I take three more breaths of her agony.
Then I stop.
Not because I want to. Because there’s nothing left to take.
She’s stable.
She’salive.
My forehead drops to her hair.
I’m shaking so hard I can barely hold her. My magic flickers unsteadily, sparking and dying and sparking again. The chain behind me has gone quiet—hands still touching, but the desperate flow of power slowing to a trickle.
I should let go.
I should hand her to someone else—someone who hasn’t just torn himself apart, someone who can actually take care of her.
I don’t.
My arms tighten instead.
“Stay.”
The word comes out broken. Barely a whisper against her hair.
“Please stay.”
She doesn’t answer.
But her heart beats steady against my chest.
And I am not letting go.
Chapter 6
Bree
I’m not dead.
That’s the first thought. Stupid, maybe, but it’s the one that surfaces as my lungs pull in air and my chest doesn’t scream in protest.
I’m not dead, and I’m being held.
Arms around me. Warmth against my back. A heartbeat under my ear that isn’t mine.
Stellan.
I know his scent before I open my eyes. Something expensive and sharp underneath the ash and blood and exhaustion.
My body feels… fine. Better than fine. The bone-deep drain I expected isn’t there. I’m tired—gods, I’m tired—but it’s the kind of tired that comes after a good cry, not after almost burning yourself alive channeling enough magic to level a city.
I healed them.
They healed me.
That’s how this works now. I think I always knew that, somewhere underneath the fear. But knowing it andfeelingit are different things.
I open my eyes.
