Page 139 of Gift from the Tree

“It’ll be painless, and we’ll be there to baby you through it,” Caspian snarks back, earning himself a look from all of us. I wave my hands in a motion that resembles molding a cup and hand the purple travel mug to Corentin to fix her coffee. She drops the death glare she’s still wearing, and a brilliant smile spreads across her face.

“Oh, I love it. Thank you so much.” She grins, clapping her hands.

“You know, little wanderer, you can learn to do that too now that you have an earth element.” Draken slings his arm over her shoulder, steering her toward the back lawn.

“Oh, that’s right,” Willow responds a little less than enthusiastically. I’m about to ask if she’s okay when I pick up her train of thought. I like it when he makes my stuff, though. “We can work on that if you’d like to teach me, Tillman,” she adds on as an afterthought.

“We’ll work on it in case you need it for emergencies, but I’d prefer to make your things,” I declare. She does need to know how to make things in case she’s ever in a situation to need something, but other than that, I like making her things for her. I’m happy to know she enjoys it and doesn’t freak out about it like we thought she would.

Gracing me again with a gorgeous smile as we make it out the back door, Corentin and Caspian are standing there impatiently.

“We’re going to transport right to the lab. See you in a second.” Corentin kisses Willow’s forehead before transporting out, followed by a grunt from Caspian.

“You’re with the big guy, sweetness.” Draken kisses her lips quickly, stepping back and transporting without another word. She shakes her head, laughing at his antics, and cuddles up to me with no argument.

“Ready?” I ask her, knowing she doesn’t care to do this even though it doesn’t make her sick anymore. At her brisk nod, I transport us right to the lab and we step out in seconds.

“Morning,” an overly cheery voice calls out, and Willow whips around, practically right into Oakly’s hug. “I wanted to be here to make sure you were okay.”

“Morning, kiddos,” Gaster says, strolling into the lab as well.

“Why does everyone need to be here for this? She’s just getting some blood drawn,” Caspian complains, looking around at the number of people now in here. Our Nexus has five bodies, four of which are large. Then add in Gaster, Oakly, and Jamie. It’s crowded.

“Well, we know who won’t be holding your hand through this,” Oakly smarts off, rolling her eyes at Caspian.

He doesn’t respond. Instead, he wraps Willow in his shadows, dragging her to him, and places her seated on the exam table. I’m waiting for the attitude to come, but surprisingly, her eyes fall to Caspian with soft understanding.

We all gather around her as Jamie steps up with a tray of medical supplies. “Okay, Willow, I’m going to clean the area around your veins, and you’ll feel a slight prick of the needle, but I’ll push my healing magic, so it takes away any of the discomfort after that.”

She doesn’t speak, gives a nervous little nod.

Opening her other hand, silently telling someone to grab it, everyone reaches for it at the same time. None of us get it as shadows lace their way through her fingers and around her wrist. Me and my brothers whip our heads to Caspian, but he doesn’t acknowledge us, his attention solely focused on everything Jamie’s doing.

The rest of us lay a hand on Willow anywhere else we can, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Okay. One. Two. Three.”

She takes a sharp intake of breath as the needle pierces her skin, but her face relaxes seconds later as Jamie pushes his healing magic. Blood begins filling one tube, then the next, and in maybe a minute, Jamie pulls the needle out, laying his finger on the site and healing it completely.

“Very good, Willow. I’ll let you all know when I have anything,” Jamie says as Draken helps her off the table.

“Thank you. That wasn’t nearly as bad as I had it built up to be. I have a nasty history with needles, so I was dreading this,” she tells Jamie thoughtfully. Caspian’s grunt draws her notice, and they stare at one another for a tense moment. I wonder if her comment has something to do with what he saw in his awakening.

“I got to get to the training yard. I’ll see you in just a little while for lunch.” I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and gently run my fingers down her throat.

“Have a good morning. I’ll see you soon,” she says as she grabs my hand and kisses the inside of my palm, causing my heart to shudder in my chest.

It takes a fuck ton of willpower to walk away from her and transport to the yard, but my mind switches right to instructor mode as I appear in the yard to see everyone fucking off.

“Formation,” I bellow, gaining everyone’s attention.

This is going to be a long fucking day.

Hours into training, the bond gets antsy in my chest with the need to see Willow, also fucking annihilate anyone who’s near her. We only have fifteen minutes until lunch, and it’s dragging ass to get here.

“Fuck, do you feel it too?” Beside me, Ry’s hitting his fist against his chest lightly, looking like he’s ready to explode.

“You mean the bond driving me fucking mad to make sure Willow’s okay? Yeah, I feel it.” I snort a laugh, asking sarcastically.

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