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“Everyone back the fuck off.” I scowl around the room. “We are wasting too much time.” Miri is still stuck in the endless loops of shaking and stillness, and I don’t like how pale she’s gotten.
“Lena, I…” the words get caught in my throat. I’ve only just told Miri this and I sure as hell don’t want to announce it to the entire room, but what choice do I have? I need her to know that Miri has to survive. “She’s important to me. I’m pretty sure Miri’s my iomlán.”
There’s an audible inhalation from the group and stunned silence that follows. I don’t know if it’s because of what I’ve said or the fact that I’ve said it out loud. An iomlán is essentially a soul mate. It’s as much of a myth as the Fae and the veil between our two worlds. By telling them Miri is my iomlán I’m all but saying I think all of that is real. That there is really a veil, and we really have Fae blood running through our veins. And for the first time ever, I’m letting myself be vulnerable for someone else.
“I’ll help her.” Lena holds my stare, understanding and fire flashing in her eyes.
“This is bullshit.” Archer explodes, throwing his hands up in the air.
“I need you to leave Archer.”
“What?”
Lena keeps her gaze down, watching Miri instead of looking at Archer. Her shoulders are rounded, like a kicked animal. “I can’t concentrate with you here.”
Archer shakes his head, his mouth open like he’s going to unleash a tirade on Lena.
“Please.” Her whispered plea breaks his will, and he storms out without another word. Lena flinches as the front door slams close with a bang and a tear slips down Lena’s cheek. Apprehension wars with the need to fix Miri. To make her better.
“Are you sure?” I don’t even know what I’m asking. This is an impossible situation. I don’t want one of my oldest friends to get hurt, but I can’t let Miri die. She’s the one woman I’ve ached for even after years apart, the one woman who’s made me laugh and smile more than anyone ever has, and the one woman who made me realize my past doesn’t define my future.
“I’ve got this.” Lena shores herself up, straightening her shoulders and exhaling loudly. “I need everyone but Davis to back up. Davis, I want you to sit on the couch. Put Miri’s head in your lap. Hold her still.”
I nod, complying with her directions without so much as a question.
“No one touch me while I’m working this magic. Even if it looks like things are going badly. Please, just trust me.”
Everyone nods and picks their spots around the room to wait. I smooth my hand over Miri’s forehead, wishing like hell I had something else I could do for her. I trust my friend, though, and I’m putting my faith in her.
Lena moves closer to Miri so she can wrap her hand around each of Miri’s wrists. She’s awkwardly stretched across Miri’s stomach, but it’s the best she can do from her position. At first nothing happens, and I wait to see if Lena is going to recite a spell or do something else, but she just keeps hold of Miri, breathing in and out with deep concentration. Rhys curses low and soft from somewhere behind me when Lena lets out a quiet groan, and I realize there’s sweat coating her face and neck. Tears leak out of her closed eyes and my heart rends in two. There is no good solution to this nightmare.
Lena and Miri both start to shake, and all I can do is hold on to Miri’s head, doing my part as instructed. A soft golden light sparks around Lena’s fingers, but it’s dim and flickers in and out of existence. Whatever she’s trying to do, it isn’t enough.
The door of my cabin slams open and Archer charges back in. I’m about to slide Miri off my lap and punch him in the goddamn face, but he’s behind Lena before I can move. His hand lands on the back of her neck, clasping in a grip that’s half caress, half strangle. She immediately relaxes and the glow where her fingers touch Miri flares up to a bright, golden light.
Archer slumps over Lena, who’s barely holding herself up off of Miri by the time Lena let’s go. Miri’s stopped shaking, but she still hasn’t opened her eyes yet. Archer pushes himself up to standing, stumbling like he’s drunk. Rhys is in front of him two seconds later, his fist sailing through the air and cracking Archer in the jaw.
“Rhys, what the hell?” Lena jumps to her feet, only to fall back down. Ezra and Ruby are at her side in a second, helping her back up.
“You said no one should touch you.” Rhys points at his sister, pissed at her even though he just decked Archer.
“She needed my help, you dickhead.” Archer wags his jaw from side to side, rubbing it while glaring at Rhys.
“You didn’t know what that would do. You could have killed her for all you knew.”
“No. I knew.”
“How the hell could you know?” The two of them are in each other’s faces, fear and anger making them both lash out when normally they wouldn’t. I don’t give a shit what the circumstances are. They need to knock it off.
“Get out of my house if you’re going to fight. Miri still isn’t awake, and Lena needs help. Get your shit together and shut the fuck up.” I hiss at the assholes fighting in my small living room. I want to rage and shout, but I am not as clueless as the other two idiots.
“Shit, sorry.” Rhys scrubs his hand over his face, moving over to Lena’s side. “What do you need Lena?”
“I need to sleep.” Her words slur, and her skin is paler than normal. Rhys nods and takes her from Ruby's and Ezra’s hold. “I’ll get you home.”
“Lena,” I call out as they walk away. “Thank you.” The words aren’t adequate, but I don’t know how else to express my gratitude.
Maybe I should make her a pie. Lena smiles, but it looks like it hurts her to do even that much.
“She’s your iomlán.” There’s no more that needs to be said. We might all be fighting the idea of forming an Axis, but none of us can deny that having a soul mate, someone who is your perfect match, is something you can simply disregard.
Her eyes flicker to Archer, and I see something that I probably should have noticed years ago. She’s in love with her brother’s best friend.
Archer leaves soon after Rhys and Lena. Ezra and Ruby stick around offering to help, but when they start bickering about some nonsense, I tell them to leave with promises to let everyone know when Miri wakes. Once they’re all gone, I lift Miri and take her into the bedroom. The couch is not comfortable enough to sleep on and I have a feeling Miri’s muscles are already going to be sore.
I lay in there with her for a bit, needing to see the steady rise and fall of her chest, to know that she’s not going to start spasming again. Whatever Lena did is holding. There’s going to be a group conversation about that later, but I’m not going to worry about it now. Right now, Miri is the whole world and everyone and everything else can go fuck itself.
