Page 48 of An Accident Waiting to Dragon

He looked…terrible.

Not just pale, but gray. And waxy.

Like a corpse.

He wasn’t moving. As far as she could tell, he wasn’t breathing.

“No,” she whispered.

I can’t be too late. I can’t.

Not after what they’d both gone through to get here.

“Are you the courier?” the man kneeling on his other side asked.

Gwen didn’t answer, putting her ear to Asher’s heart instead. Nothing. She held her breath and willed her own heart to stop beating so damn loud. She needed to hear.

Still nothing.

No movement.

No sound.

“Don’t die,” she begged him. “Don’t die on me now. We haven’t had enough time.”

“I guess the courier knows him,” a more feminine voice murmured from behind her.

Thump. Asher’s heart thudded hard enough for her to feel it against her face. Like the only part of him still alive was reaching for her.

Gwen gasped and jerked her head up. “He’s still alive. Help me roll him over.”

“Roll him over?” the man asked. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Ladon, listen to her.” This from the woman again.

Ladon. Asher’s king and friend. A fact she brushed aside as she started pushing at Asher’s solid form on the ground, only to have the man shoo her out of his way and turn Asher’s body over with little strain.

Gwen pulled Asher’s shirt up and yanked off the bandage, wiping away the remains of the poultice.

Ladon hissed between his teeth, a sharp sound of shock and realization all in one, and around them the dragon shifters all stiffened or shuffled. They had to know with a single glance how bad this was. Worse, even, than only minutes ago—had it only been minutes—before she’d flown out of their hiding spot.

“What is that?” Ladon demanded in a low growl that was pure royal fury.

“Shadows from a wraith,” she said as she closed her eyes. “Poison.”

“Can you fix it?”

“I damn well intend to try.” Then she cut off everything around her—all her senses focused inward, no longer hearing or feeling anything. Seeing only the moonlight gathered inside her like a tank.

Not full.

Not even half full. There hadn’t been time.

Please let it be enough.

Gwen breathed and sent a prayer up to the elders, who existed in everything around her. She breathed and focused on her magic. Not cold like the moonlight, but warm, like Asher’s campfires. Like his skin against hers.

---