Page 97 of He Who Ignites The Flame
As the attendant cracked the door enough to slip through, Damien’s voice reached my ears as he urged Lucia to push, and she let out a cry of pain. Zephyr and I froze, unable to move, to pull ourselves away from the door as it closed once more, to do anything but lose ourselves in our terror of what might happen.
We waited in silence, narrowing in on every sound, every moan of pain, every word of encouragement, every order from the midwives, every cry of agony.
“She’s beautiful,” Damien said from the other side of the door, and for a moment, my heart soared, hope welling in my chest.
An attendant slipped out, her face grave. She wouldn’t meet our gazes, and Zephyr and I exchanged looks of unease as she called to the attendants.
“What’s wrong with her?” Damien demanded from within the room, and the strong scent of blood reached my nose. “Mea luna? Stay with me, stay awake.”
The attendants rushed in, and I couldn’t bring myself to move as I caught the faintest glimpse of Damien climbing onto the bed, cradling Lucia in his arms as he spoke to her. She was muttering something to him, too faint for me to hear. Gods, her skin was pale, her lips losing their color.
“They’re taking care of her,” Damien said, his voice full of terror. “Stay with me, Lucia. I need you to keep your eyes open for me.”
“What’s happening?” Zephyr demanded of the attendants as they rushed in and out of the room.
Isla emerged, soft cries reaching my ears from the tiny bundle wrapped tightly in her arms as she looked over her shoulder. This was wrong.This can’t be happening.
“Isla,” Zephyr said, and she twisted back to face him as he demanded an answer, each word clipped, “what is happening?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and my heart plummeted.
“No,” I muttered, taking a step forward.
“She’s bleedin’ out; we don’t know when it started,” she said, her voice thick before she returned her attention to the bundle in her arms.
No. I shook my head, looking back just as Damien sliced his blade across his wrist.
“Can’t we do anything for her?” Zephyr asked, panic marring every word.
“There are nae any healers left,” Isla said, her voice breaking as she stepped past us.
Because they had all been killed in the battle, leaving no one with the healing ability of House Latros. Lucia possessed the magic, but its only disadvantage was the inability to heal oneself.
“Drink, Lucia, please!”
Our attention snapped to the room where Damien cradled Lucia, her eyes flickering, and the world went quiet as her blood-stained lips moved. Damien shook his head as he pulled her against him, begging her to stay with him.
She sagged in his arms, head falling against his chest, lashes lowering over those silver eyes that once held such love for everything around her.
And every bit of hope died within me.
Her smile flashed across my thoughts—the smile she had given me when we first met. I’d hated that smile at first, hated the pity... I’d hated that she had tried to work her way beyond the walls I had built up around myself. I’d pushed her away, said things she never deserved to hear.
I’d never deserved her kindness, never deserved her light...and yet, I wanted it, couldn’t imagine a life without it, couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t exist. I didn’twantto imagine it.
What was I without her, the one person who had held faith in me when everyone else had left me to rot. The person who had pulled me from the dark depths and given me purpose—where would we go without her?
Isla’s hand clasped over her mouth as a sob broke free, the babe in her arm quieting.
One of the midwives emerged from the room, the only sounds Damien’s sobs. My vision blurred as the midwife gave us a sorrowful look and shook her head.
“No...” Zephyr muttered. “She was fine. She was doing good. You said so yourself.”
“It all happened so fast,” the midwife whispered.
Zephyr’s pain and anger burned through the air, filling my nose like rain falling on a forest fire. I couldn’t bring myself to form any words as I stared at my best friend lifeless on the bed, her mate holding onto her tightly as he cried for her to come back to him.
She couldn’t be gone, not like this.
