Page 141 of Deadwood
“Auria,” Lander repeated, but then his voice faded into the rest, and the storm in my mind finally calmed, letting gray clouds envelop my being.
CHAPTER 44
BOWEN
“People are always causing some kind of problem,” Raiden muttered from where he stood next to me outside the store. He’d been keeping an eye out after a passerby had stolen some of Dee’s canned goods. Not all the people who used Deadwood to refuel after a long trip were conniving, but every now and then, we got a thief whose hands were a little too grabby.
A chorus of shouts and hollers rang out right as a horse coated in blood galloped into the town, emerging from between two buildings and stampeding through a group of people waiting in line outside the butcher’s. Raiden and I shoved off the wall as the horse stormed past with no intention of stopping. A strap of white cloth was stuck to the saddle, and my senses instantly lit up in alarm, my smoke curling within me, searching for a threat.
No one was out in the forest today that I was aware of, but that was one of our horses. Worst case scenarios flashed through my mind as Raiden looked in the direction the horse had come, likely waiting to see if anything else appeared. But while he was looking at ground level, my eyes were trained on the sky as Vulcan circled once, then landed in the middle of the street, leg outstretched to me.
It is the girl,Vulcan said hurriedly. He never panicked, and the concern in his voice ringing through my mind had me moving.
“Stay here,” I called back to Raiden, not bothering to see if he had heard me. The amount of blood on that horse… If it was Auria’s…
I couldn’t think of that. She was alright. There was no other option. I mounted Vulcan faster than ever, and before I was even situated on his back, his wings were pounding the air, darting us into the sky.
“What happened?” I shouted over the roar of the wind.
Wolves, was all he said.
My veins turned to ice. If she’d been bitten, the venom would kill her quicker than blood loss.
I wanted to urge him faster, but he was already going at a speed I’d never seen before. The way even he was frantic did nothing to settle me. He knew it was bad.
Trees rushed by in a blur before Vulcan was mere inches from the branches, finding a spot to land. As soon as his feet hit the ground, I was off and sprinting toward the small, bloodied form on the ground. A horse, torn open at its neck and belly, lay deceased, and three giant horned wolves littered the ground around the scene, their chests not moving as they lay dead. Blood was everywhere, but through all the chaos surrounding the area, I could only focus on Auria.
My knees slammed into the ground as I lowered myself beside her. Lander was there, holding a blood-soaked jacket to her neck.
“Auria,” I said hurriedly, but with no response, I leaned down closer, setting both hands on her blood-streaked cheeks. Her skin was so cold, but with the faint rise of her chest, I had hope. “Auria, open your eyes.”
Lander let out a strangled sound. “She passed out.”
I wanted to kill him for letting her lie here, bleeding out and dying. Why hadn’t he gone for help? Done anything but sit here and watch her fucking die?
But I couldn’t focus on him. Auria needed me. I could handle him later.
I leaned down farther, sliding an arm under her shoulders, the other under the bend of her knees, and murmured in her ear, “I’m sorry, Princess. I’m here. Stay alive for me, okay? I’m going to get you help, but you have to stay alive.”
I stood, careful not to jostle her too much. The jacket fell to the ground with a thump, the fabric heavy from her blood. One look at her neck and the black that etched its way through her delicate skin like ribbons told me we didn’t have much time. Her arm slipped, dangling at an awkward angle, and I realized all too quickly that it’d come out of its socket, the joint loose. I gently righted the limb, holding it close to her body. Knowing the pain she must have felt sent rage skating over my skin, my power flicking at my bones, aching to take vengeance. But revenge didn’t matter—not right now. Keeping Auria alive did.
I rushed over to Vulcan, who’d lowered himself as far as he could to help me get up. Once I was on his back, Auria’s limp body cradled in my arms, he took off in the air, leaving Lander behind. I’d have Siara or Flynt go back to get him, but right now, Auria was all that mattered.
As Vulcan’s wings beat relentlessly in the air, a whimper escaped Auria’s lips. I brushed the caked hair away from her forehead, shushing her. “I’ve got you. I won’t let you die. Not today. Not any day.”
Her skin was so pale, and now more than ever I wanted to see her bright eyes, hear her yell at me, or call me names, or tell me she hated me. I wanted to feel her warm skin, see her glimmering smile, and watch the way her nose scrunched the slightest bit when she was fighting her emotions. I wanted to toy with her, tease her, be the one who stole all her attention.
But that wouldn’t happen if she died, and I realized with all too much clarity that if she left, it’d be the same feeling I felt right now. I’d never get any piece of Auria again, and that wasn’t a fate I was willing to accept.
Vulcan banked to the right, landing behind my house and lowering himself once more. I quickly, but extremely carefully, dismounted, sliding down his leg to the ground. Raiden and Doctor Quinn emerged from the house, and one look at Auria’s frail form in my arms had Raiden’s jaw going taut.
Doctor Quinn acted immediately, holding the door open wide for us to enter. “What happened?”
“Wolf bite,” I told her. “And a dislocated shoulder. I don’t know what else.”
I wanted so badly to take Auria’s pain away. I’d do anything to make sure she was okay. That she felt none of what was to come.
Her wound gushed blood down my front as I took the stairs two at a time, a stream of it following me up the steps. I brought her directly to my room, Quinn rushing behind me to her medical bag sitting on the small table by the wall. She rifled through it until she held up a large needle, dark, murky green liquid sloshing inside the syringe.
