“I can try. I can’t with the others, though.” She looked past Noc at his fallen brethren. “They’re too far gone and without the lasting life magic of the Effreft.”
Noc swallowed. “I understand.”
Tristan, one of the original Council, stepped forward. “Kaori, these people barged into our home—”
“That’s enough, Tristan.” Yazmin. Crown of the Council. She’d been away on a beast hunt during my first supposed transgression. A breeze swept her long, platinum locks across her face, and she brushed them aside. “We can debate later. If we can spare a life, it’s what the goddess would want. We aren’t meant to be at war.”
Stabbing the hairpin into the center of her palm, Kaori pressed her hand flat against Calem’s wound. “To ease the beast inside him, a bit of Charmer’s blood.”
Noc’s grip on my hand tightened. “The beast inside him?”
“It’s a condition of Stella’s gift.” Kaori shifted, making room for her beast. Stella dipped her head low and cracked her jaw wide open. As she positioned her fangs over the gaping wound, a thick silver substance dripped from hidden glands behind her teeth. A sharp heat cooked the air. “Stella’s saliva is a potent healing balm that has been known to bring back those on the brink of death. However, something so powerful requires sacrificing a sliver of humanity.”
I studied the faint track-work of silver veins on her hands. “You speak from experience.”
She nodded once. “It was a requirement for taming her. My blood should ease the pull, but it will still be there.”
Kost wrung his hands together, his voice breaking. “What kind of pull?”
Stella sat back on her haunches, licking her lips, and the gash nearly severing Calem in half sewed back together.
My heart stilled.This has to work.A soft purr brewed from Onyx’s throat. He waited in the background, heavy eyes tearing my soul in two. To love the thing that stole my family… They would never understand. I would never ask them to. Without looking away from Calem, I summoned my power and sent Onyx back to the realm. He didn’t need to feel guilty for my actions.
“The effects are different for everyone.” Kaori dipped her nose closer to Calem’s face. “For instance, I—”
Calem gasped, eyes flying open and chest heaving. His gaze bounced wildly from face to face until he spied Kaori kneeling over him. Confusion tracked canyons in the plane of his forehead. We all froze, shocked, hopeful, fearful—waiting. He had come back to us, but what would the change be? Would we know him anymore?
After what felt like an endless stretch of time, a lopsided grin teased his lips. “Well, hello there. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”
Oz choked on a laugh through a fresh stream of tears, and Kost slumped in place. Noc stared without speaking. He reached out and placed a hand on Calem’s shoulder.
Kaori smiled. “No, we haven’t met. My name is Kaori.”
Calem blinked away the remnants of death, and that teasing grin grew. “What are you doing later?”
A faint blush touched her cheeks. “Um.”
A bellowing laugh escaped Oz’s chest. “Gods, Calem.”
Calem grinned, dropping his hand and pushing himself up into a sitting position. “What’s with all of you?” He turned his face my way. A rock wedged itself tight in my throat, and I dropped my head. I couldn’t bear to look at him.
My beast…The deep red of Calem’s wound stained the back of my eyelids.
A quick finger snaked its way around my chin, Calem angling my face to his. “Leena. It’s good to have you back.”
Tears broke through my lashes. “But—”
“Not another word.” Calem glanced up at Noc. I tried to pull away, but he gripped me tighter. “I’d do it for you, too.”
My heart split into a million places, and my body shook. Noc cradled me against his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist and placing a quiet kiss on the crown of my head. “I’ve got you,” he murmured.
Burying my head into Noc’s collar, I wept. He smelled of battle, of blood and grime and death. And honey. Always honey. I gripped onto that familiar scent and told myself that somehow, we’d put ourselves back together again.
I registered the groan of the beast door opening and glanced up to see Raven return. Her eyes were guarded, but not tearstained. Mika must have survived. Yazmin glided toward us with the others following close behind. Offering a slight bow, she inclined her head toward me. “Leena.”
I rubbed my cheeks with the backs of my hands. “Yes?”
“I hate to break this up, but we need to speak. Now.”
