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“I have a lead on the condition that you’re in. We can fix you,” I tried again.
“You can’t fix me! Stop saying that! Nothing is wrong with me,” his voice rose, becoming shrill. “I’m not leaving here without you.” Daethian charged, and I braced for impact.
My torso twisted, my feet struggling to stay under me as Dace pushed me aside, stepping in front of Daethian. They stumbled several feet backward and fell with a shout. Screams of pain cut through the air. I caught myself, turning at the horrifying sound.
Together they had landed on the upturned spear, the blade poking through Dace at an angle through his ribs and into Daethian’s chest. Red was already seeping through their clothing as the men lay crumpled together, their hands cupping their wounds.
Daethian grunted loudly, pushing off Dace and ripping the spear back through him, leaving Dace impaled. Blood poured from the wound into his cupped hands and dripped out of his mouth and down his chin. He lurched backward, his head bouncing off the ground as he landed.
I looked between them, a scream already parting my lips. Dace wheezed and pointed at Daethian. “Go to him.”
“GUARDS!” I sobbed as I hurtled forward. “Get a healer, somebody, get the healer!”
Only vaguely did I register the sound of the door opening and commands echoing through the halls.
I pressed my hands against Daethian’s wound, glancing up to see Dace watching me as he rolled to his side, holding the spear. My vision blurred until tears broke over my eyelids and rolled in fat drops down my cheeks. It had happened so fast. Everything had moved too fast.
The black tendrils of the curse that usually moved like smoke around Daethian had frozen and in my next breath, they inched back inside of him. Daethian’s gaze slid across the ceiling as he searched for me, until eventually his irises, brown like warmed honey, met my face.
“Ryker.” My name gurgled in his blood.
“I’m here. I’m here.” Despite my fear, my voice came out strong.
Daethian smiled, sending another droplet of crimson red running down his cheeks. “There is so much,” he wheezed, “I want to say.”
“You don’t have to say any of it.” I nodded, feeling how shallow his breaths were becoming.
“I’m sorry,” he said slowly. Sluggish, and with his last bit of strength, he pulled the token off his neck, placing it in my hands. I sniffled, slipping it into my pocket.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t do this.” I stared down at him, trying to rein in the tears that just kept falling. “This is all King Ganglin’s fault. You didn’t do this, he did.” Daethian’s eyes fell halfway shut, his chest didn’t rise again as it skipped a breath. “He did!” I screamed. “Please, no. No, no, no.”
My hands fisted in his shirt, his body unmoving. Time continued, but Daethian didn't breathe again. My heart felt raw, bloody, and open like the wound on his chest. More blood poured out of his mouth as I shook his body, as I pounded on his chest.
We were so close to having everything fixed. We were so close to ending this entire mess.
The doors burst open, an array of Fae rushing inside. My limbs were weighted at my sides, my body frozen, and their commands and shouted instructions were lost to my ears as I leaned back onto my legs and sobbed. Someone appeared at my side, touching and prodding at Daethian.
“Don’t touch him!” I shrieked, trying to push the Fae away.
“I’m trying to save him,” the man bit out at me, tossing my hands aside.
I looked up, searching for Dace. Fae had already gotten him laid out on a cot, lifting him up off the floor with the spear still jutting out from his body. His eyes had closed, one hand holding the spear the other hanging off the edge, bouncing with every movement as they jostled him up onto their shoulders and began carrying him out.
Not Dace too. Not them both.
Jumping to my feet, my foot dragged through the blood and my knee met the ground with a crack. Air hissed between my teeth as I pushed forward, trying to get around the Fae that had swarmed the room to follow Dace.
Steady hands took a hold of me, a woman with her hair braided back. “You can’t follow him,” she said sternly.
“I can’t lose him. I can’t lose him too. I can’t…I can’t...” My head spun, my lips tingling as they went numb with my words.
“He will be fine, but you can’t be in the room, you’ll be in the way.” She pushed my hair back, looking me directly in the eyes as she spoke carefully. “He will be fine. Go clean up.” Then her sturdy hands turned me toward the exit, gently pushing me out of the fray.
I tried to breathe in Dace’s scent, to follow the crisp pine smell all the way to his bedside, but the tang of Daethian’s blood tainted the air. It rattled my brain.
There had to be more that I could do than just clean myself up.
I had an idea of just what that thing was, and it was the only card I had left to play. Storming through the crowd, I grabbed King Ganglin’s lifeless head and headed toward the door.
