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I want to turn back time and demand Asterion stay in this sanctuary with us, keep us all here until the world stops turning.
I swallowed hard and lifted my face to whisper in Laszlo's ear. "I will carry Excalibur to the battle."
His sigh was heavy, body leaning into mine and taking as much comfort from me as I did from him.
We will have vengeance, pretty morsel.Hywel had promised me those words before he woke. And as much as I wanted to run, to hide, Birsha had Asterion.
And I would take my vengeance for that violation alone.
Laszlo turned his head to press a kiss into my hair. "Very well."
Before we could exchange a sweeter vow, a sudden burst of shouts and cries sounded from inside the study. Laszlo's arms around my waist spun us and propelled us closer, and I gasped at the sight of red wings through the mass of people surging by the study door.
"Is that Ronan?" I asked, running forward.
Bloodied, bandaged, with a torn wing and a limp, itwasRonan. And not just him. Ezra flickered in and out of view, slightly less worse off but haggard with exhaustion. On the floor in the circle of our crowd was a makeshift stretcher, where Hunter lay, so pale he was more gray than green. Hazel was grave at his side, her hands hovering over every patch of bandage and bleeding scratch.
"—didn't realize what was happening to the witch, that Birsha wasusingher to latch the trap around Amon and Asterion. Not until it was too late. I was too high, dealing with the harpy," Ronan explained, frowning at Hazel.
"They left Hunter for dead, and I had to wait to drag him out again," Ezra rasped. "Dunno if I waited too long. Sorry, lovey."
"He's not dead yet," Dr. Underwood said, kneeling by the prone orc. Apparently, Mr. Tanner had relinquished the grip on their shared body for the time being, seeing more need for a doctor than himself.
A whisper of sweetness tugged in my belly and I frowned, glancing around the room.Néktar?Now?It hardly seemed an appropriate time for—
I whimpered as a stronger pull yanked in my chest, and my eyes widened as I realized the direction wasout, not in.
"Evanthia?" Laszlo asked, his hands on my shoulders as I lurched forward.
Birsha had leeched from me during the nightmare, but I was too well fed now for him to drain me dry again. Before the nightmare, I'd beenburstingwith vitality. And now…
Now some of it was trying to find its way out of me, and toward…
"Hunter," I gasped, slipping free of Laszlo's hold, weaving between Conall and Hywel.
Hazel looked up at me, face stricken and coated in tears, trapped in a blank worry fueled by the inability to act. I understood her expression—it was my own ever since waking and knowing that Asterion was in danger and out of my reach.
"May I?" But I didn't wait for Hazel or Underwood to agree. I wedged myself between Hunter's side and Booker's close stance and sank down to my knees.Néktarleft me in a steady rope, an unpleasant pull that made my breath short and my head dizzy.
It was life force, strength,the food of the gods, and it knew as well as I did that right nowHunterneeded it more than I.
I sighed as I lifted his heavily bandaged hand in both of mine, the flow a little less pinching and abrasive when I was touching him.
Hazel frowned at me and licked her lips. "What are you—?"
On the cot, Hunter moaned, his brow furrowing. He coughed and grunted, and Dr. Underwood reached out to push me away.
"Leave her!" Ronan exclaimed. "He's been still as death for the past day and—"
"Haze—" Hunter rasped. A soft cry bubbled up from Hazel's lips as a faint berry-pink flush stained Hunter's cheeks and he breathed in, ragged but deep.
"It's thenéktar," I said, closing my eyes, trying to focus on the thin current, to offermorerather than simply let it be dragged from me.
"Hazel," Hunter called.
"I'm here, you're—You're all right, my love. You'll be all right."
I opened my eyes as Dr. Underwood murmured out a curse. He peeled back a crusted wad of cotton from Hunter's chest to reveal a quickly closing wound, the cut deep enough to reveal bone but fading fast.
