Page 44 of Coerced

“We left him alone on the field of combat while enemies were still attacking.” John sounded disgusted with himself. “It irks my sense of honor.”

“He told us to,” Tara reminded him. “And there were only a few left.”

“Don’t worry.” Clem waved his hand dismissively. “He’ll be fine. Banishing the Diabolical is child’s play for him.”

“I’m going to go check on him anyway.” I took a step, swayed a little to one side, and started to fall in that direction.

“No, you’re not.” John, who was closest to me, caught me before I went down all the way. “You’re going to lie down and rest.I’llcheck on him. We should also check on Maddy and Travis.”

Clem volunteered to do that, but warned us that he’d need a nap afterward. He’d used his power to fuel his old body during the fighting and now was nearly tapped.

Tara agreed to stay with me, and we sat down on one of the logs around the campfire ring. The next thing I knew, I was waking up with my head on her shoulder.

“Sorry.”

“It’s all right. Why don’t you take a nap in your tent? You’ll be more comfortable that way.”

“Where’s Kerry?” I was confused, but I knew I was upset by something and wanted him with me.

“He’s on his way. I’ll send him to you when he gets here, okay?”

I nodded and let her lead me to my tent. I was asleep before I finished zipping up my sleeping bag.

#

“Hey. You awake, Gemma?”

“Who?”

“You, that’s who.” Kerry’s deep laugh filled my ears. “Never mind. I’m coming in.”

I heard the front of the tent zip open and cracked my eyelids enough to make sure it was him. He ducked inside, bending his tall frame awkwardly to do so, and zipped the door closed.

Then he was curled around me, hugging me tight and murmuring in my hair. I was too exhausted to make out what he was saying; I only knew he was back where he belonged.

“Kerry? You okay?”

“Of course,” he snorted.

“Everyone else alive?”

“Yeah. Jax is hanging in there.”

“Good,” I whispered, falling back to sleep.

I didn’t wake up again until the screaming started.

11. Hierarchy of Power

Gemma

I trudged over to where the others were sitting around the fire and basically fell onto the log next to Kerry. He put his arm around my shoulders and propped me up against his side, his chin resting on my head.

“I don’t know what else to do for him.” My words slurred a little in my exhaustion. “I put him in a coma so he’s not feeling the pain, but it will make it harder to transport him.”

“How long will that last?” Tara asked.

“We’ll find out.” I didn’t mean to sound so grim, but I was perilously close to drained. “I didn’t have a lot of power to put into it. Hopefully until tomorrow at least.”

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