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I locked eyes with Okean, prepared to hold his gaze until the very end, when a frigid cold settled over the glades, followed by a musty, mothball odor. Everything stilled, save the twisting tentacles of the Slimacks that seemed to have minds of their own. The only sounds that remained were their eerie, slippery caress, the rustling of cattails in the breeze, and the definitive padding of hurried footfalls.
Relief hit hard and fast, and I stopped fighting against the monster. “Only the Slimacks!”
Rook’s answering call, the strange amalgamation of a hoot and a bark, was all the assurance I needed. He was by my side soon enough, and he stared down the pack of Slimacks with burning, violet eyes. They shriveled under the weight of my Foxel’s power, succumbing to fear and rendering themselves immobile—save their tentacles. One of which snagged along my trousers and left a gash in my thigh.
And then the monster vomited. Fluorescent green poison splattered over my open wound and seeped deep into the exposed tissue. All at once, pain fired through me with the force of a thousand blades, cutting my insides with every damn heartbeat. I screamed so loudly that the Slimack on top of me actually flinched, despite being gripped by terror. My bones cooked from the heat burning its way through me, and I writhed in place on the ground. Frantic shoutsbarely pierced the veil of my agony—Kost, Ozias. The worried caterwauls of Jax, Okean, and Rook. A gut-wrenching howl from Calem. Until finally, sweet relief came in the form of darkness, and I lost consciousness.
TWELVE
KOST
Time slowed as I watched Gaige’s head slump against the marshy loam. Muck and filth splattered the sides of his face, but he didn’t move to wipe away the grime. His eyes had rolled to the back of his head, and his body had gone dangerously limp. Everyone had sprung into motion—Ozias and Calem chasing off or eliminating the last of the Slimacks. Okean and Rook sliding across the slippery terrain as they raced toward Gaige. Jax following close behind, erecting a precautionary rock wall to protect them. I hesitated only for a moment. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around what had happened. One moment Rook had immobilized the Slimacks, and the next Gaige had been writhing in pain with bile on his leg.
And now, this. Panic exploded in me, and I tore through the marsh to kneel beside him. “Gaige.”
No response.
“Gaige.” I shook him gently. Then, roughly. My fingers turned bone-white against his shoulders. “Wake up.”
When he didn’t respond, I released him and immediately touched the bronze key around my neck. The beast realm door groaned open, and Felicks rushed outward.
“Heal him. Quickly.” I pointed at Gaige’s torn trousers. There, a gash marred the skin of his inner thigh—and it was already festering. The green bile had quickly sunk into the meat of his leg, leaving behind a grotesque shimmer that turned my stomach. His skin wasn’t stitching itself back together.
Felicks poised himself above the wound and inhaled deeply. Any second now and he’d lick the length of the gash, delivering a saliva capable of healing injuries. But instead, his hackles stood on end, and he peeled back his lips to hiss at Gaige’s leg. Gingerly, he backstepped from the wound until he was safely at my side.
“What’s wrong?” My hands went still as I eyed the laceration.
Felicks’s orb clouded in response. The wait for his vision to solidify felt like eons, each second scraping by and pushing my adrenaline to new heights. All at once I was reminded of the time Gaige had died. It hadn’t been so different from this. I’d seen the vision from Felicks and bolted to Gaige’s side, but I’d arrived too late. My beast couldn’t do anything then, either. Spots danced across my vision as my breathing came quick. He was going to die. Again. But this time, I wouldn’t be able to raise him. This time, Ihadbeen here, and I’d still failed him. I’d failed him in so many ways. I hadn’t helped him with his shadows. I hadn’t made him feel welcome in my home. I didn’t get the chance to tell him…
My beast’s vision forced its way into my mind. Within the next two minutes, Effie would be here, and we’d be readying our Zeelahs to return to Cruor. Gaige was still incapacitated, but not dead.
Relief sang through me, and I sagged into the earth, only to launch to my feet a breath later. “Calem!”
Calem’s ears flicked to attention at my call, and he charged toward us. Ozias ran behind him, casting one last look at our surroundings to ensure we’d taken care of the last of the Slimacks.
As Calem skidded to a halt before me, he shifted back into his human form. Blood and muck glistened against his naked skin. “What happened?”
“Summon Effie. Now.”
Unlike his clothes, his key still dangled from the cord about his neck. Nothing bestial could destroy it, thanks to the magic of the tree from whence it was plucked. Touching his key, he opened the beast realm door and allowed Effie to soar into our world. With a trilling, happy birdcall, she circled us twice before settling on his shoulder. Her inquisitive, pale-pink eyes traveled over the scene stretched out before her. Then, her head riveted to Gaige.
“The wound.” I indicated to his leg. “Felicks showed me a vision of her pouring her magic over it. I think…I think it will stave off the infection long enough for us to get him to Cruor.”
Calem’s face was grim, but he nodded once. “You heard him, Effie.”
She needed no additional prompting. With a quick beat of her powerful wings, she took to the air and hovered above Gaige. Glimmering, magical dust fell from her wings like the first snowflakes of winter. They lazily drifted to his leg and covered the wound in a thin blanket of gossamer particles. When the first layers began to dissolve, Effie returned to Calem and knocked her beak against his chin.
“Good girl,” he mumbled, scratching the soft spot of her chest.
Ozias had reached us just as Effie had begun to use her magic, and he’d remained tight-lipped until now. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. But we need to leave. Quickly.” Thankfully, neither of them argued. They both sent their beasts home to the safety of the realm and took off. Ozias headed for the stables to gather our Zeelahs while Calem slipped into the shadows and raced back to the Wooden Flower to retrieve our things. And I waited. Heartpounding. Gaze locked on Gaige’s impossibly still body. Grateful that at least his condition wasn’t worsening—for now.
I’d lost count of how many times I’d fantasized about feeling the weight of Gaige against my chest—but not like this. Limp and unconscious, he bobbed against my sternum in time with my Zeelah’s sprinting gait. His ashen face and ragged breathing, occasionally punctuated by a mumble from his fevered dreams, wrecked me entirely. He’d started to deteriorate, and I feared Effie’s magic was fading faster than we had time to heal him. We were only minutes from home, but days away from the Slimack attack, and Gaige was dangerously weak in my arms. I’d held him dead before. I wasn’t ready to do it again.
A murder of crows cawed angrily as we disturbed their slumber. They took flight in a hurry and chased us down the path. A soft bark from Felicks pulled my focus. I’d never sent him back to the realm, instead allowing him to ride atop Rook’s back as we barreled toward Cruor. Every two minutes he shared another vision with me. And every two minutes I allowed myself one quick breath of relief at the sight of Gaige still alive in my arms. But the moment the vision faded, my anxiety spiraled, and I found myself counting down the seconds until Felicks would show me the future again. I could feel my connection to him weakening, though. I’d never kept Felicks out of the realm this long before, and there was a strained tension like a pinched nerve that was growing sharper and sharper with every passing breath. Soon, I would have to send him back to recuperate. Soon, I wouldn’t know what the future would hold for Gaige.
“Kost!” Ozias shouted. I glanced over my shoulder at him and Calem. With the jerk of his chin, Ozias nodded toward the treetopswhere our sentries typically patrolled. Emelia and Iov were racing through the branches overhead, worried gazes locked on Gaige.
