Chapter 39
39
D evlin gave too much. He gave all of himself and so much more. And now he’s paying for it.
I was lost, so lost in my own head that I almost didn’t feel him nudging me. It was so subtle, so quiet that I nearly missed it.
It was a dim light shining like a beacon, and when I saw it, I reached for it, but it was just beyond my grasp. It took all my focus to grab it, and when I did, it pulled me in, wrapped around me and nudged me awake. It influenced me back to life, like a breath of air from God had been blown into my lungs.
And the darkness swept past and the sounds got louder, and that pinkie finger that I’d been trying to move finally twitched and my eyes were open and there sat Devlin!
And everything was perfect. I was back. He was there.
Then he collapsed.
He gave too much of himself. He gave it all, not leaving anything for himself to draw from.
We’ve switched places. How ironic is this? By saving me, he put himself in mortal danger.
And now Devlin is at my parent’s house, in my bed, sleeping. There was no point in keeping him at a human hospital. There was nothing that they could do anyway.
My parents, myself and my sisters stand around him, and we’ve got one shot to do this and do it right.
“Place your hands on him,” Nana directs.
Oh yeah, Nana. She hasn’t gone anywhere. She actually kept the house together while I was asleep. I prefer to think of myself as asleep rather than in a coma. Who doesn’t like a good Sleeping Beauty reference?
We do as she says, placing our hands on Devlin. He’s cold, but he still has a pulse. He’s lost so much weight these past weeks. It breaks my heart. I’ve lost weight, too. I’m wearing the engagement ring on my middle finger. Once I get back to my regular weight, it won’t slip off my ring finger anymore. I can’t wait for that day.
“Now,” Nana tells us, “give him your power. Just a little. Give him some magic.”
Yes, all of us are pitching in because, as you know, we don’t have much magic left. But we give what we can to him, and within seconds his body is glowing. The hollows of his cheeks fill out. The circles under his eyes lighten, and he lifts a hand and touches his head.
“I know y’all didn’t just give me every ounce of power you have to save my life,” he says with smirk.
My heart leaps with joy. “No,” I tell him, tears spilling down my cheeks. “We only gave you half.”
His eyes pop open. He sees me and he tugs me into a hug, pulling me down onto the bed. “I thought I’d lost you again.”
“Never,” I whisper.
My dad squeezes his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back, son.”
“Me too,” Nana announces.
I stifle a laugh. Everyone tells Devlin that they’re happy he’s back, and Mama says, “We’ll leave you two alone.”
I sit on the bed, and he sits up, placing his back on the headboard. He glances up and around. “So this is your room. The very secret and very elusive boudoir of one Blair Thornrose.”
“Do you like it?”
He cocks his head and studies the space. “I’m thinking it needs boy band posters.”
I tip my face to the ceiling and laugh. “You know, you’re right. It could use some.” My gaze drops back to meet his, and we smile wearily at one another. Devlin slides a hand up my cheek, and I lean into his touch. “How dare you leave me right after I woke up.”
He laughs weakly. “I was trying to help your family.”
“It worked, from what they’ve said. You have saved us.”
“For now.”
“For now.”
We stare at each other another moment, and that’s when pressure builds in my chest. My rib cage expands, and it feels like my heart’s about to push through my sternum. The intensity climaxes until it releases like liquid spilling out of a popped water balloon.
Immediately after, a tingle worms its way into my chest. It’s a very familiar magic, one that I’ve been missing for some time.
I suck air, mouth open. “Our powers switched back.”
Devlin cracks a smile. “So they did.”
I think we realize at the same time, just like on the night he proposed, why our powers hadn’t returned earlier, and for that I’m beyond grateful.
If I had been in charge of my influence when I was hit by that truck, I might never have woken up.
Devlin needed to have my gift this entire time.
He opens his arms, and I fall on top of him. He grunts as if in pain.
I sit up, afraid that I’ve crushed some vital part of him. “Did I hurt you?”
He shakes his head. “Darlin’, I will take a little pain from you any day.” I slowly lay down on top of him, and Devlin smooths my hair. “You know what’s ironic?”
“What’s that?”
“Everything that’s happened—us getting together, you accepting my proposal—all of it is because our powers switched, a thing that neither of us wanted.”
I smile. “What we both thought was the worst thing that could ever have happened to us, became the best thing.”
“It sure did.”
He takes my hand and threads his fingers through mine. “And just think—you were so mad about it all.”
“I was.”
“And look where we are—if that one moment had never happened, we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be engaged. You’d still pretend hate me.”
I giggle. “But I’d be secretly pining for you the whole time.”
“Just like I would be for you.”
I lift my head and rest my chin on my hands, which are folded on his chest. “But you did too much, Devlin. You gave too much, and because of it, I could have lost you.”
“I did it to help your family.”
“No more helping my family like that. You almost got yourself killed.”
“Worthy cause.”
He takes my face in his hands and pulls me into a kiss. It tastes like a lifetime of I missed yous.
I never want this kiss to end. I want it to last forever. I want this moment with Devlin to last forever.
“What was it like?” he asks when we separate.
I sigh and rest my head on his chest. “I could hear everything. I heard when you went outside the room with my parents and the doctor told you to let me go.”
Devlin’s body tenses beneath me. “For the record, I would have brought you back to my house and hired a full-time nursing staff to look over you.”
“I know you would have.”
He rubs his fingers down my arm. “So. Think your power is still a curse?”
“Ha ha. No. I don’t. Not anymore.”
“Good.”
“And what about yours?” I sit up and look into those green and gold eyes.
“What I think, is that there is sometimes more to the story than the snippet of vision that I receive.”
“Like…”
“Like the outcome.” He smirks. “This outcome was a helluva lot better than I thought it would be.”
“That’s an understatement.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “Hey, where’s your ring?”
I lift my hand and show him the sparkling gems on my finger.
“We can get it sized,” he tells me.
“No. I’ll gain the weight back. I don’t want this ring out of my sight for any reason at all. I’ve spent too long loving and hating you to have you take this away from me to get it made smaller.”
“You’ve heard of something called magic, right?”
I laugh and drop my face to his chest. “I forgot. You know, when your family’s pretty much depleted and your business is on the fritz, it’s easy to forget about something called magic.”
“Speaking of”—he takes my hand—“when do you want to get married?”
“Honestly?”
“Absolutely.”
I frown.
“What?”
“You’re not just trying to get married quickly so that you can save my family’s business, right?”
“How did you know my evil plan?” he jokes.
I grin. “You’re so transparent.”
“So are you.” We kiss and when he pulls back he murmurs, “I’m serious. When do you want to get married?”
I think about it a moment, and then I answer.