Page 38 of A Cursed Noel

Celia looks up at me.“I’ll be okay. I just need a moment.”

“I think you needmore than that,” I rumble. I’m not thrilled with the idea of Emmetrying to heal her. I’ve seen her fight and her abilities areclumsy at best. “What are the chances of you losing your limbs ifEmme tries to heal you?”

Shayna laughs. “C’mon,Derrick, Emme’s notthatbad.”

“It’s Aric,” Iremind her.

“Whatever.” Taranrolls her eyes. “Like this shit’s gonna last.”

“Knock it off,”Celia growls at her. She frowns. “Why are you smiling?” she asksme.

I adjust my hold tobetter see her face. “They don’t think we’ll make it. I’mwilling to prove them wrong.” My smirk dissolves. “No matter howmuch time we have.”

Celia quiets.

“What’s thatsupposed to mean?” Taran asks.

Celia glances down,attempting to hide her feelings. “Aric is only here for a littlewhile,” she explains. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

I don’t want to thinkabout our limited time together, either. Celia is the only thing I’mworried about now. She winces when I stroke the slope of her side.

“What’s wrong?” Iask her.

My fingers press alongher ribs when she doesn’t answer, examining each bone. “Celia, atleast two of your ribs are broken.”

She crinkles her nose.“I figured,” she says.

The curses that fly outof my mouth aren’t anything she’s used to. I don’t mean toupset her. I just had no idea how bad she was hurt. “Why didn’tyou tell me? You’ve been running with the injuries and jumping allover hell.” I glance back to the neighboring property. “Youflippedover those cinderblocks.”

“Aric, I’m used topain.” She smiles a little. “And regardless of what you think,I’m a lot tougher than I look.”

“I tackled you,” Iremind her.

“You did?” Emmeasks.

“Oh, totally,”Shayna says. “It was like a lion in the Serengeti and Ceel was thezebra.”

“Are you serious?”Emme asks.

We’re blushing liketeens caught by their parents, though no one seems to care.

Taran rolls her eyes,again. “What part of they-were-doing-it-like-wildebeests didn’tyou understand?”

“He was really gentleabout it,” Celia stammers.

“I still could havehurt you,” I remind her.

She looks at me,red-faced. “No. You’d never hurt me.”

No, I wouldn’t. Ikiss her temple; happy she knows it, but worried all the same. Celiacan’t keep going like this. “You need help healing, sweetness.Will you let Emme help you?”

“Aric, I know thissounds good in theory, but Emme is able to feel what she’s healing.She starts off well but the more she feels, the more nervous shegets. It slows the process and makes it more um, uncomfortable.”

She offers Emme anapologetic glance. Emme is looking too hard at the ground to notice.

As much as Celia wastrying to spare her feelings, it only heightened my concern.

I rub my jaw, trying tosuppress the emotions I’m experiencing. Celia is used to pain noone has any right to endure. Between the throwdown with the pack andher sisters’ collective efforts to save her, Celia is worse off,hurting more than she’s letting on.

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