Page 23 of Witch

“Kana!” he gasped. He stopped at Kana’s side of the bed and reached out with one hand, but then snatched it back before he could touch. “How are you feeling?”

“Ember,” Kana said, and the adrenaline faded away with the confirmation that Ember was safe.

Ember, liberally coated head to toe in blood as he fell to his knees at Kana’s side.

Kana blinked, wondering why for a second that image had superimposed itself over the blood-free Ember standing next to the bed. No, Kana realized, not an image. A memory. A memory from the aftermath of a terrible battle, one in which Kana had overextended his magic past anything he had ever done before.

“You were bleeding,” Kana said, wishing he could make his arm obey so he could reach out and touch Ember to ensure he was okay.

Ember grimaced. “Most of the blood wasn’t mine. When you activated your spell, the warlock called on a number of summoned demons to stop you. Shannon and I had to fight them, and I got a little bloody.”

“Most of the blood?” Kana asked, giving Ember as much of a pointed and worried look as he could while prone.

Ember laughed and started rolling up the sleeve on his right arm. “We could see your spell was working, but we also knew the second you broke the bone ward, the warlock would cast something else. I took on two demons at once while Shannon got into position, and one of the demons got me with its claws.” Ember held out his bared arm for Kana to see.

A lurid, bright-red scar ran the length of the back of Ember’s arm, from his wrist, up past his elbow, vanishing beneath where the sleeve was rolled around his bicep.

“I’m lucky it got the back of my arm. Doc says I would have bled out if it had been an inch in either direction. I’m a werewolf, so with my enhanced healing abilities it’s already mended,” he added and flexed his arm so Kana could see the smooth movement of muscle and bone under the marked skin. “But I’ll probably always have a scar.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Kana said, wishing again he could find the strength to lift his arm and run his fingers down that jagged red line to see for himself that Ember was healed. Still, Ember wouldn’t lie to him about something so important. Kana forced his thoughts to refocus. “How long was I asleep?”

“Four days. Mika and Sora woke up briefly yesterday, but they didn’t have the power to shift shapes. Since they didn’t seem worried about you sleeping longer, I figured you must have really drained your magic.”

Kana laughed. He didn’t even bother reaching down his magic channels; he couldn’t even feel a trickle of power coming through, which meant they were even more burnt than the last time.

“I’ve got nothing right now,” he replied. The magic would return though. He was certain of that. What Kana didn’t know was how long it would take him to heal. Probably a few weeks. “I’d prefer not to battle a warlock on my own ever again,” he added.

This time, Ember laughed. “I’d prefer that too. Did you want to move out to the sitting room for a change of scenery?”

Kana wanted to move, but his energy was flagging, and he didn’t think he could stay awake for the short journey to the other room.

“I—” Kana started but cut himself off when he couldn’t think of how to describe the heavy feeling in his limbs and the wish that he could move and also the wish that he stay just like this.

Except Ember smiled his beautiful half grin. He kicked off his shoes and carefully climbed onto the bed and then gently tugged and pulled Kana over so Kana’s head was resting on his shoulder and Kana’s body was pressed down the length of Ember’s. The heavy feeling from being in one spot for too long faded quickly, and the comfort of Ember’s warmth and the protective strength in Ember’s arms soothed the rest of Kana’s battered body. He wanted to enjoy the feeling for a while, but instead, helplessly slipped back to sleep after only a few moments.

*

ANOTHER WEEK PASSED without Kana noticing much. Sometimes he would wake in bed, curled in Ember’s arms. Other times Ember had moved him to the overstuffed couch in their sitting room, and he would wake there. A few times he woke alone, except he never really was alone because Mika and Sora were always nearby. Ember moved them around too, always ensuring they were in the same room as Kana and were as comfortable. Their mewling snores kept Kana company when Ember was called away.

Eventually the time Kana spent awake increased, and in those intervals, he began to have the strength to lift his arms to adjust the blanket or to run his fingers down Mika and Sora’s backs. By the end of the second week, Ember would help him sit up with his back supported by pillows and the headboard, and Kana would spend an hour or two reading, often waking later with the book on the bedside table and himself tucked back in bed.

By the start of week three, Kana finally felt the first trickle of magic seeping through, pooling in the empty place inside of him from where he drew his power. Mika and Sora finally woke as well, but until Kana’s channels recovered, he couldn’t talk to them mind to mind and they didn’t yet have the energy to change forms. However, with the return of magic also came a return of strength to his body. Kana could totter around the room by himself and switch between the bedroom and sitting room on his own.

Which was why Kana was already in the sitting room one afternoon, reading a spell book that had been on his to-read pile for longer than he wanted to admit, when Ember hurried inside.

“The witches have requested an audience,” Ember said in explanation for his abrupt entrance. “They’re at the front door now, and there’s a really old lady with them. She smells…” he trailed off with a grimace. “She’s powerful,” he finally finished with a shrug that said he didn’t know how to describe the scent he had picked up in words that Kana—with his human nose—would understand.

Kana put a bookmark in the book, closed it, and set it on the small table next to the couch, thinking hard. Why would the witches come here to see him, and why bring a very powerful witch along with them? Kana was healing, and it wouldn’t be too much longer before he could return to normal activities. If they were patient, they would have plenty of opportunity to speak with him then. So why ask to see him right now?

“They came here, rather than asking me to go to their house, so even if the older witch is really strong, they know they’re at a disadvantage,” Kana said, trying to parse out the bigger picture. “Even if I can’t cast any spells at the moment, they still won’t be able to fight off an entire pack. I think they might have come simply to talk.” At least, he hoped they had come only to talk.

“Do you want to see them?” Ember asked. “I can tell them you’re sleeping.”

And then Diana would either insist on waiting until he woke or would keep coming back every day until she saw him. “No, it’s better to get it over with,” he replied with a sigh. “Do I look presentable?” Given he was in pajamas and had only bathed the night before with Ember’s help, he doubted it, but the witches would have to take him as is. If he went to clean up, he would use all his energy, and then he really would be sleeping.

Ember smiled and bent to press his lips against Kana’s. Kana eagerly leaned into the kiss, and the welcome heat of Ember’s body.

“You’re perfect,” Ember murmured as he pulled away, his voice husky in a way that reminded Kana just how long it had been since he was up to any athletics in bed. It would be a while more before he was up to that again, but Kana still reached up to cup the back of Ember’s head and pull him back down to resume their kiss.

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