Chapter 43 — Rhiannon #2
“Put him there.” He points to the nearest bed, already backing toward the surgical room. “Commander, don’t let him get up. Alert me immediately if his condition changes.” His gaze drops to the crystal charm still wrapped around Ethan’s wrist. “And don’t remove that charm.”
With that, he’s gone, disappearing after Branson and Conan.
My wolf rages against the decision. Choosing someone else over my mate.
I shove her down hard. Olcan’s triage is sound. Conan is bleeding out, but Ethan is semi-conscious and breathing.
Xander lowers him onto the mattress with surprising gentleness. “I’m going to go check on Conan.”
He glances at me once. I nod, and he disappears into the surgical room.
As I approach the bed, my hand reaches for Ethan’s, needing the proof of his warmth and life.
His fingers find mine first. Weak and trembling, but intentional.
His hand curls around mine before I’m fully at his bedside, his grip loose but deliberate, like he’s spent the last of his strength making sure he could touch me.
My wolf goes quiet. Not silent — she’s never silent — but the frantic howling that’s clawed at my chest since we left the temple finally settles into something bearable. It’s a feeling close to relief, like exhaling after holding my breath for too long.
His eyes are half-lidded, glassy with exhaustion and whatever magical backlash still courses through his system. But they find my face and stay. Focused. Present.
“Did we win?” He asks softly. “Because I’m going to be fucking pissed if this was all for nothing.”
I make a sound: not quite a laugh, not quite a sob. The sound is broken yet grateful, escaping before I can cage it.
“Yes. We won.”
“I’m glad.” His thumb brushes weakly across my knuckles.
Then, his eyes flutter and lose focus, drifting toward the ceiling like he’s fighting against a current pulling him under. They drag back to my face with visible effort, and his expression shifts.
“I heard you.” Each word comes out labored. “The whole way down. In my head.” I feel a faint squeeze around my fingers. “It kept me...here.”
My chest constricts. I didn’t realize. During the frantic descent from the mountain, Ethan’s body limp and unresponsive as Xander carried him, I’d been talking to him through our bond. Not with coherent thoughts or any clear purpose. Just because. . .
Stay with me. Don’t you dare. Moon Goddess, help him.
Over and over, I had repeated this prayer combined with a command I had no authority to give.
“Well,” I say, “at least you’re capable of following one order.”
The ghost of a smile tugs at his cracked lips.
His free hand drifts upward, fingers brushing against his chest until they find the crystal charm resting there. The pendant catches the infirmary’s lamplight, throwing fractured rainbows across his throat.
“Good.” Relief colors the word. “It’s still there.”
“Olcan says not to take it off.”
Ethan nods, the motion small and exhausted. His hand drops away from the charm, landing heavy on the mattress.
From the surgical room, metal clatters against a tray. Olcan’s voice drifts through as he works to save my cousin, but I can’t make out the words. My wolf senses Conan’s pain and Akila’s panic, but leaving Ethan is impossible.
I hate that I can’t be in two places at once. But at least I know Conan isn’t alone. Xander and Branson are with Akila, Akila is with Conan, and I am exactly where I need to be.
Ethan’s gaze drifts past me to the doorway Xander carried him through. An emotion I can’t name crosses his face. Sadness, maybe. Or remorse.
“I’m sorry.”
I frown. “For what?”
He doesn’t answer.
His eyes slide away and fix on the ceiling, on nothing.
His fingers don’t release mine, but they stop moving, holding on with the certainty that he’s allowed to.
I open my mouth to push him. To reassure him. To demand that he explain what the hell he is apologizing for, considering he just helped us take down a psychotic Shaman and nearly died doing it.
But his eyelids flutter. Once. Twice.
His chest rises and falls with the slow rhythm of someone losing the fight against sleep.
“Get some rest.” I squeeze his hand firmly, Grounding him. “That’s an order.”
His lips part like he wants to argue. Of course he does. But the words don’t come. His eyes close, the hard lines in his face softening as consciousness finally releases its grip.
I don’t let go of his hand.
Xander steps out from the surgical room. His shoulders sit easier than before.
“How’s Conan?” I ask.
“He’s still out cold, but Olcan doesn’t seem too worried. Thank Goddess.” He moves closer, studying Ethan’s face. “How is he?”
“Asleep. Finally.”
Xander nods once. “Olcan should be able to look at him soon. He’s closing up Conan’s wound now.”
Xander’s gaze drops to where my fingers are still laced through Ethan’s. His expression stays neutral, but a hint of recognition passes behind his eyes.
I don’t move. I won’t release Ethan’s hand.
The door to Stasio’s room creaks open before Xander can form whatever words he was building.
Haron steps through, her face pale but composed. Dark circles bruise the skin beneath her watery eyes, and her ivory hair hangs loose around her shoulders, tangled from hours spent at her father’s bedside.
“My brother is gone.” It’s not a question. Haron’s voice is flat, hollowed out by the kind of calm that only exists on the other side of grief.
“Yes.” Xander moves toward her calmly, each step deliberate. “I’m sorry.”
“I felt it,” she starts, her voice dropping. Then, quietly, “when...when our connection severed.”
I watch her carefully, searching her expression for grief, for rage, for blame.
She doesn’t cry or break down, but just continues to stand there in the doorway, leaning against the frame like she needs the stone to keep her upright.
“How is your father?” Xander asks.
“Better.” Haron draws herself upright, lifting her chin. “His magic has returned to him. He’s already getting stronger. Olcan believes he’ll wake within the day.”
“That’s good news,” Xander says.
“Yes, it is.” Her eyes drift to Ethan. To the crystal charm resting against his chest. “The human. Is he. . .?”
“He’s alive,” I say.
“Good.” Sincere relief threads through Haron’s voice.