The group was divided into two when I arrived. On one side were the injured, wounds bleeding and bones broken. Oz was already moving through a crowd of casualties, healing injuries left, right, and centre. On the other side were the ones he had already healed, but they looked shell-shocked, like they couldn’t believe they were alive.
There were countless dead bodies scattered about, and a few of the healthier individuals were moving them onto crudely made stretchers. The trees were helping, providing them with sticks and leaves, bending them into something usable for our needs. My teal-trunked friend immediately ambled over, and I was suddenly spluttering on bright yellow leaves as it checked me for injuries. I patted the closest branch, urging it to let me through, and after a cursory check of the bundle behind me, it did. Shaz was curled up protectively inside the safety of my vines. So long as there was no other fire-breathing beast, nothing was getting through them unless I let it.
Oz had stumbled to the side, waving everyone away. Exhaustion had set deep lines in his face. He had successfully healed all of the life-threatening injuries and had almost depleted his magic reserves. Any non-life-threatening injuries could be healed once we got back.
But there was one more he still needed to save.
I kept my distance to avoid enacting the curse’s ire, and extended my vines to gently drop Shaz into his lap. Oz glanced up at me in shock, hands in the air as if surrendering, thendeflated with relief when he saw it was me. That only lasted until he saw the extent of the burns covering my skin. I felt stiff, sore, and hot, but that was irrelevant. Shaz was more important.
‘Heal him, Ozzie. He saved my life.’
The gravity of my words dropped between us like a bomb, and his attention snapped back to the snake in his lap. My brother’s hands lit up with his golden, life-giving magic without another moment of hesitation. I could see the strain as he pushed more of his Affinity into the limp snake, and I watched in awe, like I always did when I was fortunate enough to see my brother’s magic in action, as the wounds knitted back together before our eyes until there wasn’t even a scar in sight.
He couldn’t replenish the blood loss, but Shaz would no longer bleed out. He could rest and heal the rest of the way on his own.
‘What happened?’ a man I recognised as Shaz’s friend asked as he stepped up beside me. His deep brown eyes were latched onto Rakshasa’s prone form, fear and grief emanating from him in waves.
‘He lost a lot of blood, but he should be okay,’ I informed him as gently as I could, but my own voice cracked with emotion. Shaz had put himself at risk to ensure my safety. He had literally sacrificed himself so I could live. I would never forget that.
‘Juniper!’ My mate shouted my name in that familiar rock-grinding voice, and my head snapped up just as Phenex pushed through the crowd. He scooped me into his arms and held me tight, nose buried in my hair as he breathed me in. My entire body vibrated, and it took me a minute to realise it wasn’t coming from me.
‘Fuck, Phenex. You’re trembling.’
A choked sob suddenly tore from his throat, and his entire body shook as he cried into my hair. ‘I thought I lost you. I thought…’
‘I’m here,’ I soothed, rubbing circles on his back. ‘I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘I can’t…’ he began, only to be cut off by more soul-crushing sobs. ‘I can’t lose you, my soul flame.I can’t.’
‘You won’t,’ I tried to reassure him, but it fell flat. There was no way I could ensure my safety. This was only the first trial, which meant that this hell was far from over. I could not promise my survival. Or his.
My eyes scanned the dead bodies still being collected. Witches, Warlocks, Shifters, Daemons. They could have been any one of us. There was no telling who could be next.
‘I can’t lose you, either,’ I admitted softly into his neck.
He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye, his lilac irises burning with devotion. ‘If you die, I will follow you into the next life. I willnotexist without you. I just found you.’
His words sent the tears building in my eyes spilling over, and I clutched him just as tight.
‘Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen for a very long time, yes?’ Abaddon said, appearing out of nowhere to encase us both in his brotherly embrace. It was a harsh reality that I couldn’t get that from my own brother, but it was nice to be accepted by Phenex’s family, even if I had only met one so far. It was even nicer to feel like he was holding us together while we broke, anchoring us so we had the freedom to fall apart.
‘What happened?’ the Shifter asked, his voice breaking through the moment. We all separated, though I remained tucked into Phenex’s side, and I gave him my attention.
‘He choked her out.’
‘Her?’
‘The dragon.’
‘He didwhat?’he practically screeched, but he wasn’t worried. It was mostly just disbelief and… was thatglee?‘Oh, shit. His father’s going tohatethat.’
I blinked, taken aback. I didn’t know any parent who wouldn’t hate their child risking their life the way Shaz did today. But something about the way he said it told me that his father’s displeasure wasn’t about almost losing his child.
‘Is he going to be in trouble?’ I asked the Shifter, who tipped his head back and belted out a laugh.
‘Trouble? No! He’s our Prime. If anything, he’s just cemented his place as one of the greatest. His dad’s gonna be pissed that he’s been surpassed!’
I didn’t know what to say to that, except, ‘Oh.’
