Page 108 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
Donnie gripped my arm, and I covered his cold hand with mine.
Seeing the way Alastor’s magic continued to fade, I sent more of mine to him. His magic met mine, and together, it weaved through Donnie’s chest.
When Alastor faltered, I sought out our joined magic. I felt rather than saw the way Donnie’s airways had inflamed and tightened. Instinct had me calling to our magic and working it through his airways.
“Stay there,” Alastor said. “Tell our magic to lessen the swelling.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I sent that thought through the threads the same way Kieren had taught me to speak through my mental connection. To my surprise, our connected magic listened, and I felt the instant Donnie’s airways loosened and started opening.
My magic fought me as it diminished further, but I forced it to continue. Tired as I was, I couldn’t stop. Not until Donnie was okay.
He squeezed my arm, and when I drew my attention to hisface, relief flooded his features. He drew in a slow breath that he coughed out.
A dull ache built behind my temple as I continued to fight my magic to heal Donnie.
“I’m okay,” Donnie whispered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m okay.”
When he straightened, I clasped his hand, still sending my magic through his lungs and airways. I let my instincts guide me, knowing I could trust the magic that was still new to me.
Alastor looked back and drew out his sword. “You need to get to my village. Keep healing him but continue moving.”
While I couldn’t see whatever threat loomed within the smoke that covered Reignom, I saw the lirio that barreled past us.
“You can’t fight,” I told Alastor. “Your magic’s depleted, and I know you’re exhausted.”
“No one will harm you or any of my people,” he replied. His gray eyes narrowed toward the smoke, and I felt the remnants of his magic tremble when he called it forward.
“Alastor,” I warned.
Donnie wheezed through another string of coughs, and I felt the way his airways swelled as if it were my own. I coughed through the tightness that built inside me that all too quickly faded away when my magic stalled. I forced the little that remained to continue working as I ignored the dizziness that threatened to overtake me.
“Go to Bon’s,” Alastor said. “She and the littles are expecting you.”
I hated leaving him, hated that he felt he had to stay to protect the people of his village, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince him otherwise. And Donnie . . . he gripped his chest with a desperation that clawed at my own chest.
“Be careful,” I told him. “Please.”
He bowed his head in answer, and this time, when we started walking, Nate offered to help Donnie. Weakly, Donnie wound an arm across Nate’s shoulders while Nate gripped Donnie by the waist. I kept my hand in Donnie’s, sending him whatever bits of magic I had left in the hopes it helped him.
When Donnie stumbled, this time falling to his knees as he held his chest and tried to suck in air, my magic didn’t reply, so I kneeled beside him.
I didn’t know what to do when my magic didn’t even flicker. That was it. I didn’t have any more magic left inside me, and we were still too far away from Bon’s.
When Ryenne knelt in front of him, he opened his mouth, but nothing came out. She took his other hand.
“I-I think you need to sit with your back straight,” she told him. “I think it’s supposed to help.”
With Nate’s help, Donnie slowly shifted, and Nate gripped his shoulders and pulled them back so that he sat straight. It didn’t help, and with every second that passed, Donnie grew worse. His face had gone ashen, his lips blue. His nostrils flared with each desperate breath he tried to take.
I strained past the growing pain in my head and reached for Leah through my mental connection. I couldn’t reach her. Overhead, I heard the flapping of mighty wings. I looked up and almost cried but didn’t have time to react when Donnie’s head fell forward.
Ryenne shouted something as Nate leaned his head closer to Donnie’s chest.
“He’s still breathing,” Nate said.
“Help him.” Ryenne’s words trembled, and tears collected in her eyes as she begged me to do something.
“Nalari,”I called to her, her name coming out as a frantic plea as I stared at the sky.
