Page 51 of A Spark Of Revenge

“Here,” he mutters, grabbing a blade he has strapped to his thigh and holding it out to me as the Beastia start killing everything in sight. I have to remind myself not to seek out Creed or Razar, knowing that what I see aren’t the real people, but the figments of Lennox's dreams. “Get in there and lock the door! Don't you fucking come out no matter what happens!” Nox commands, nodding at the cabin.

“No! Nox, you have to come with me. Everyone here is not real… we are. This is your dream. You're as much at risk as I am,” I rush out, jumping forward to grab him, but he sidesteps me and curses when a Beastia launches at us. With a hard shove from Nox’s arm, I fly off my feet and through the air, crashing to the snow-covered ground with a thump as Nox squares off with the monster attacking him.

There is another monster stalking up behind him, and I curse, holding the blade Nox had just given me as I jump to my feet and throw it with every ounce of my strength, watching with a pleased smile as it sinks into the monster's eye. It releases a bellow so loud I have to cover my ears. Nox brings his ax down on the neck of the Beastia that is currently attacking him before he brings his arm up and throws his weapon at the head of the one about to attack.

In a rush, he grabs it from the now dead Beastia and spins toward me, his eyes widening, mouth dropping open in horror when he sees the blade I used to protect him, lodged in a Beastia’s eye several yards away from me. “NO! Dammit! Meyer, get out of here. You don't have a damn weapon!” Nox’s predatory glare snaps to the left, and he growls before panicked eyes fall back on me. “Run Meyer! Now!” Nox bellows as another Beastia turns in my direction.

“Shit!” I whisper, turning on my heel and running as the monster rushes me. I can hear its heavy feet strike the frozen ground, and I curse when I see how far I still am from the cabin. Coldness rushes through me with the sudden realization that I’m not going to make it. Then pain rakes over my shoulder, and a heavy weight crashes into my back, sending me to the ground so hard my neck makes an odd cracking sound, and my head bounces off the hard snow. Stars fill my vision as heat spreads through my limbs, filling my veins with liquid flames as it burns me alive. My mouth drops open in a soundless scream as razor-sharp teeth clamp around my shoulder, and my body is lifted and shaken. The beast snarls as it shakes me from side to side, my flesh tearing before it releases me to fall back to the ground.

For a moment, I just lay there, confused as hell, wondering how I ended up on the ground. Then the pain comes back in a wave, and my back arches involuntarily, warmth running down my shoulder and arms as shouts and angry cursing sounds at my side. Panic swells in my chest as thoughts of Nox getting hurt invade my mind. The ground shakes, and I open my eyes, not realizing I had shut them, only to see the lifeless, bleeding head of a Beastia roll across the snow.

“Meyer!” Snow crunches and warm hands gently touch my trembling body. “Meyer?” Nox says again, his voice so soft, it reminds me of the one he used while healing me after the last Beastia attack. I peer up at him, frowning when I see a huge gash on his left cheek, running over his nose and down to his jawline, bright red blood spilling from it like a tiny river.

“Shit! Shit, fuck! NO!” he yells, the soft tone gone as my body starts to move. I cry out as fire lances up my side, and my head throbs as Nox settles me in his lap. Oh, that's nice. He’s much warmer than the snow.

My heart beats fast, and I can't feel my fingers or toes anymore. “Meyer, please! Fuck! I need you to wake up right now! Please!” Nox screams at me, his hands cradling my body to his as I stare up at him in confusion. Why is he yelling? He got the Beastia… it's dead. Everything is okay now. Warmth fills me, and my vision darkens.

Fuck… I’m so tired.

“Don’t! Don't you dare, Little Demon! You are in control here! You have to wake up so I can fucking heal you!” Nox snarls, and I try to chuckle, but something warm comes up my throat, making it hard to breathe.

What? Wake up? My head throbs again, and I moan, wanting him to stop yelling so I can get some rest. Darkness surrounds me, its embrace taking the agony that lights up my whole right side, and I welcome it, smiling as the pain finally recedes.

“No! Meyer, please! Please wake up!” Nox’s voice drifts through my mind, his words end on a choked sob before I finally let go.

TWENTY-FIVE

Lennox

Gasping, I wake with a start, the feeling of Meyer's small body going limp in my arms the worst nightmare I have ever experienced. I lift my head from where I must have fallen asleep at my desk and groan, my head throbbing, and my right cheek stinging. Frowning, I reach up, brushing my fingers over my cheek, then blink in surprise when they come back wet. Looking down, I see thick red blood, and my heart stops, the panic I had just felt moments ago returning as I spring to my feet, my chair flying back as I run as fast as I can out of my office.

