88. Clash of Stone and Steel #2
“Talyn first,” Samhail insisted, not letting go of Cyra’s wrist. “Please.”
“Samhail, I-”
Samhail didn’t let her finish. He grabbed her shirt and pulled her down close to his mouth. Talyn could hear the soft rasp of his voice as he whispered in her ear, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
Jealousy made her go cold as she imagined him saying his goodbyes to the woman, telling her he loved her as he’d said to Talyn only moments ago, and tears welled in her eyes. One trickled out of the corner toward her hairline, but she couldn’t move.
“Gods damn it!” Cyra shouted as Samhail released her shirt and she pulled away from him.
She turned to the twins. “One of you hold a cloth over Samhail’s wound to staunch the blood until I can get to him.
And the Protector save you if you let him die because there is nowhere in the world you’ll be able to hide from me. ”
Cyra got up and moved over to Talyn as the two other gargoyles moved in around their brother to attend to his wound.
Talyn shook her head as the lady knelt next to her. “No, Samhail…”
“He’ll only let me touch him if I heal you first,” Cyra said, anger roiling in her voice. “Gods fucking dammit! Aramis should be here to do this!”
Tears rolled down Cyra’s face, and Talyn searched her memory for who Aramis was. It came to her a second later. The lady’s father and a healer, but he was dead now.
“Please, help Samhail first,” Talyn said, pushing back Cyra’s hands.
“Bressen, help me!” Cyra called to her husband.
Talyn’s sluggish brain realized too late what Cyra was asking.
In her weakened state, Bressen took over her mind easily, and her body went limp.
His power was an anesthetic, numbing the pain in her stomach and paralyzing her limbs.
She could do nothing but watch as Cyra pulled the jeweled dagger from her stomach and laid her hands over the wound to repair the damage.
Talyn’s eyes shifted to where Samhail lay on the ground. His skin, normally so tan, looked pale, and it shined with a fine sheen of sweat. His breathing seemed entirely too shallow.
Talyn’s mouth moved, but she couldn’t speak, and she felt another tear trickle down the side of her face as he looked back at her.
Don’t die, she mouthed to him, but he gave no indication he understood her.
Talyn didn’t know how much time passed as she lay there with her eyes locked on Samhail’s, but she gradually realized the pain in her abdomen had lessened.
“Give me a clean cloth,” Cyra ordered, and someone, either Surgeon or Serise handed her one. “Bressen, let her go.”
A second later, the feeling returned to her limbs, and she tried to sit up. Cyra pressed the cloth to Talyn’s stomach.
“Hold this here,” Cyra told her. “It’s not completely healed yet, but I have to help Samhail first.”
Talyn grabbed the cloth and held it to the still-bleeding hole in her stomach. Healers healed from the inside out, so Cyra had repaired the worst of the internal damage first. She’d come back later and take care of the flesh wound after Samhail was out of danger.
Talyn rolled onto her side and pulled herself along the ground to him.
Cyra was already kneeling next to him, and she reached for him, but Samhail again grabbed her wrist.
“Samhail! Let go!” Cyra cried. “I healed most of her injury. She’s fine!”
Samhail ignored the lady and turned his head to Talyn. “You win. Accept the victory.”
Talyn blinked. “What?”
“Samhail! Let me heal you!” Cyra screamed. “Bressen, help me!”
“I can’t!” Bressen said. “His shield is up. I’d have to break past it.”
“Accept the victory,” Samhail repeated, his voice weak and graveled.
Talyn’s breath hitched as she realized what he’d done. By insisting Cyra heal her first, he’d made sure Talyn was well enough to fight while he wasn’t. He was allowing her to claim the victory in the challenge.
“Oh gods,” Talyn whispered.
“Talyn!” Cyra screamed, bringing Talyn back to her senses. “Accept the gods damned victory before he dies!”
Talyn opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat. It was dawning on her that accepting the victory meant she was no longer his, and fucking hells, she wanted to be. He was right. She was his and had been for a long time.
