Page 137 of Land of Monsters

Celeste knelt next to him, her hand running over his fur while two tiny figures stood on top of him like kings on a mountain.

“I’m telling you, these are magic fingers, Lake Lady,” Opie huffed. “They have healing powers when I stick them in holes!”

Chirp!

“I’ve gotten them in smaller places!”

My twin’s chest rose and lowered in shallow movements.

He was still alive. Barely.

“Rook!” Mom cried, pushing past me, running to her son, my dad right behind her.

My terror and relief had me frozen in place. Both agony and joy tussled through my body; I couldn’t breathe, the effects of the battle wanting to drop me to my knees.

Mom landed next to Celeste, her hand going to his bloody fur, her eyes closing, her seer searching through his pain. My father stood over him, calling his name, demanding his boy open his eyes.

“He’s trying to fight the poison,” Mom uttered, not really speaking to anyone. “But it’s too much. We have to do something. He’s dying.” Her pleading eyes went to her husband as they shared a moment of unfathomable anguish.

“We will not lose him, little bird. I promise,” Dad growled with determination, declaring something he might have no control over.

There were so many people with extraordinary powers here—healers, Druids, necromancers, yet none of them could do anything against the pure goblin metal in his veins. It was something none of us could fight. We were powerless to help, knowing it would take a miracle.

A wish.

Holy. Shit.

Rushing for my brother’s body, I crashed down next to him, my fingers dragging through his fur, feeling for the wounds. A noise worked up his throat, a familiar rattle, as if he felt me there. That part of each other’s soul. The other half of him.

I’m here, little brother.

The sound of him suffering, taking anguishing breaths, his lungs faltering, roared my own beast up. The need to protect him shook through me.

My brother’s form shuddered, like his body was losing the battle.

Don’t you dare die on me! I forbid you!

I clutched the necklace in my palm.I wish for you to heal him!I asked the necklace again, the wish hissing through my mind, directed at another man I loved.Save him.

Slamming my hands on one of his wounds, I poured everything I had left into him. The power careened into me, and it felt like I was being sliced in pieces. The pain blanched my mind, crashing my senses. I yanked at every molecule of toxin that mingled in his blood, extracting it from him.

The obscurer hissed from my lips, preying on the poison in his blood.

“Raven!” I felt more than heard Ash calling me. A hand came over mine, his other covering an arrow wound on my brother’s, taking on some of the weight, letting it siphon through him as well.

The connection of us together surged through Rook, a blinding light chasing out the darkness. His wound gushed with black tar, magic cleaning out the deadly poison with force. Rook jerked, his roar pelting the sky, calling to the stars as life and death staged their last battle before one side fell.

Rook’s back arched, his blades shimmering in the moonlight, his teeth dripping with salvia, eyes fire red. Another howl echoed, then his body went limp, sagging to the stone, half shifting back to his human form, his chest moving up and down with steady intakes.

Silence echoed like a heartbeat. It felt like the earth was holding its breath. Waiting.

A sharp gasp came from him, his body convulsing, his lids springing open.

“Rook!” I called out, but it came out a whisper compared to my mother’s cry, her arms pulling him to her as she sobbed over him.

I sagged back with a whimper, relieved. Ash wrapped his arms around me, holding me up and giving me strength.

Dad grabbed Rook’s shredded clothes, covering him as Mom held her son, sobbing softly, but this time in joy. Dad grabbed my hand, the other on Rook, our family holding each other.

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