Page 51 of Luca

“There’s a spell…” he murmured as he flicked through the pages with shaking fingers. “It’s in the old language and I’ve only used it once. It will take a fraction of your life force and pass it over to him. It might not wake him up, but it should stall the poison, give me more time. I-It’s all I can think of. I-I don’t know what else to do.” He peered up at me, looking as discouraged and panic-stricken as I felt, and I knew this was the last resort.

It has to work.

“Do it,” I said without hesitation. At that moment, he could have asked me to spill every drop of blood in my body to save him, and I’d agree.

I rose at his insistence, pulling my shirt open so he could paint an invisible symbol onto my chest—a word he whispered under his breath. The lines glowed purple, showing an intricate arrow, and stung as if branding themselves into my skin before disappearing again. No mark, not even a faint redness, was left behind. He did the same for Luca, applying its replica over his breastbone before muttering under his breath and waiting for the magic to seep in. Finally, he stood between us, the book balanced in his hands as he repeated the incantation from the page, over and over and over, until the burn of the unseen rune became an aggravating pest burrowing under my flesh, taking root.

A fragment of my very being was ripped out. I felt it exiting through my parted lips, could swear I saw it floating through the air toward my mate. It wasn’t painful. Though even if it had been, I would have suffered it gladly.

Once the heat dissipated and Zadok ceased his repetition, I sagged forward, my hands on the edge of the bed. It was as if my spirit had fleetingly wilted, but the unexpectedly stablethump, thump, thumpin my ears brought it hurtling back. I stood, and we observed my mate’s still prone form, both of us visibly relaxing at the sound of his heartbeat picking up strength and speed. It was slight, but it was there, quickening with every second that passed, stronger and stronger, regaining the liveliness it had lost, plus some…

I should have known it was too good to be true, too soon for me to feel relief.

My mate started convulsing.

“No, no, no,” Zadok muttered, more terrified than I had seen him.

It was all happening so fast, my senses overwhelmed with panic. I hadn’t even a chance to process before the seizing abruptly stopped.

As did his breath.

“What is going on? He’s not breathing. Why is he not…” I reached out to touch Luca’s hand, to hold him, to comfort him, but Zadok blocked my way. I was distantly aware that he called for Flick, his lover barging through the doorway behind me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Luca, from his stillness.

“Hold him back,” Zadok commanded. “Don’t let go.”

Without hesitation, muscled arms circled my waist, trapping me in place.

I jerked in alarm.

“What are you?—”

Zadok’s fingers lit up with the crackle of electricity, making my skin prickle with goose bumps, before he slammed them against my mate’s chest.

Excruciating pain tore through our bond, and I saw red.

“Get off him,” I barked, lunging forward, prepared to rip the bastard limb from limb, but no matter how loud I howled or how hard I fought, the grip on me wouldn’t budge. I felt useless.Weak. “Let go of me!”

“Calm yourself,” the voice behind me growled, strained through gritted teeth. His hold on me grew tighter. I couldn’t breathe. “He’s trying to save him.”

No. He was hurting him. I could feel it, the agony ricocheting into me as if my body were a conductor. There was a smell of burning as my mate’s back arched off the bed with each shocking pulse of magic. A storm of emotions seethed within me—fear, desperation, an overwhelming urge tokill. I had to protect him. I’d already failed once, but I couldn’t fail again.

Not this time.

I was losing strength, my consciousness waning. I wanted to peel out of my skin, to escape the debilitating sensation, butI couldn’t. I had to break free, I had to unglamor my wings and carry him to safety. I had to… I had to…

It stopped.

The static. The dread. The torment.

Everything fell into an unnerving stillness.

I wilted, a shivering shell of the male I had been just moments ago. The raucous world had faded to a dull hum, the only sound a relentless rush of blood echoing in my ears. Zadok turned, his eyes wet and red-rimmed, and I couldn’t hear his voice, only the motion of his lips as they mouthed,“He’s gone.”

Gone?

I replayed the word in my head, again and again, but each time it sounded more and more nonsensical. Those strong arms that had confined me suddenly loosened. I stumbled forward.

“No,” I said, my vision bleeding purple at the edges, my fangs bared in a desperate attempt at intimidation. “Save him. It was your poison that did this. Onlyyoucan save him.”

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