Page 215 of The Gods Veiling
“Does that mean you’re not trying to evict the pieces of me any longer?”
“I don’t know anymore. Regardless, until we know what’s best for you, for all of us, you have a right to know these things.”
A slow tear travels out the corner of her eye and over the bridge of her nose. She doesn’t move to wipe it away. That shit slices me open.
“Don’t tell them without me. Make sure I’m awake and present for the conversation, please.”
I slowly dip my head. “I won’t tell them without you.”
“Also, don’t leave me here. I don’t want to stay here nor in these clothes. My blood’s pulling tight against my ass where it’s stuck to my pants, and it’s pissing me all the way off. Let Amick change and clean me up.”
Her words are starting to slur, but she’s fighting the drowsiness with all her might. I don’t know if it’s fear of being left alone in here or if she’s still just too worked up. One way or another, she has to sleep.
She has to let her body heal.
Impossibly slow, I reach my fingers toward her face. She doesn’t flinch from me, and her eyes don’t widen in fear. They gently close as I wipe her tears away and lay my palm on her cheek.
“Go to sleep. We’ve got you, and we’re going to take care of you, Thayla.”
“I’m sorry, Creed. I fucked up.”
“No, you didn’t. You did something none before you have ever been brave enough to do. You stood for what was right.”
A small whimper passes through her lips when she moves. I watch as if we’re in slow motion as she lays her hand against mine. I don’t budge, breathe, or do anything until I know she’s finally asleep.
“I’m sorry, Thayla. I’m sorry I didn’t get there faster. I’m sorry I didn’t put Gladian in his place before this. The four of us have been living in fear that with any wrong move, our power will be stripped and we’ll end up inhisclutches again. We’ve grown used to watching the wrongness from a distance and not interfering. We won’t let you down like this again. I won’t keep you in the dark any longer.”
I push myself up and gently remove my hand. I lay hers back where mine was and watch as her back rises in measured breaths. The want to both run from this room and also crawl in bed beside her is strong.
I don’t do either. I turn from her and head out the door.
“The healing process is different for everyone. Since her power just settled, it could take longer.”
“You’re a fucking Healer, but obviously not a very good one if you can’t just heal it all right now.” Riven grunts at the male Healer I’m vaguely familiar with from rotations.
He does a good job at keeping his face blank and not feeding into my brother. “If this had been much more minor, such as a broken bone, poison, even surface-level lashes, that’d be the case. Two of her injuries split the skin to her shoulder bones. The other two were deep within the tissue and caused her bleeding to intensify. Stitching the area and growing new tendons, muscles, and skin is no easy feat. It can’t be rushed, or it could cause even more problems. Possibly even leave her susceptible to reopening the wounds repeatedly. I assure you, we did everything within ourpowerthat we could.”
None of us miss the importance he put on the word power. He doesn’t have all of his. None of those in the healing villas do. The Healers I know off the top of my head that do spend more time in Godsden than here.
Anger brews in my heart. There should be just as many Healers with the same amount of power as Defenders. What’s the fucking point of having such powerful beings if you don’t have anyone to heal them?
Everyone should just have all their gods damned powers.
“We’re taking her home. Jay, you may come to our home and check her as needed. She’ll heal there,” I declare and they all just now notice I’ve stepped out of her room.
“Is she still awake? What did she say?”
“She’s sleeping. We’ll talk when we get home. Is Havar back?”
“I’ll go check,” Yemi says softly, turning and practically running for the door. She has two fully opened eyes now.
“It’d really bewise—”
“I’ll keep an eye on her and retrieve one of you at the first sign you’re needed, but she won’t be staying in here alone.”
He presses his lips into a thin line. “There won’t be room in the carriage for her to lie comfortably. One of you will need to hold her chest to chest just like she was brought in. It’d be wise to keep her from lying on her back for at least the night.”
“Understood.”
