Page 49 of Elora and the Crow

To his surprise, it had already faded a bit. Enough for him to think more clearly and remain sitting up, anyway.

“Better,” he said.

“Good,” she said. “But what I’m about to do is really going to hurt.”

“Take my hand, Jonah,” Cece said. He gripped her hand with his good one, taking short, shallow breaths.

Elora pressed her hands against Jonah’s ribs and recited the incantation from the book, her soft voice rising and falling in a rhythmic chant before she said, “By my power, flame and flower, turn what is broken whole again.”

Pain crackled through his ribs, and he squeezed Cece’s hand. She winced but didn’t shake loose, giving him an encouraging look as she cupped the back of his neck and squeezed lightly. “You’re okay.”

“By my power, flame and flower, turn what is broken whole again,” Elora repeated, her voice rising. Her hands glowed a stunningly bright blue, and Jonah cried out when another stab of pain rocketed across his side.

“By my power, flame and flower, turn what is broken whole again,” Elora shouted, her hands hot coals against his skin.

Jonah screamed as vicious pain erupted across his ribs for an eternity filled five seconds. It ended as abruptly as it started, and gasping, he stared wide-eyed at Elora as the blue light faded from her hands.

As always, when she performed magic, there was a look of delight on her face, and she couldn’t hide the glee in her voice when she said, “Better?”

He released Cece’s hand and pressed on his ribs, poking and prodding and marveling at the lack of pain before nodding. “I think it’s healed completely.”

“Good,” she said. “Now, we need to rinse your back, and it’s -”

“Going to hurt,” he said.

She smiled and stroked his cheek. “Yes. But the wounds are still oozing that toxic shit, and we need to rinse as much off as we can before we apply the paste.”

“Okay,” he said. He was suddenly exhausted again, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep, but he forced himself to stay upright in the bed as Cece brought over a big basin of water and Elora spread towels on the bed behind him.

Elora kissed his cheek and dipped her hand into the basin, picking up the cloth that was soaking in it. “Ready, Jonah?”

He nodded and gritted his teeth. “Yeah, do it.”

* * *

“Well,there are two other bedrooms that look similar to this one,” Cece announced as she walked into the room. “Are you sure this is Jonah’s room?”

“Yes,” Elora said. “I snooped in the closet, and it has clothes in it, and there’s this.”

She picked up the picture frame sitting on the nightstand next to a paperback as Cece joined her and looked over her shoulder.

It was a picture of a happy looking Jonah and a smiling man with brown skin, cornrows, and beautiful dark brown eyes. Their arms were slung around each other, and they stood in front of a silver BMW with one of those novelty giant red bows on top of the hood.

“That must be his brother, yeah?” Cece said.

Elora nodded. “I think so. God, I hope he’s okay and the fae didn’t hurt him.”

“They don’t usually hurt humans,” Cece said. “They just mess with them for a while and then release them.”

Elora set the picture frame back on the nightstand before staring at Jonah in the bed. He was lying on his side and sleeping deeply, his face pale and sweaty in the dim light from the bedside lamp.

“They didn’t just mess with Jonah,” Elora said. She smoothed Jonah’s hair back from his face again and studied the paste she’d applied to his forehead. The smell of the paste - a combination of vanilla, herbs, and anise - strengthened when she pulled back the sheet and the quilt to check his back. It was coated in the thick green paste, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she couldn’t see any pus oozing from under it.

Cece put her arm around Elora and squeezed her tight. “He’ll be okay, honey. The paste will draw out the toxins from the thorns and help heal the wound on the back of his skull. Tomorrow, I’ll make a fresh paste for his back, and you can work on finding a spell to heal his broken hand.”

Elora had tried to use the same spell she’d healed his ribs with to heal his hand, but it hadn’t worked. It happened sometimes. A spell worked for one injury but not another, and it was frustrating as hell. She had found a different spell online she thought would work, but she needed her candles and ingredients, which were at her apartment, and she was exhausted. Driving to get them now was not a solution. She’d be lucky if she didn’t fall asleep at the wheel.

Elora leaned against Cece’s solid warmth. “Thank you for helping him, Cece. I know the paste was complicated to make, and I appreciate you doing it. It definitely needed a green witch, and it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective if I’d tried to make it.”

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