Page 129 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos
The weight of the truth that I failed hammering through me.
Sienna.
I try to move.
“Jayce!” Her broken voice comes as she runs to me, but all I can see is the blood that covers her.
If he wanted to end us, he could have. She could have been killed because of me, because I wasn’t fast enough. Because I wasn’t strong enough to protect her.
That fear grips me, coldly and suffocatingly.
I was the reason she is out here.
Every instinct in me screamed to protect her, but I wasn’t able to stop him. I wasn’t able to protect her. He could’ve ripped her away from me, from everyone.
If he’d gotten to her, I would’ve been the reason she didn’t make it out. And that thought... that thought twists something deep inside me.
I failed.
I fucking lost.
Troubled Emotions
Sienna
“He’s going to be ok, Kiara is on her way,” Uncle Leo says as he walks into the hospital room. I nod. I feel numb as I stare down at Jayce, my mind flitting to the moment after the monster had left. I sit on the bed, one hand resting on his arm, tracing the curve of his biceps with my fingertips.
I nod, looking down at him. I had tried to heal him, but it wasn’t enough.
A bandage now covers his nose, but it’s already turning a dark red. The cut on it is brutal and terrifying; it’s a deep gash that refused to clot at all. Blood was spilling from it like a fountain; it flooded his face and drowned his eyes. It was a terrifying sight, and I was so scared, not realising where it was coming from at first, and then trying to figure out if he was ok.
I shiver as the memory returns.
Blood.
Blood is everywhere, surrounding him. My heart is in mymouth, terror clinging to me.
The power still ripples in the air as I drop to my knees and hold his head in my hands, gasping at the horrifying scene in front of me.
“Jayce… oh baby…” I whimper as blood covers his entire face. There’s so much I don’t know where it’s coming from. Whispering a healing spell, my lips tremble as I try to focus on healing. I wish I had some herbs, but I don’t. I’ve never been strong in my healing spells.
“Please be ok.”
My vision blurs with tears as I wipe the blood from his face, now realising it’s his nose.
Jayce…
He parts his lips, but he’s unable to speak a word. He’s too exhausted.
He almost died.
I keep chanting the spell, running my hand over his injuries.
My mind’s still reeling from what happened. I had seen the royal mark blaze through his suit on his upper back, and I had known before the man even spoke that Jayce was one of the four rulers.
I thought he’d win, but he didn’t, despite how powerful he is. All around us, the earth is upturned and destroyed. Jayce did all that, and that man – no monster – wasn’t even fazed.
But despite that, we are alive. Are we really just cheating death, or are they just toying with us? First Velasara, now this man?
