Moving beside James’ body, I drop to my knees, breathe as shallowly as possible so I don’t throw up, and close my eyes. “Take my hand.”
After a moment of hesitation, Felix does as I ask. My hand instantly feels like I’ve dunked it in freezing ice water. My body twitches with the sensation as I fight the urge to escape the cold. As calmly as I can, I reach for the source of all magic that flows through me and concentrate part of it into my hand.
“Whoa,” Felix whispers, his semi solid fingers wiggling in my grip. “That feels warm and tingly. Like my hand is starting to wake up.”
“Not yet,” I murmur with a half smile. “This part is going to get weird. For however long this takes, you and I will be one. Your soul will be tied to mine. While I go in to heal the body, I’ll be taking your spirit with me. Once I’m done, I’ll return to myself, and you will be left behind in… your new body.”
“I’m okay with soul cooties,” Felix jokes, though it comes out off, laced by the anxiety he can’t hide.
“Here goes nothing,” I mutter.
Through squinted eyes, I use my free hand to grasp James’. He’s still warm, which I take as a good sign. Using what Mildred taught me, I feel for my magic, recognizing what is me and what is the source. Needing both, I let the mixture wash through me, letting it fill me until my skin is nearly buzzing.
With my mind’s eye, I envision Felix’s soul tethered to mine and awash in my brimming magic. Since I’m currently the one with the living body, I alter the spell and chant, “My body is your body. My pain is your pain. In this moment, we are one.”
Instantly, my hand is empty, and I feel like I swallowed rocket fuel. Coughing, I collapse forward, my body shaking so violently that it feels like my teeth will rattle out of my mouth. One body was not meant to hold two souls… and it probably doesn’t help that I filled myself to bursting with magic first. Looking inward, I sense Felix by his sweetness, his loyal heart, and his kindness, but his thoughts are not mine to access, so I can only hope he’s okay.
“I can do this,” I whisper to myself. “I have to do this.”
James’ body doesn’t have a soul to tether myself to, like when I helped Donovan, so I have to get creative. Tightening my grip on James’ lifeless hand, I visualize Felix and I entwined together as one entity pouring into James’ body—magic fusing with every cell of the body until it’s brilliant with life.
“This body is my body. Through me, I give life. Forever connected, we are one,” I chant up into the heavens, then we pour into the lifeless form, my muscles locking up like I’m gripping a livewire. With my words, lightning cracks across the sky, and raging winds howl through the trees. Rain pelts my skin, but it feels muted and distant.
Rejuvenating James’ body feels a little like the oldPeter Panmovie, but instead of sewing a shadow back to his feet, I’m sluggishly pushing life through an empty vessel. Once I infuse the body with Felix’s spirit, I’m bombarded by the body’s physical injuries.
First, I repair the neck. There’s an audible crack as the head twists back into a natural position. From there, it’s a panicked dash to repair any of the life-threatening wounds, while also leaving enough behind to be believable that Felix… James, survived a car accident. It’s difficult to pick and choose, to heal the punctured lung but leave the cracked ribs behind. To reduce the swelling in his brain, but not heal it completely in hopes the injury will explain ‘James’ sudden uncharacteristic behavior.
After healing anything major that would have lasting effects if left alone, I complete the final piece of magic that will ensure he lives a long, natural life. Summoning all the love I feel for Felix, I create a figurative netting around his soul, protecting him with pieces of my own, then I flood his system with source magic. Combined, Felix’s new body brims with life, more than enough to fuel itself without having to take from Felix’s soul.
Feeling both figuratively and literally drained, it takes me a moment to realize that Kaleb is kneeling beside me, with one arm wrapped around my body while helping hold my hand to Felix’s body with the other. Thankfully, while I was busy bringing Felix back from the dead, Kaleb did something about that awful blaring horn.
At the sweet sound of Felix’s painful groans, I make my way back to myself—using Kaleb’s heartfelt touch as my guide.
“I don’t remember the ground moving so much the last time I was alive,” Felix slurs, wincing with every breath.
“That’s because you’ve never been drunk,” Kaleb laughs, his voice thick with tears.
“Have now,” he mutters, flexing his fingers then hissing with pain because one of them is broken.
“You probably shouldn’t move much,” I advise, tired and giddy at the same time. “I had to leave a lot unhealed so the accident would be believable.”
He doesn’t sound like Felix, but when he cracks his now bright green eyes and sees me, he gives me one of his sweet smiles. One I would recognize no matter what face he wears.
Laughing and crying at the same time, I squeeze his hand, careful of his broken finger. “Welcome to the land of the living.”
“Thanks,” he rasps. “Happy to be here… or will be when my everything stops hurting.”
There’s the high-pitched whine of an approaching ambulance, and Kaleb quickly rubs his face and sniffs. “I’ll go meet the EMTs and bring them here. I already texted the rest of the guys and told them to meet us at the hospital.” Gently, he pushes my hair back from my face. “You’re amazing,” he whispers with awe, then quickly remembers himself. “Just, um, wait here with Felix, okay?”
“Will do,” I murmur, half leaning against the open car door.
Kaleb gets to his feet, his eyes red, and he covers his mouth to hide his relieved smile. “It’s really good to have you back.”
“Good to be back,” he mutters, his eyes slipping closed.
Kaleb nods his head, sniffs again, and then marches off to find the ambulance.
For a minute, Felix and I sit in silence, soaked with rain since from a storm not attached to my emotions for once.
