Page 43 of Ecliptic

Hands reached for me again, and I silently pleaded for Rowen to stop before he hurt himself any further, but the touch on my collarbone lingered. Warm fingers brushed against my skin as strands of wet hair were pushed from my face and neck.

“Get your hands off her,” Rowen growled in a voice so deep it didn’t even sound human in its rage.

But the hand on my shoulder didn’t budge.

18

Despite Rowen’s warning, the hand remained. “She’s not breathing.”

“You will let go of her,” Rowen said venomously, “if you enjoy your limbs attached to your body.”

The grip left me with a sigh. “From the blue tinge of her lips, I’d say it’s been some time since her last breath.” The voice was Maddock’s. That sly bastard must have followed us here even after I told him not to. “What do you plan on doing? You can’t touch her, and her time is running out.”

“Just let me think,” Rowen pleaded desperately.

“She doesn't have time for that. Listen, I know how to help with water in the lungs, but I’m going to have to touch her. Can you handle that, or do you need to look away?”

“If you can save her, then do it.”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Do it now!” Rowen roared.

Warm lips crashed against mine, forcing breath into my lungs. Two quick puffs of air were pushed down my throat as my nose was pinched tight. Suddenly, Maddock’s hands gripped my bodice, and the sound of ripping fabric shattered the deafeningsilence. He threw my vest off me, baring me in my white undershirt. His palms landed between my breasts, performing chest compressions.

“What are you doing?” Rowen barely choked out.

My body shuddered beneath Maddock’s forceful pumps. I tried to remain present, but I could feel myself drifting farther and farther away. “Back off if you want her to live,” he snarled before putting his lips back on mine.

The tortured groan that escaped Rowen wasn’t lost on me, and my heart ached for his helplessness.

The relentless pressure at my sternum intensified, and a cry formed deep within my chest. I fought to let the cry out, to let Rowen know I was still with him.

Maddock pounded on me with his palms, his attention shifting between my mouth and the space between my breasts.

The cry was working its way up my esophagus, cresting over the curve of my tongue. Almost there, yet so far away.

My awareness was down to a pinprick of light, and it was fading by the second. Desperation raked through me to pull away from the darkness, but its claws were in me too deep. I wanted to scream.

The cry was right behind my teeth.So close.

“Breathe, dammit,” Maddock grunted as the weight on my chest continued, and it felt like I was about to crack. Everything had gone black. My time left on Luneth was down to seconds.

“The Light,” Rowen choked out desperately. “Her Light. You’ve used it on her before. Do it again!”

Foreign fingers splayed at the swells of my breasts and with a violent pump, a jolt of electricity shot throughout my body. “Come on,” someone said, their voice filled with urgency as more Light coursed through me. My back arched painfully off the ground as a lightning bolt surged through me once again.

“Keira. Stay with us,” a voice pleaded.

Another thunderclap went through me and light flashed behind my eyelids.

Finally, my cry broke past my lips, but it wasn’t a cry at all. It was the water lodged deep within my lungs. It spurted out of my mouth as my eyes flew open, and I gasped, drawing in desperate breaths of air.

Maddock rolled me over to ensure the water didn’t fall back down my throat, then settled me against his weight.

In shock and not quite thinking clearly, I reached for Rowen.

Maddock grabbed my wrist and held it still. “Are you insane? You can’t touch him. You nearly killed him with that little unconscious blast of yours.” His eyes bore into me with a palpable intensity, his chest heaving in exhaustion.

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