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“I promise,” I whisper, hating how utterly fucking useless I feel.
I hold her as tightly as I can and send up a silent prayer as warmth takes over my body. At first, I think I’m imagining it. Then the white-hot pain follows on its heels, and then blissfully, I feel nothing at all.
CHAPTERSIX
Salem
He fights me like I knew he would, and then his body starts to relax.
“Don’t let go. Don’t let go. Don’t let go,” I chant as my arm throbs like it’s on fire. I hold on to him as if both our lives depend on it because, right now, they do. If he wasn’t so hurt, he’d be able to pull free. I focus and use my gift to find out what else is wrong, and I find his arm isn’t the only issue.
He has a brain bleed, something that will kill him if I don’t fix it. It’s going to drain me. I haven’t eaten enough to burn out these calories, but if I don’t fix him, we’ll all die. Keeping my secret hidden won’t help any of us here. Even if they kill me afterward, I’ll be no worse off than I am now, trapped in a fucking plane that could explode in the middle of the jungle. I swear if I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
“Now, you can let go,” I manage to whisper before I pass out.
Waking up is a gradual thing after a healing like that. Especially if I’m hurt, sick, or malnourished. It’s like swimming in the darkest ocean, kicking my feet and trying to get to the surface, but the water is thick and viscous like tar, slowing my movements so much that I wonder if I’ll ever make it.
After what feels like forever, I manage to force my eyes open and find myself staring up into Zig’s face. His intense eyes burn into mine with a thousand questions.
I try to move, but he places a hand on my chest. “Stay fucking still,” he barks, which is when I realize I’m free from my seat and lying on the floor with my head in Zig’s lap.
“Zig…I’m…” My voice trails off, not sure what the hell to say.
“What are you?”
I flinch as if he hit me.
He curses a blue streak, pinning me back down when I move to sit up. “I’m sorry, but you scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m not a monster,” I snap.
He rears back. “I know that. I…I thought you were dead. You were so still and pale. I couldn’t find your pulse and…your arm.” He runs his hand through his hair, pausing to look at his arm, which is now completely healed.
“How?”
“I don’t know. It’s something all the females in my family could do, though not all of them were as strong as me and my grandmother.”
“I have so many fucking questions. But first, can you help Oz like you helped me?”
I should tell him no. Two healings like that, and big ones to boot, will wipe me out completely. But I won’t let Oz die if I can stop it.
“I need food. Now and after. And if I sleep for a while, don’t panic. It’s just my body’s way of replenishing what it’s lost.”
His head cocks. “Will it hurt you?”
“No. It doesn’t hurt me to heal,” I lie.
I don’t tell him the danger of pushing too much could cause me to burn out or worse. It’s irrelevant right now.
“Take me to him.”
“Hold on.” He gently eases me off his lap and disappears for a minute as I gingerly sit up.
He’s back before I even get to my feet. He hands me a bottle of water and a silver square. “Eat this.”
I don’t question what it is—ripping open the foil and taking bites of the baked oats and fruit. I eat it all as he picks me up and carries me to the cockpit. He sits me in the pilot’s seat and hands me another square from his pocket before taking the bottle from me and twisting the cap off.
I eat the second bar and take the water from him, my eyes on Oz, whose breathing is labored. His face is covered in blood, and his lips are tinged blue.
