Chapter 27 - Elias
I caught Emma just before she collapsed into the pool. Instead of flopping into the water, she fell into my arms, her eyes shut.
Panic raced through me as I stared down at her. I brushed her hair from her face, searching her features, praying for her eyes to flutter open again. They stayed closed.
I placed my ear to her chest and felt her chest rise and fall. I sagged, finally allowing myself to breathe. She was all right. Just exhausted.
“Emma?” I asked. But there was no response.
Desperately, I tried to listen to the mating bond. I could feel her there, though exhaustion washed over all her other emotions, as if she was so tired that nothing else would go through.
I dipped my finger in the water and wiped off the smear of blood that had started trickling from her nose.
“Just hang in there,” I thought.
Panic and unease rippled through me. What if she never woke up? What if the magic had drained her too much, or using so much had changed something inside her?
I pushed her hair from her face, staring down at her as I continued panting, forcing myself to get a grip.
When I had been injured, Emma had placed me in the oasis.
But that had been a very obvious, physical injury.
Besides exhaustion, I couldn’t sense anything wrong with her.
Still, I carried her over and laid her to rest on the edge.
Bare feet slapped against stone and moss behind me.
“Mom?” Grace asked, her voice strained. “Mom, what’s wrong?” She reached me and looked up with wide, frightened eyes.
“She’s okay,” I promised her, forcing my own panic down so that it wouldn’t transfer to her daughter. Emma would kill me if she ever found out I had frightened Grace over something like this. “She’s just tired.”
“She’s going to be okay?” Her eyes were round with worry. Her teeth still had the slightest points to them, and her nails were a tiny bit too long—common traits for new shifters. She would get better at controlling them over the next few months.
I nodded, then grinned as I reached over to Grace and pulled her into a half-hug. “You did great, kiddo. I’m so proud of you.”
“Really?” Grace asked, her eyes shining. She hesitated. “Because I was a bit scared.”
“All the more reason to be proud of you,” I said. “It isn’t easy to do something when you’re scared.”
“It isn’t?” she asked.
I shook my head, grinning. It had taken a lot of argument over whether or not to use Grace in our plan.
Having the sand wraith follow her would be the easiest way to get it pinned down in the underground spring, but neither of us had wanted to put her in danger.
By the time we decided we would have to come up with some other way of luring the wraith into the tunnels, Grace had walked in, told us she’d overheard, and insisted on helping.
When we told her it was too dangerous, she said she would do it, anyway, whether we said no or not.
So we bent to the will of a five-year-old in order to keep her safe.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I said, then leaned forward. “I was scared, too.”
Grace’s eyes went wide as she gaped at me.
“But don’t tell anyone,” I said.
Grace clamped her mouth shut, straightening as she nodded vigorously, a child giving a solemn vow.
I glanced down at Emma again. Her breath came shallow and slow, but it sounded like it was deepening. At least I told myself it was deepening.
You’re not allowed to leave me here yet, I thought through the bond, hoping she could hear it as my fingers gripped tighter around her. I care about you too much.
I glanced up at Grace, who stared down at her mom, her features still contorted in worry. I plastered a smile on my face again, hoping to reassure her.
“She’ll be okay.”
“You promise?” she asked.
I nodded, praying that I wasn’t lying. “Let’s get your mom out of here,” I said, bundling her from the oasis. “We need to get her some rest.”
I had been putting on a brave face for Grace, but I wasn’t sure how Emma was faring.
Her face was pale, her skin clammy. Water droplets clung to her eyelashes and speckled her face.
Still, she was breathing when I carried her in my arms, and she wasn’t showing any signs of weakening further.
I carried her out of the tunnels and down the oasis, hoping against hope that she would wake up in my arms at any moment.
She didn’t stir the entire trek home.
A huge crowd had formed at the oasis, people milling about, helping the injured while others kept sentry.
A murmur rippled through the crowd, people pointing in our direction as I came toward the oasis.
Everyone parted as I carried Emma through the throng to rest her next to the oasis.
I crouched again, checking her breathing.
I still couldn’t tell if she was feeling better.
Rachel and Sam both rushed forward.
“Is it over?” Sam asked, glancing around, taking stock of everything, checking me for injuries. Rachel stared down at Emma, her eyes wide with worry.
