Page 134 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
“Okay,” Danae said, taking a steadying breath. “Be ready as soon as I pull this out because it’s going to cause even more damage when I do.”
Aidan held his hands out. “Go ahead.”
The odds of them fixing Miles in time with magic alone and no emergency room equipment were next to zero, but he was the love of her life, the father of her child. She would do everything possible to save him. It would have to be enough.
She grasped the broken spear, focusing her mind inward to guide it out while causing the least damage. “Now.”
A sickening sound filled the air as it slipped out, and blood spurted from the open wound. His heart was pumping it straight out. Aidan focused on the organ as Danae worked on the left lung, which was severely lacerated. She poured power into trying to repair it as Miles choked and coughed.
Tears trailed down her face, listening to him struggle to breathe. His hand reached out to touch her arm. Danae glanced up and saw sorrow and pain in his features. She sealed the last part of his lung.
“Love…you,” he managed to say through coughs.
She swallowed. “I love you, too.”
“Danae,” Aidan said, gaze focused on the center of Miles’ chest. “His heart is…I don’t think we can fix this quickly enough.”
She shook her head. “No, we can do this.”
Taking another mental dive, she checked Aidan’s work. He’d begun to seal the hole, but the spear had left gaping lacerations on both sides, and his work was unskilled. There was hardly any blood flowing anymore. Danae pulled every scrap of power she had to regrow the lost tissue.
“Tell…Alyssa…I love…” Miles stuttered before his face slackened and lost color.
Beneath her hands, his heart stopped. “Noooo!”
She kept pushing power, thinking she could fix him first and do CPR afterward to restart, though it was a long shot even with magic. She kept working as Aidan, Bailey, and Justinbegged her to stop, but she couldn’t. This was one patient she would not lose. How many had died in the past four weeks because they didn’t get to her fast enough, or she didn’t have enough power to heal everyone? It couldn’t happen with Miles—not him!
Danae pulled every scrap of magic she had but only got one side of the heart repaired before she was fully drained. Her limbs fell uselessly to her sides as she sobbed. She was empty, and the one person she wanted to save the most was lying dead, skin turned ashen.
“Please, Aidan,” she begged, sinking back to where Bailey was already holding her. “Can you finish? Just try?”
He shook his head. “It is far beyond my expertise. I did attempt it, but the heart is a delicate organ, and the shape is not quite the same as a shifter’s. If there were any way I could, I wouldn’t hesitate.”
She shook. “I don’t understand. For the last four weeks, he barely got a scratch, no matter how bad it got out there. Miles and his fighters were doing everything right, and now…”
“I’m so sorry,” Bailey said, pulling her tighter against her, voice still raspy.
Danae began to tremble, and she could hardly breathe. What would she tell Alyssa? How could she explain that she’d never see her daddy again? They’d only made it over to Trish’s house once since the war began to visit. That was a week and a half ago. Her daughter wasn’t old enough to understand. She was going to miss Miles so much, and Danae didn’t know how she would go on without him.
“Justin, get on the radio and have them pull Verena off the line. Get her here to take over for Danae,” Aidan ordered. Herose to stand, deep regret in his features. “I wish I could stay, but the fighting is getting worse out there, and I need to help stop it.”
In fact, the clash of weapons and cries of the wounded sounded closer than ever. So many Kandoran were passing their front line that she could hear constant zapping as they hit the shield. At any other time, it would have alarmed her, but she was numb to anything except her own pain. Miles was gone—really and truly gone.
She laid her head on his shoulder, needing to touch him. How could she let him go?
“I’ll pass the word along and be out in a few minutes, too,” Justin said.
Danae didn’t acknowledge them, too deep in her grief. Bailey picked her up and carried her to the back room, where they kept an extra cot. The slayer held her tightly as she sobbed her heart out, not knowing how she would survive. Her world had just crashed around her.
Chapter 42
Lorcan
After several days of light combat, mainly due to the Kandoran concentrating their forces up north in Oklahoma, their break had ended. Lorcan had been fighting non-stop for almost four hours without a chance to catch his breath or drink water. He’d had to relieve himself mid-air, only ensuring no battling allies were directly below him. The dead dragons and humans on the ground wouldn’t care, so he didn’t worry about them.
Their enemy gave them no quarter this night, and they were exhausted.
Hold the line!Lorcan screamed mentally to the other Faegud under his command.Concentrate on wounding them so they can’t fly, but don’t kill unless there is an easy opening.
