Page 174 of Firestorm
“You have to,” Mia said.
That seemed to settle something in Skye. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on his chest, almost like she was pressing into him. Suddenly, Aiden sucked in a gasp and his eyes flew open, his pale face turning gray. Skye was only pressing down on him lightly, not enough to cause this much distress.
I started toward them, but Rafe tightened his grip on my shoulder,holding me firmly in place. I clenched my jaw, fighting to keep still. I trusted Skye. Even if I was truly rejected and she never accepted me…I trusted her implicitly.
Aiden began to claw at his chest, gasping for air. Tears streamed down Skye’s face, but she continued holding him down, her hands seeming particularly tiny as they pushed into his sweat-soaked chest.
“Dr…druuu…drugs,” Aiden choked out.
“What kind, Aiden?” Mia asked, his voice loud and clear. “Show her.”
Show her?
“He doesn’t know how,” Skye whispered. Rafe tensed beside me.
He doesn’t know how?I asked Rafe.
She hasn’t told him about her affinities.
That was a mistake,I hissed.
It was his choice. Quit infantilizing him.Rafe responded with ferocity. I gulped. He’d never used that tone toward me.
Aiden only let out a garbled moan in response to Mia and Skye.
“Shhh, baby.” Skye murmured, her brow furrowing, then her eyes widened. “I see it. I f-found it.”
What the fuck was she doing?
Aiden didn’t try to respond. His eyes fluttered closed as if he were resigned to his fate – or he was utterly trusting Skye to help him. And why wouldn’t he trust her? She was his Key. Even if she didn’t love him, she’d never let him die.
“Take it out, Skye.” Willow said again.
Rafe was practically vibrating next to me, his hands flexing into fists while shadows writhed at his feet. I didn’t need an affinity to know he felt beyond fucking useless, because I felt the same. There was nothing for us to do.
Aiden gasped again, then jolted.
And then…
Aiden began to tremble violently, dripping in sweat that seemed to pour out of his pores.
But…it wasn’t really sweat.
Liquidwasseeping from his pores, wetting his clothes slightly, but it had a yellow hue, and it was too small an amount to be actual sweat.His clothes dried as the liquid pooled at his chest, none of it being left behind to stain or dampen his shirt. Sweat beaded along Skye’s forehead and snarling upper lip. She gritted her teeth as she struggled…or focused.
“What the fuck is she doing?” I whispered, mostly to myself.
“She’s pulling it out.” Rafe answered back in a whisper, sounding both relieved and awestruck. How the fuck could he have known this would happen?
I blinked as Rafe entered my head, showing me a memory from the protest. Someone in the crowd had been telling a story about how the Crusader had pulled drugs out of someone. Rafe met my eye, and I gave him a curt nod to confirm that I understood.
Skye was pulling the drugs out of Aiden.
A small ball of liquid floated in the air over Aiden’s chest, its slight amber color flashing in the light as it rose slowly into the air. We all stared for a moment before Willow crashed off the bed, shoving an empty water cup toward Skye. The liquid lowered into the cup, and Skye gasped a sigh of relief. Aiden instantly began to cough again as she rolled him onto his side.
Rafe snagged the cup, glancing inside and then showing it to me.
There was hardly enough liquid to cover the bottom of the cup, but it’d been enough to almost…I winced. Thinking about Aiden dying hurt me right in the chest. I could only imagine how Rafe must have felt to find Aiden like that. It’d been a gut punch for me, but it must have been ten times more horrifying for him.
