He’d get his own second wind back, but it would take food and time—and ideally sleep, but obviously, that wasn’t going to happen right now.
His hands were still shaking, and he tried not to worry about just how drained he was right now. He made himself drink more—water, this time—and eat another sandwich. He looked over at Brannal. He’d never seen the man look so tired—and they’d once stayed up for four nights straight when they were young and stupid on a dare.
Without warning, Livala suddenly slumped over, falling to the floor. The three remaining Mage Warriors made a cry of distress, Perian and Trill gasped, and the shield… flickered. Without thought, Cormal slammed his own shield down, realizing only as it locked into place that Brannal had done the same.
The shield flared bright, making Cormal squish his eyes closed for a moment, trying to blink away the after-image. Had he caught a glimpse of something in that moment the shield had flickered? Surely he hadn’t seennothing? They couldn’t have been pouring all this energy into nothing, right?
He balled his hands into fists again. As soon as this was all over—all right, maybe after he’d slept for a week—he was goingto go down to his father’s old workshop, and he was going to throw so many fireballs at the wall that they obliterated everything else. And Kinan would have to wait outside, because he would bethereand he would besolidand he would bewell. That was the only acceptable option.
He didn’t dare close his eyes this time, because he feared if he did, he’d actually fall asleep, despite the desperate tension. It was like a yawning pit was growing inside of him, and he was in danger of falling into it.
He couldn’t let that happen. It didn’t matter how exhausted he was. He couldn’t give up his part of the shield. The pull felt worse now than it had before, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was more exhausted or because it was actually taking more magic. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to be there, that all of them needed to be there, doing what they were doing, even when their hands were shaking and their vision was blurry—or maybe that was just Cormal.
Trill swayed on the other side of Kinan, but Molun and Arvus were there to bolster him. Cormal thought they were saying something, but he couldn’t focus on anything except pouring every bit of magic into Kinan.
He hadn’t realized it was possible to get this sweaty. And was the room getting fuzzy, or was it him? His fingers and toes had begun to tingle, like they’d fallen asleep.
With a suddenness that was alarming, the shield fell, the sudden cessation of pressure so extreme he couldn’t process it. He hadn’t let go of the shield. The others hadn’t either, had they? They would have talked about it. They hadn’t done that. Right?
He blinked, trying desperately to focus. There were sounds around them, but none of them made sense. It was like he was underwater.
Belatedly, he realized could see Kinan again! His eyes were closed, though, and he was lying there completely still andlifeless. Dread pulsed through Cormal, his stomach sinking like a stone. He reached out to check for a pulse—or tried to. Instead, that yawning pit inside him opened up, and he fell down it.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cormal
Cormal became aware that someone was running their hand through his hair. It was… nice. And unusual. There weren’t a lot of people who would touch him like that. Delana, maybe, but not when he was sleeping. That would be weird. There wasn’t anyone who would touch him while he was sleeping. The only person he slept with was—
Cormal shot to a seated position, alarm jolting through him. “Kinan!”
Was he—?
“Hey, hey, it’s all right. I’m right here. Cormal, it’s all right.”
Cormal’s head snapped around, and there was Kinan, now sitting up beside him in bed. Cormal sagged with relief.
“Thank all the elements in all the world,” he breathed, relief flooding him even as he reached for the man.
It was too ingrained, not to try to touch him even when he knew that he couldn’t. Cormal blinked, staring in shock at his hand, which was now clasping Kinan’s upper arm, clothed in a shirt that Cormal could also touch. He could feel the warmth of Kinan’s skin through the thin fabric.
His eyes flew to Kinan’s. “It worked?”
Kinan offered a slightly tentative smile. “It worked.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Cormal said even as he basically threw himself at Kinan, wrapping himself around him.
Kinan let out a laugh that sounded relieved, hugging Cormal back tightly.
They stayed like that for a long time, Cormal marveling at the feeling of the firm body against his, the warmth, the muscles, theweightof him.
When he finally pulled back, it was to ask, “May I kiss you?”
Kinan’s face lit up. “Yes, please.”
Thankfully, the pounding need drove him forward before he could overthink the fact that this was something that Kinan had apparently wanted for years and this was possibly his first kissever, and they’d never done this physically before, and—
Their lips met, and Kinan made the most perfect, most desperate sound ever, and then they were frantically yanking at one another’s clothes, trying to get to bare skin, desperate to—
