Page 56 of Gift from the Wing

“I can’t hold on much longer.”

“Come, son. You must do as I say. Hold his head and with your blessed gifts of this realm, push your magic beneath his skin. Bless it with good intentions. The rune tied to him is far different than the others that are tied to the heart. His is wrapped intricately through his mind. Now is not the time to explain it all to you, but you must think about weaving a positive reality for him. Do it now. Soul Seer, do not release your rune until my signal. Healer, make sure his mind does not explode and take away the pain I will cause.”

Explode. Are you fucking kidding me?

It’s as though I’m having an out-of-body experience as I jump to the front of the bed and grip Layton’s head between my hands. His warm, sticky blood dribbles between my fingers, and although blood has never bothered me, I get queasy at the sight of his.

“Hold his head still,” Keeper commands, and with no complaint or question, I do as I’m told. “Focus, son. A positive reality. What will his life look like after this curse is removed?”

Focus. Focus.

What will it look like?

Freedom. It’ll look like freedom.

He’ll have the opportunity to go to a real academy and learn about his amazing and rare gift. He’ll learn it’s a blessing not a curse to be one of a kind. Or at least one of an extremely low few in his case. It’ll be scary at first, being the youngest at an academy full of young adults who’ve been training for years, but he’ll catch up. He’s smart. I know it. Eventually, he’ll meet his Nexus brothers. Hell, maybe I can talk Corentin into letting him visit the other academies, see if his bond snaps in place with anyone.

He’ll have all his parents, who obviously love him tremendously and will do anything for him. He’ll never have to worry again about them being killed for loving and looking for him. He’ll never have to be separated from them by force again.

He’s going to have a great life.

Come on, Keeper. Fix this kid. Fuck, he deserves a great life.

He deserves so much better than what he’s had to deal with over the last year and I swear here and now to help however I can. I push thebest intentions my mind can come up with and lace it with the bubbly, cheery side of myself. I want this kid to be happy-go-lucky all the time. Not because he has to put on an act for everyone else but because his life is going to be great and that, in turn, just makes him that way.

Keeper’s soft, accented whispers echo around the room. I don’t understand the language, but the power behind it is immense. It’s stirring up my own magic in my chest and I pull on that feeling, bolstering it and pushing it out.

A small growl slips out of me when Keeper presses the tip of the dagger to Layton’s forehead and it takes everything in me not to knock it away. This is something that has to be done.

Rather than tracing out the M that’s now visible on Layton’s forehead, he drags the dagger slowly backward. Instead of it slicing his skin, each traced line seems to erase the scarred tissue, leaving behind clear pale skin.

Layton bellows out in agony, although his mind isn’t even aware of what’s going on, and the sound is horrifying. Every time he screams, his mother’s wails get even louder, and together, they make a traumatic melody that I know I’ll never be able to forget.

“Almost done,” Keeper grunts just as he traces over the last line on the M. When he pulls the dagger away from Layton’s head, he presses the tip of it to his finger until a pool of blue blood sits on the tip.

While still pushing the best possible intentions and path for Layton through to him, Keeper’s blood travels through the dagger, through the hilt, and when it drops into the Reservoir gem, the blood begins to sizzle.

The noise silences everyone in the room, or maybe all I can hear is the sizzle ’cause I’m so focused on it, but rapidly, it boils the blood down until it’s nothing. It completely dissolves.

A painful, loud gasp falls from Layton’s throat as his eyes open wide in panic for a brief moment before they clear. His chest heaves heavily as his eyes cut back and forth, trying to see the room, but I’m still holding him in place.

“It’s okay, calm down. You’re okay,” I purr softly.

“Dr-Draken.”

“Yeah, buddy, I’m here.”

“He’s gone. He’s out of my head.”

“Yeah, he’s gone. You’re going to be okay,” I whisper.

A small smile graces his lips and his eyes begin to flutter shut. My heart pounds against my rib cage, attempting to fall out of my chest as panic grips me.

“No, no, no, Layton, wake up. Wake up,” I shout as my fingers twitch on his cheeks.

“It’s okay, Draken, he’s fine. He just passed out. He’s exhausted, but he’s okay and he’s alive,” Jamie says as he lays his hand on my arm.

Gently, he pats my shoulder, silently instructing me to let go of Layton, so I do and backpedal until I hit the wall behind me.

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