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Phantom shoved two fingers into his mouth and whistled, the sound grating on my already-fragile nerves. With the curve of his elbow, he pressed me to his chest, where I wanted to stay forever.
Several moments later, the other shifters arrived. Shadow’s eyes narrowed and filled with such coldness that it felt like a spear of ice had pierced my heart.
The back of my throat tasted bitter. Guilt hacked at my heart. I wanted to let him know how grateful I was for what he’d done. But his expression chased me away.
Spine rigid, I left Phantom to fill up my canteen. I returned a few minutes later to rinse his wounds. Diluted blood streamed down his chest from his neck. I watched every drop, wishing to catch it, replace it. To kiss each wound and watch it heal. I wasn’t game to test my magic again. Not when it seemed to have infused the collars with more power, making the panthers go even wilder.
Eyes burned into the back of my head as I cleaned Phantom’s cuts.
Shadow. If I turned, I knew I’d find him staring at me, watching my every move.
The sting in my heart returned. Every part of me wished to go to him, to let him know I cared for him, too, but after that icy glare, my confidence had eroded.
Kneeling on the ground, I removed my spare dress from my bag and tore sections from it, long enough to fashion bandages. With care, I fixed some to Phantom’s arm, neck, and leg. Once I was finished, Phantom tied a dressing around my neck.
I glanced at Shadow, catching him struggling to rinse a big gash on his back. An intense desire to go to him, to give him what little I could to show my gratitude, inundated me.
Phantom grabbed my wrist, as if he sensed my bleeding heart. Concern crammed behind his eyes. Tension in his upper body spoke of him being uncomfortable with our vicinity to Shadow. But I couldn’t keep hiding behind Phantom…even if his eyes insisted I stay wary and close.
“Let me help with that,” I said to Shadow, slipping free of Phantom, my feet carrying me to Shadow.
Gently, I extracted the canteen from his fingers.
Shadow withdrew, wringing his hands. “Snow. You know it’s not safe.”
Of course! I wasn’t stupid. Mad, yes. There was a difference.
Adrenaline still coursing through him from the fight provided him strength, but once his system calmed, the blood loss would weaken him, and he’d need to rest. That I knew from experience. Something told me not to leave, not to give up on him just yet, even though the collar presented difficulties in remaining close.
His body tensed, and he panted, a growl gurgling in his throat, as if he were resisting his transformation. When green engulfed his eyes, I pictured him tearing out my throat, leaving me breathless. Quickly, I tipped the water onto his cuts, and he let out a long hiss. The markings on his collar flickered on and off, as if they were distinguished fire on kindling being reignited by the wind. I kept vigilant, my gaze flickering between his gashed flesh and the collar, just in case it blushed full red again.
Bloodied water sluiced down Shadow’s neck, rolling over the curve of his back, bumping over his shoulder blades, scaling the volume of his growl. Deep wounds like his would take a few days to mend with his shifter healing factor. But he needed lavender lily to ward off infection.
Sea God, I hoped the dragon king had some of the flower.
My belly bubbled with nerves at the prospect of conjuring more glass to cover the panther’s wounds. Before I tried it again, I had to get an answer as to why my magic swayed from having a positive outcome, like bandaging a wound, to a negative one, like burning and cutting Phantom even worse. I didn’t want to risk exacerbating their injuries again. For now, we had to rely on the bandages and hope for the best.
I nodded for Phantom to pass me some dressings, and he rolled up a bunch then tossed them to me.
Shadow began to shake as I wrapped the dressing over his shoulder and under his armpit. His face was taut, his eyes closed as he fought the urge of his collar pressing him to hurt me. Just a few more bandages and I’d step away. My fingers moved with greater urgency.
By now, Shadow’s claws had emerged, and his ears had elongated and darkened. “Snow. I don’t know how much longer I can hold this.”
Fear jacked up my heartrate.
Phantom grabbed me by the upper arms and drew me back.
Flare took the last bandage from my grasp and gave me a remorseful look, as if he didn’t like this any more than I did. He finished the job I couldn’t, granting Shadow the space to calm down.
The whole time I didn’t dare breathe and dug my nails into Phantom’s flesh.
Shadow glanced up at Flare and then across at Phantom, jerking his head for more bandages.
Flare’s gaze landed on me. “You know, I don’t need a hand rinsing my wounds,” he said, his words carrying a cheeky tone.
A nervous but amused snort flew out of my nose before I could stop it. He was actually quite funny when he wanted to be. Charming? No. I could overlook that because not everyone was blessed with that particular ability. Protective? Yes. A quality I admired. But my respect was earned, not given. While he’d acquired some points for defending my ass back there, he was a long way from winning me over, which wouldn’t happen until he learned to speak to me with consideration. Still, I appreciated his attempt to ease the tension, and for fun, I flung some water in his face.
Laughing, he shook it off and wiped his wet skin. His smile caught me off guard, his expression roughened by the experience of his years, yet with a hint of playfulness and tenderness I’d not seen before. What a refreshing and pleasant change to his constant scowl.
