look at the blisters I hadn’t yet tended to.
“I don’t care that it burns me. I hate what it demands from me.
What it takes from me. What it takes from those I wield it against.” Her final words came out as a whisper.
I paused, my hand hovering over hers, my heart stalling over the weight of her words. “I know.”
Her eyes, rimmed with pain and shame, pinned me.