Page 128 of The Mirror in the Mountain

I leaned down, cutting off her words with a kiss. “And brave. And fearless. And utterly heroic.”

Eva smiled up at me, and I brushed my thumb against that dimple that reappeared, needing to feel it. She tried to sit up, then fell back against me with a pained groan, the intensity of her agony breaking through our muted bond reigniting my panic.

Tobias’s eyes met mine, his voice carefully controlled as he said, “We need to stop the bleeding.”

I looked down to see a fresh wave of Eva’s blood pooling beneath her. Tobias’s hand was covered in it where he had pressed it against her stomach.

Eva’s eyes slowly closed, her voice weak as she whispered, “It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”

My fingers wrapped around her wrist, feeling the sluggishness of her pulse beneath my thumb, noting the increasing pallor of her skin even in the dim lighting. The shortness of her breath like she wasn’t getting enough air.

She’s losing too much blood.

I tried to ignore the sudden ringing in my ears, the way everything except her and the growing puddle of blood beneath her fell out of focus. Panicking wouldn’t help her.

“We need to get you a healer, but with the avalanche…” I trailed off, knowing that help would likely come too late. “And Quinn…Rivan’s?—”

“Dying.” Quinn’s voice broke on the word, and my head snapped in her direction. The world went blurry around the edges as I saw her face glistening with tears, her bloody hands trembling. “He’s dying. I used too much magic during the battle.To kill, the very antithesis of its purpose, and now…I can’t hold on to him. I’ve been doing all I can, but it’s not enough.”

My heart stopped as I looked at my brother’s ashen face, the slow, shuddering rise and fall of his chest.

They were both going to die. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

“If you don’t help Eva, she’s dead too,” Tobias rasped.

“I don’t have enough left for both of them.” Quinn swallowed, staring at the iridescent door as if someone would burst through to help. “I don’t know if I have enough for even one of them.”

And there was no telling how long it would be for help to come.

Eva went rigid in my arms. “No.”

She pushed herself away before I could stop her, crawling toward Rivan with strength she shouldn’t have possessed. I jolted forward, half carrying her as she determinedly brought herself next to him, leaving a dark trail in her wake.

My hand pressed against her side, warm blood slipping between my fingers.

It took a second to get my voice to work. “Eva, you need to stay still. Let your body heal until help comes.”

She ignored me.

Laying her head against Rivan’s heart, her hand snaked up, cupping his cheek. A terrifying rattling sound gurgled from his chest. Quinn closed her eyes, the glow of her magic faltering against the death that was so surely coming to claim him. Yael watched in mute horror, her hand stilling in Rivan’s hair like she had been frozen in place.

Tobias took a step forward. “There’s nothing you can do, Eva. It’s too la?—”

Her eyes opened. Bright blue gleamed behind those dual crowns of gold, her hair streaming around her head like a halo as she slowly sat up, her hands still on Rivan’s heart. Quinn reeledbackwards in shock as that power sprang from Eva’s fingertips, flowing through her body until the shine of it filled the room. The crown on her head seemed to come alive—a thousand golden flecks flying upwards in a mirror of the crowns in her eyes.

Rivan’s chest glowed where Eva touched him. Her hand moved down to cover the wound on his side, that light now too bright for me to make out exactly what she was doing, azure rays spreading out from her every point of contact.

His eyes flew open, his startled gasp ringing through the silence.

All at once, the magic disappeared. Eva went boneless against Rivan, the light in her eyes turning back to hazel before they fluttered closed.

I pulled her into my arms. “Eva.”

Her eyes begrudgingly opened.

As I took in myanima, I realized her injuries had entirely disappeared. Her torn leathers had slipped down her shoulder, revealing her blood-drenched yet unblemished skin. No trace of the myriad of gashes that had been there before, not even a mark left over from the stomach wound that should have killed her.

My eyes flew up to hers just as her face broke into an exhausted yet giddy grin.

---