Page 32 of Captured in Love
The skin on my feet is still pink, but apart from a couple of coin-sized blisters that have already formed and popped, it seems Levi stopped the damage in the nick of time.
“Thanks,” I croak. “That was stupid of me.”
Levi shakes his head. “Anyone could have made that mistake.”
Raphaël leans in and tucks a curl of hair behind my ear. “Lucky you didn’t just jump in headfirst.”
I snort. “Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind.”
He kisses my forehead, then sighs and pulls back. “Well, your boots are ruined. You can take mine.”
As he goes to remove them, I stop him with my outstretched hand. “No. They’d be too big, and they’d make me even clumsier than I normally am. I’ll manage.”
Raphaël acquiesces with a nod, though his expression remains stormy. Then we all face the bridge as one. Isak is still hanging in the middle of that enchanted portal. His body resembles a grotesque puppet. A cry escapes him.
“How is he still alive?” Levi murmurs. “It’s burning him.”
I turn to him. “Is there any other way to dismantle the spell? Could we try to knock over the columns?”
Levi considers the portal. “No. I don’t know how complex it is. If we try that and it backfires, it could kill us all. Or it could dump Isak into the moat.”
“Then what do we do?” Carefully, I put some weight on my feet. They’re tender but not raw like before. “There has to be a way.”
Raphaël stands and looks back toward the city. “We could try to make another bridge.”
I study the moat. It’s at least fifteen feet wide. Constructing a structurally sound bridge from the debris we found in the city would be tricky—and impossible to do quickly.
Beside me, Levi gets up, then sways and stumbles back toward the moat. “Whoa.”
I grab his arm. “Raphaël, help me!”
We catch Levi—for such a quick, nimble guy, he’s surprisingly heavy—and settle him on the ground.
“You drained yourself even more with that healing spell, didn’t you?” I try to keep the accusation out of my voice but can’t quite manage it. “You should have said—”
“And leave you to suffer when I could help?” His green eyes are weary but still spark with anger. “Not going to happen.”
“Ugh.” I sit next to him and put my forehead to his shoulder. “We suck at this.”
If anyone attacked us right now, we’d be completely overpowered. My only hope is that not many contestants were crazy enough to pick Iceland as their location—but then I thought that about Egypt and look what happened.
Levi gives me a sloppy hug, then leans back on his hands. “I just need a moment.”
Raphaël crouches in front of us. “That’s it. I’m giving you both my blood. Now.”
I stare at him. Of course. I hadn’t even thought about that. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for our responses.
Levi frowns as if he might object, but I put a hand to his chest to stop him.
“Yes,” I tell Raphaël. “Please.”
Eleven
Raphaël
To hearNora voluntarily ask for my blood is…
Fuck.