“For now,” I said. “Emma injured it badly, and it retreated before we got the chance to finish it once and for all. But it won’t be making any appearances anytime soon.”
“Do we need to take her to the healer?” Rachel asked.
“It’s worth summoning one,” I told her.
Rachel darted through the crowd, disappearing as the rest stared at me.
“Is it dead?” one person yelled. Everyone fell silent, staring at me, waiting for my verdict.
“No,” I said. “But we gave it some serious injuries and ran it off for a good long while, and we know how to destroy it next time it comes around. When it shows its face next time—if it shows its face—we’ll be more than ready.”
A joyful, triumphant cheer echoed through the crowd, one that would have infuriated the sand wraith if it heard it. Any ounce of despair or dread that had plagued the town earlier that day had evaporated. There was nothing here for it to feed on.
Not quite, an unpleasant voice in my head reminded me.
I glanced down at Emma, still unconscious, and unease rippled through me. She hadn’t stirred.
The healer emerged from the crowd and hurried forward, Rachel at her side. She crouched by Emma and began checking her vitals.
I kept my expression stoic even as fear rippled off me.
I didn’t think I could stand it if I lost her.
But I couldn’t alarm the rest of the pack.
They were looking to me for guidance. We had just had a major victory.
If they were able to sense my own panic and despair, then it could ripple through them, and we’d yet again be a beacon for the sand wraith.
It might be injured, but it was still out there, still dangerous.
So I needed to put on a brave face and keep my own panic in check, even as my mind continued spinning and my wolf paced anxiously back and forth.
Then Emma let out a soft moan, head moving to the side before her eyes fluttered open. Her brow furrowed as she glanced around, clearly trying to figure out what she was doing here. Then her eyes landed on me.
“Elias?” Her head went to her temple as she pushed herself to a half-seated position. She winced.
“Don’t move too much.” I crouched next to her, stroking her hair as I looked her up and down again. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit with a sledgehammer,” she groaned, still rubbing her head. Her eyes flew open as more memories came flooding back to her. She stiffened, looking up at me, her eyes wide with worry. “The wraith—”
“Is gone for now,” I promised. “Thanks to you. You did fantastic, you know that?”
She gave a coy smile, her eyes sparkling a little through the obvious exhaustion. “You could stand to say it again.”
I pulled her closer, kissed her on the forehead, and leaned down until my lips brushed against her ear.
“You did fantastic, Emma,” I said.
A sleepy, exhausted smile spread over her lips as she looked up at me. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a tiny figure slammed into her, wrapping tiny arms around Emma’s neck.
“Mommy! You’re okay!” Grace hugged her mother tight.
Beaming, Emma pulled Grace into an even deeper hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right, sweetie,” Emma said. “You did so good.”
She glanced up at me with a questioning eyebrow.
“Wraith is still out there,” I said, responding to her unanswered question. Her jaw tightened as fear flickered through her gaze. “But you seriously hurt it and scared it. It’s going to go into hiding for a while and lick its wounds. And when it shows its ugly head again, we’ll be ready.”
She swallowed, hesitating briefly before nodding, her chin jutting out in determination. “Damn right we will,” she said.
Grinning, I bent down and kissed her on the forehead. I wanted to do far more than that for her, but for the time being, this would have to do.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” I whispered in her ear.
She glanced up, her beautiful, wide eyes staring up at me.
She opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, however, a hush fell among the crowd behind us.
My ears pricked as shuffling sounds reached them.
Frowning, I turned in time to see the crowd part, and a small group of familiar faces shuffled through to the front.
The elders came to the foot of the oasis. Some of them shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot with sheepish expressions on their faces. Others looked more reluctant than chastened. They gave me a short bow.
“I’m assuming the deed is done?” Dorian asked, his voice tight.
“The wraith managed to get away before I could land the killing blow,” I said. “But it won’t show up here anytime soon. My men and I will start making preparations to better secure the town. We’ll start planning right away.”
Romulus gave a stiff yet approving nod. “Good. Keep up informed.”
The elders stood, still moving from foot to foot, eyes darting toward Emma with obvious discomfort as they glanced between one another, then back to Emma.