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Ow.
I could taste blood.
Lurching to my feet, I whirled around to face my attacker. She was already lunging, diving in to finish the job. As a healer,I’d always focused my magic on non-violent methods.I didn’t like harming people, as I’d already brought enough pain into the world because of the curse affecting those around me.
But that didn't seem to matter when it was Kai, my true mate, at risk.
I raised my hand and heard my wolf growl. She wanted so badly to come out and rip limb from limb, to tear out throats until we were reunited with our mate, but I couldn’t let her. Not because I held any qualms about her fighting, but because I’d remained in secret for so long that I couldn’t risk people spotting me shifting. I’d also never fought in that form, so I doubted I'd even be very good.
So now I had to summon my magic for something rather different. After all, the aim of healing was to do no harm, but the truth was a lot of medicine was doing very particular and guided harm. CPR could cause broken ribs. If a bone was set wrong, it needed to be rebroken, ad a concentrated, energetic jolt could awaken a stopped heart.
But if that same electric jolt was used on a normal, beating heart, it wouldnotbe ideal.
I forced the effect through in the most concentrated blast I could manage, closing my eyes to focus. It wasn’t a skill I used often, even in healing, as my magic wasn’t elemental in nature, so it required a controlled beseeching to weather spirits for a hint of their power.
I was rusty, but the jolt struck true, and suddenly my enemy stiffened, then fell over, sliding right past me. To my relief, I heard the tell-tale strangled whimper of a wolf brought to heel but very much alive. Hopefully, she'd stay there for a moment while her body reset. Technically, she wasn’t injured, and she'd heal rapidly, anyway, as a shifter. For now, her body was just…off rhythm. Such a thing could be especially disconcerting, and itwasn’t entirely uncommon for them to lose their animal form for a few minutes.
I didn’t get the chance to wait and see if she de-shifted, though. I had a mission that trumped all else, so I took off again. Rage and injustice threatened to strangle me, bitter on the back on my tongue. That shifter had cost me precious seconds away from Kai, and what if he—
What if he—
I found him!
“Kai!” I cried, all my senses centered on the body not too far away from me. I let out a soft cry of fear, closing the distance between us, nearly collapsing at his side. “Captain!Captain, can you hear me?”
He didn’t answer, and the worst thoughts buzzed through my mind in a constant stream, but I knew I had to fight them back so I could take proper inventory of the situation. I couldn’t help my fated mate if I was blind with panic.
It looked like Kai had been struck on the head. No damage to the brain, thankfully, but enough of an injury that he was bleeding heavily. Head and hand wounds were always like that, which made them more alarming, but what worried me more was that he was in human form.
I’d no doubts that he’d been running around as a wolf. Whatever had hit him, though, was strong enough to make him lose his animal form.
“Hey, it’s all right, I’m here. I’ll take care of you,” I said steadily, despite the fact that I felt anything but steady. The vibrant red blood that was supposed to be inside him, supposed to keep him alive and a respected leader of our people, was spilling on the ground, useless.
His head wound, however, wasn’t the only injury. I never thought I’d believe a skull fracture wasn’t that bad, but it paled in comparison to Kai’s skin. I could tell he’d been violentlyseared by magic, as if the surface of the sun had reached out and attacked him.That was a scouring curse if I ever saw one, and I knew that if he couldn’t heal, his face would've been half-scrubbed away by it.
How long had he been lying like this? Minutes? Seconds? I didn’t know, and it wasn’t as if I could ask. I wished it hadn’t taken me so damned long to get across the battlefield, but there was only so much I could do.
The important thing was that I was finally beside him, and that I could help. I had to help. If Kai died, then—
I actually didn’t have words for that, but the thought made me sick. It was as if all of the instincts, the connection I’d been fighting for years had surged out at once and was rewriting my every cell, demanding that I do whatever necessary to help him.
He most certainly needed help - I could barely detect the rise and fall of his chest.
Fear choked me. I'd been scared before. In the life I led, I was even acquainted with that animalistic terror one only feels when they’re certain their life is about to end. But that fear wasnothingcompared to what was flowing through me at the state of my fated mate.
Kai couldn't die. Hecouldn’t.
The world could go on without him just as easily as it could go on without the sun, without water, without gravity. If Kai was gone, then what was there to tether us to the earth? To keep us grounded instead of being flung off into space, unmoored from everything of value?
I’d truly underestimated what it felt like to have a fated mate so close to death. The fear was choking me, but I muscled through it, forcing myself to stay calm enough that I could check his vitals.
Kai was stillhere,there was no doubt about that, but it wouldn’t be for long if I didn’t intervene.He’d be lucky tolast minutes without any kind of aid, which was certainly a statement to how grievous his injuries were, given his abilities.
Taking a deep breath, I poured whatever magic was left through him, trying to diagnose the best way to go about things. Frustration flowed me at how sluggish my magical response was, however, as it barely surged through him.
I knew I should have expected that. I’d been spending my energy so recklessly the entire battle. But I was still blindsided by it, my panic trying to surge up again.
“Breathe in, breathe out,” I reminded myself as I sat back for just a beat. I could heal with no magic, couldn’t I? After all, that was what potions and standard medical care were for. Bandages didn’t need enchantment. Cleaning a wound didn’t require a grand spell.