“Meyer!” I shout, barreling down the small, dimly lit hallways of the barracks toward Creed's room, blood dripping down my face as I go. It hadn't been a nightmare, but a dream Meyer had made physical, subjecting the two of us to danger and… “Fuck!” Her body had gone limp, she had lost consciousness!

Just as I round the corner to lead me down the hall where Creed's room is, I pull up short, almost barreling into Valen as he steps out from Razar’s room.

“Lennox? What's wrong? Wait… is that blood? Why are you bleeding?” Valen demands, but all I can do is shake my head and dart around him, running to Creed's door like the damn apocalypse is on my heels.

“It’s Meyer! She dream walked into my dreams and made everything physical!” I shout behind me, making Valen inhale sharply and sprint after me. I burst into Creed's room, shoulders heaving as I run to his bed where a small form lies unmoving, the scent of Meyer's blood is heavy in the air, making my stomach turn and bile race up my throat.

Footsteps thunder down the hall, along with Creed's voice calling out, asking what happened. I grab the blankets covering Meyer's still form, yanking them back and snarling at the amount of blood covering my Little Demon. She’s so pale and still, lying on her back like she’s asleep, yet I can see the blood seeping from her right shoulder, the way her neck sits oddly to one side, her normally creamy skin, white, and her chest… unmoving.

“No!” I shout, pulling every spark of magic I have to my fingertips as I lean down, pressing one hand to the delicate column of her throat and the other under her blood-soaked shirt. Quickly, I shove it up and rest my hand on her still chest above her breasts before I immediately begin healing what is broken. Like a list of horrors, my magic starts to uncover every injury Meyer sustained in my dreams.

Blunt-force trauma to the head. Cervical vertebrae fracture. Rib fracture and punctured left lung. Several lacerations on the right shoulder and back. Severe blood loss.

The list goes on, making my throat tighten as I look down at the face of the woman I’ve begun to care for. She frustrates me even as she calms me. I want to fight her stubbornness… to bend her to my will as much as I want to nurture her strength. I want to help her become something truly remarkable and teach her how to use her magic. There have been sparks of her abilities, small and dim, but they are under the surface, and every time I get a taste, I crave more.

“Mi Sol!” Valen rasps, rushing into the room before pulling up short at the end of Creed’s bed, his mouth dropping in shock, his eyes filling with fear and terror that I relate to on a personal level. “No!” he groans, rushing over and crawling up on the other side of the bed, his hands trembling as he reaches out to cup her face. One hand stays on her cheek as the other one slides down, cupping the side of her neck my hand isn't covering, his fingers pressing there as he shakes his head. “Nox?” he asks, voice shaky as he stares down at Meyer, his eyes gradually darkening to gray pools of death.

“Sh-she's in rough shape, but her heart is still beating,” I whisper, answering his silent question as my shoulders slump and my body curls in slightly at the amount of relief that I feel when I realize I’m not too late. I can still save her. My magic floods into her body, wrapping around her so completely that our heartbeats match up, making me grunt in pain as my body forces hers to stay alive.

“Fuck!” Valen grinds out, his hands trembling so hard I’m a little worried he might hurt her neck more than it already is. His breaths are coming in heavy pants, and his fingers slowly lose color, the light pink bleeding to gray as the colorless void of his Shade form inches up his arms. My eyes widen when I see Meyer's skin turn gray under his magic, and I curse.

“Valen, let go. She can't have her first Shade shift while half dead,” I whisper calmly, trying not to trigger his Demon form, but wary of how fast Meyer’s magic reacted to Valen’s.

“What’s…” Creed's voice breaks off when he steps into the room, Razar on his heels, his mirthful eyes falling on me, then Valen before settling on Meyer. “What the fuck?! What happened?!” he shouts, running forward but only making it a step before Razar hooks an arm around his waist, keeping him in place. “Let go of me!” Creed pleads, tears already streaming down his face as he tries to break out of Razar’s hold. “Meyer!”

“Don’t,” Razar growls, keeping a firm grip on Creed as he stares down at Meyer, his cold eyes shuttered and emotionless as always, but it's the slight tensing of his jaw—the way his hands fist as he holds onto Creed that gives him away. Razar might not like Meyer, but he is worried about her safety. Probably because he knows it will break Creed and Valen to lose her. “Let him heal her. You’ll only slow that down by getting in the way.”

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