Page 118 of Enchanted

“Good.” Rami let me go and gave me a brusque nod. “Let’s get to work.”

He turned away and a choked gasp left me. “Rami, you’re hurt.”

The bottom half of his wings were black and charred. I had no idea if he could feel it. If he could, he had to be in agony. He had to have known what taking the impact would mean.

But he’d done it.

To protect me.

“I’m fine,” Rami said, cutting through the screaming crowd to a man collapsed in the centre. All around us, those doctors and nurses whose injuries weren’t life threatening were also at work. But even to my untrained eye, I could see they were fighting a losing battle. “Get searching, Ethan. Check pulses first.”

I scrambled to do as he asked. I tried not to pay attention to the blood or limbs I was stepping over. My shaking fingers pressed against a woman’s neck. There was no steady thrum. Not even a light wisp of life.

A sob broke from me.

The second person I checked was the same.

But the third, a young teenager, finally gave me hope. “Rami! Here.”

He was beside me almost instantly, his hands hovering over them. Nothing happened, not as far as I could see. But I sucked in a breath as colour returned to the boy’s cheeks, his breathing turning steady.

“You’re doing great,” Rami said, his eyes on me. “Keep going.”

I nodded, but before I could move to the next person, several sounds had me freezing.

At first, I thought it was another explosion. My body locked up as I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for that awful heat to find me.

“Ethan,” Rami’s voice had my eyes flying open. “It’s okay. It’s help.”

I followed his pointing finger to the front of the café. At least, where it had been up until a few minutes ago. Now, there was just a massive gaping hole. Lightning was hitting the ground repeatedly; that was the noise I’d heard. When it cleared, there were more people with wings. A mixture of black and white, although the latter outnumbered the former.

“What the…” My voice trailed off as I recognised all of the faces. Every one of Rami’s housemates was there, with the exception of Sam. All of them but Nox and Jeremiah had white wings.

The latter had black wings. Along with my three housemates, who stood alongside them.

Without hesitating, they raced into the café, their faces grim. One detached, heading straight for me.

Quill.

He reached for me with a slightly watery smile. “Come on Ethan, let’s get you out of the way.”

“I need to help,” I said numbly as the group of winged people fanned out. “Rami needs me.”

Quill sat me on a chair that’d somehow survived the blast. “We can take over now. What Rami needs is for you to be okay. Can you breathe for me?”

Wasn’t I already doing that? I forced myself to pay attention and winced. The sound of my rasping breaths was bad, even to my own ears.

My housemate was on his knees in front of me, his wings spread wide, like he was trying to hide the carnage. But it was too late. I’d seen it already.

I’d never be able to erase it from my mind.

I mimicked Quill’s slow breathing pattern until my pulse settled. When I was able to speak, I asked, “Are you okay being here?”

He cocked his head to the side. “That’s your most pressing question?”

I blew out a breath. “Kinda? Everything else feels a bit…”

“Surreal and like you’re hallucinating?”