Page 189 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

It feels as though an eternity passes before he stops.

The floor is covered in the dark red of his blood, his clothes equally stained.

There is. So. Much. Blood.

“Mine?” I whisper, needing to make sure he’s still conscious.

“I’m…fine…” He lets out a dry cough.

“Tell me how I can help. Please,” I beg.

With a loud, labored breath, he strains to sit up, the muscles in his arms quivering from the exertion. Slowly, he turns toward me and attempts to muster a weak smile.

My hand flies to my mouth, a gasp of shock escaping my lips at the sight before me.

“Mine…you…” I choke out.

He blinks, and in that moment, I can see his eyes widening in realization. His hand trembles as it reaches up to touch his right cheek.

An angry gash runs across his cheekbone, trailing down to his chin and disappearing under the collar of his tunic. It looks as if his skin has been violently torn apart, with thick, dark blood seeping out from the wound.

The hand touching his face, too, begins to lacerate until blood drips from the injury. More blood rushes to the surface down his body, staining and sticking to the material of his tunic.

His entire right side has been split open and is violently bleeding.

What in the Source is going on?

TWENTY-SIX

His eyes rollin the back of his head and he drops to the ground, out cold.

“Mine!” I call out, cradling his face in my hands. His blood is everywhere, staining my hands and making me hyperventilate.

I’ve never been one to shrink at the sight of blood, but it’s never been the blood of someone I care about.

His entire body is a mess of cuts and slashes that bleed profusely.

My heart in my throat, I try to ground myself and find a way to help him.

Even my brief training as a nurse fails me as I realize I have nothing around that could help him. There are no human medicines around, nothing that could help fight an infection if he happens to get one due to his open wounds. But perhaps I can use my powers to get some… I’m not sure if I still have enough energy to move things from one world to another, but I must try.

Knowing time is of the essence, I hold tightly onto him and teleport him to the inner bath house.

The bath house is cold and bare. The pool in the middle is dusty and devoid of any water.

Briefly leaving him on the floor, I hurry to start the heating system and clean the pool before activating the runes that control the water supply.

Steam soon wafts around the room, the wood crackling as it gets warmer and warmer.

While the pool fills with hot water, I get back to Mine and start undressing him. He’s unconscious, but every touch of my hands seems to pain him as he lets out low groans of pain.

Pursing my lips, I manifest a blade and cut through his tunic and underclothes, revealing more of the deep gashes that run along the right side of his body.

Before, the scars had been mostly focused on his left side. Now, new ones will mar the other side of his body.

My heart weeps for him and the pain he must be going through. But more than anything, I am terrified that I won’t be able to help him—that whatever’s happening to him might be fatal. He said not to worry, but seeing this much blood, this much mangled flesh, how can I not worry?

I remove the scraps of material from his body and gently lead him to the steaming pool.

---