Talyn’s mind went blank. Accepting the victory would break the bond with him, but not accepting it would likely kill him. Either way, she’d lose him, and she let out a strangled cry.
“Talyn!” Cyra screamed as Samhail continued to clutch her wrist.
The lady’s voice jarred her back to the present as she realized what she needed to do.
“I accept it! I accept the victory!” Talyn yelled.
She looked up at Surgeon and Serise, who were standing over Samhail, and for once she saw concern in their eyes.
Surgeon nodded. “The victory is legitimate,” he said. “Talyn of Avril has won her challenge against Samhail of Bragden’s claim on her.”
“It’s done! Let Cyra heal you!” Talyn told him, her own panic rising now as she watched the color slowly drain even more from his skin.
Samhail released Cyra’s wrist, and his hand fell to the ground.
Cyra cried out and laid her hands over his wound as she sent her power into him.
Talyn looked at her own hand and saw Samhail’s claiming mark was gone. Far from relief, the sight of the empty finger made her feel hollow, and her stomach ached in a way that had nothing to do with the still-bleeding wound there.
She looked back to Samhail. His eyes were glassy, and Talyn screamed as she inched closer to him.
“Samhail! Don’t you gods damn die on me!” she yelled at him. She put her hand on his cheek. “Samhail! Look at me!”
He blinked slowly, and she knew she was losing him.
“Samhail, listen to me! Are you listening?”
His eyes focused for a moment, and he nodded weakly.
Talyn pushed some locks of white hair back behind his ears as if to be sure nothing would interfere with what she had to say.
“Samhail, I claim you by Right of Primacy. Do you hear me? I claim you by right as mine!”
He blinked.
Talyn looked up at Surgeon and Serise, who looked stunned.
“Can I do that? Can I claim him?” Talyn asked.
The twins glanced at each other before turning back to her.
“I…don’t think it’s ever happened before,” Serise said, “but I don’t know of any rules against a non-gargoyle claiming a gargoyle.”
Talyn looked down at her right hand. There was nothing on her finger, but she saw something peeking out from under her vambrace on the back of her hand.
She tore the vambrace off and saw the faint, ornate lines of a design that looked something like a feather.
It started at the base of her hand, then curled around her wrist and halfway up her forearm.
Talyn grabbed Samhail’s hand and saw that the middle finger on his right hand bore the gray feather-like marking as well.
“Fuck me,” Surgeon said in awe.
Talyn held up Samhail’s hand so he could see it. “Look. You’re mine now. Do you accept my claim?”
Samhail’s eyes shifted to the faint markings on his finger before he looked back at Talyn. He opened his mouth, and she leaned in to hear.
“Can I think about it for a while?” he asked weakly.
Talyn’s mouth fell open and then clamped shut again. A feeble grin curled the corners of Samhail’s lips, and she had the urge to hit him.
“No,” she said. “And you’re still weak enough I can beat you if you challenge my claim, so I’d advise against that as well.”
“You’re not giving me much choice,” he said.
“No, I’m not,” she said. “Now are you going to accept my claim, or do I need to stab you again?”
Cyra made a disgruntled noise as she continued to work on healing Samhail’s wound, but he only chuckled, then groaned in pain.
“Stay still,” Cyra scolded him. “Nemesis damn me, I should’ve let you both bleed to death.”
The words were harsh, but her lighter tone told Talyn that Samhail was out of danger. She met his eyes again. The shine was back in their midnight blue depths, and her breath caught at his look.
“Yes,” Samhail said. His voice sounded stronger now as the smile shimmered on his face. “I accept your claim, Talyn of Avril. I’m yours.”
She smiled back as tears streaked down her face. “You’re mine, and I’m yours until the Nemesis takes us.”
He shook his head. “Not even then. The Nemesis may take me, but I’ll still belong to you. I love you now and always, hummingbird.”
Talyn broke into sobs and laid her head on his shoulder.
“I love you too,” she said as she cried against him, “but stop calling me that, or I really will stab you again.”