He thought about getting Lionel himself in his weakened state.
But his power had limits. Maybe he could get to Lionel with the energy he had recovered, but there was no way he could carry him across time and space to get back here. He would sputter out trying, leaving him and the healer in a forgotten place, possibly another realm.
He could only wait at Aaron’s side, stewing in that helpless feeling. Despite his haggard body, he would not sleep another moment tonight, nor the many nights ahead. The Divine Allura were not gods; theycouldbe killed. It was impossible not to have casualties in their hidden world. Callum just never imagined Aaron could be one of them.
Lionel is coming.
He was going to get here in time; he had to.
“It’s almost sunrise.” Callum held his younger brother’s hand as he spoke, as if to keep him tethered to this world. He was his anchor that wouldn’t falter. He refused to let him slip into the ether.
Callum shifted his attention to Helaina. She sat on the floor, back against the solid rock. She still wore Aaron’s blood; she was painted in it. Theo hovered above her.
“Where did you learn this?” He gestured with his head to Aaron.
“A better question is, why haven’t any of you learned it? It’s simple battle aid?—”
“This”—he pointed to the tube protruding from Aaron’s ribs—“this is notsimplebattle aid.”
She had covered the odd contraption in bandages to keep it in place. Callum had nearly pulled the damned thing out when he first arrived; he’d never seen anything like it.
“Where did you learn it? How did you know it would work?” His waves of hair draped over his dark eyes as sweat cooled his forehead.
“One of our healers wrote about it in her medical volumes.”
“You read it in abook? You let her do this to him with no training?!” Callum shouted at Theo.
“I did have training!” Helaina fired back.
His captain lazily raised his head. “What exactly are you angry at, Callum? If it wasn’t for her, he’d be gone already, just like Agatha.”
Helaina noticeably tensed at the name.
“She didn’t leave him, she kept him safe until we got there,” Theo added.
Callum immediately regretted his outburst. His brother was breathing because of her. He reined in his capricious behavior and accepted that feeling of gratitude in his chest. His brother was his world, his only blood. It should have been him out there protecting Aaron. He would gladly trade places with him if given the choice.
“We used to learn this,” he said quietly, “how to save a life in combat. Since Lionel passed his trial, having the healing light of Nedos in our ranks... I guess we started depending on him more than we should.”
Theo hung his head in agreement.
Helaina palmed the side of her hair, letting the strands thread between her red-tinged fingers. The last time he saw her, she was knee-deep in her own blood. She looked better now, more awake—more alive.
“I never said it when I should have,” she said. “Thank you, Callum. Thank you both... for following me into the water. For saving my life. And I... I’m sorry, for the rock and the whole spitting-in-your-face thing.” She darted her eyes around, seeming embarrassed.
Callum gave a simple nod, accepting her surprisingly genuine apology.
“So you do know how to say thank you,” Theo muttered, leaning against the rock wall.
To Callum’s surprise, Theo’s grin that followed wasn’t menacing. It was playful. Even the tone of his voice suggested a joke between the two of them. What was this girl doing to him?
Some silence passed between the three of them.
Callum had been awful to her in the beginning, and she repaid him by saving such a big piece of his heart. He felt he owed her a piece of him—a truth.
“We’re all we have, Aaron and I.”
Those silver eyes looked toward him, trying to listen despite her obvious fatigue.
