Page 38 of Captured in Love
“They can’t do this,” I force out through gritted teeth. “They need to fucking pay for what they did.”
I hold on to my spell through sheer force of will, offering Isak whatever comfort I can. I smooth out the jagged lines of pain and imagine wrapping his consciousness in cotton wool to protect him from the agony. My power will soon run out, and we can’t keep drinking Raphaël’s blood to recharge. If he loses any more, he’s going to have to feed, weakening us in turn. That was a temporary patch, and as soon as I cut the spell, Isak will suffer again.
Maybe Raphaël could give Isak some of his blood to help him heal? I don’t want to ask Raphaël for that, though, unless he gives it on his own. I don’t want to treat him as my personal blood bag.
Suddenly, Isak’s hand shoots up, and his fingers close around my wrist.
I jerk, startled, and Raphaël is at my side immediately, ready to peel Isak off me if needed.
But the Icelander’s eyes are open again, his gaze fevered. “Water,” he rasps.
Tears spring to my eyes at the sheer frustration. “We don’t have any,” I admit. “I’m so sorry.”
His throat bobs. “No,water.”
I glance up at Raphaël to see if he understands. His eyebrows furrow, and he stares down at Isak for a long moment.
“Water,” Isak repeats, his voice growing feebler with every attempt.
Raphaël stands, straightening to his full height. “We have to carry him down.”
Levi stares at him in horror. “If we move him, we’ll hurt him even worse.”
But Raphaël is already moving. He shoots me a look. “Can you hold your spell for a little longer?”
“Yeah, a minute or two, probably,” I say, climbing to my feet. “Then I’ll have to let go.”
“Grab his feet,” Raphaël tells Levi. “Let’s go.”
Levi stands, and for a tense second, I think he might object, but he finally shakes his head and takes Isak’s feet. Raphaël hoists Isak up from his end, and they slowly lower him from the moat wall, step after step. I hover at Raphaël’s side, keeping my connection to Isak’s mind and trying to keep his nerves from flaring up in pain.
“What are you doing?” I ask Raphaël as we reach the boulevard at the bottom.
He grimaces. “I believe he wants seawater. Remember how his water in Egypt was too salty for you to drink?”
I stare up at him, the pieces slowly falling in place. “You don’t think…”
“And he hasn’t shown a lick of visible magic,” Raphaël continues. “Yet he somehow managed to get down here on his own. We didn’t see any diving gear stashed in the entrance chamber, either.”
Levi grunts under Isak’s weight. “He’s also heavy as a rock, and your magic doesn’t work properly on him.”
We reach the wide canal, not far from the bridge spanning it. Levi and Raphaël lower Isak to the ground, and I kneel beside him, trying to keep the hold on my spell. The threads of power slowly slip through my fingers, so I lean over Isak.
“Hey,” I call, “we’re here. We’ve brought you to the water.”
He lies completely still, his charred chest barely rising and falling.
I look up at Raphaël. “Are you sure about this?”
His mouth twists to the side, and he crouches next to me. “Only one way to find out.”
With that, he puts his hands under Isak’s back and flips him over, tumbling him into the canal.
Isak splashes into the water and disappears under the surface. I gasp and lean over the edge, ready to jump in and drag him out. He sinks to the bottom of the wide canal, his pale form visible in the slowly moving current. In a moment of blind panic, I’m sure we’ve finally finished what the Ballendial witches’ spell started, and killed him. People can’t breathe underwater, and we just threw an unconscious man into a canal.
Then a golden glimmer dances over his body, and he transforms. His back lengthens, his limbs growing longer, thicker, andoh gods, is that a tail?
I stumble back from the edge of the water, and Levi catches me by the waist, pulling me farther away. I stare in wonder as large leathery wings erupt from Isak’s back.
