Page 24 of To Sway a Prince
Thalorion drew back, his upper lip curling, yellowed teeth still visible.
"I need to find a way to stabilize you, and then I will?—"
Ramiel gripped my hand, his strength shocking. "Cannot." His violet eyes grew unfocused, their color dimming.
Panic rose within me, choking me as well. Then an idea struck. "Zephyrus!" I cried, holding onto Ramiel. "Zephyrus, come here." I trilled the whistling notes to summon him.
I had no idea where in the tower the pulseport would drop us. But it would be far closer to where he needed to be than this. And even if the tower did not provide full protection, Caein would surely know what to do.
Zephyrus grunted, his shoulders dropping. Then he strode forward. His heavy footsteps echoed on the stone, and his talons bit deep, scraping on the stone. He wasn't as confident as usual.
"Faster!" I cried.
He lunged forward.
The darkness snatched us up before Zephyrus's jaw brushed the back of my head. Ramiel came with me. I held him fast, feeling his body pulse and waver against whatever evil the omenfang had wrought against him.
We landed in a hall in the center of a long, plush rug. The fourth floor if I was right about the paintings and incense. "Caein!" I shouted. "Caein, Ramiel is hurt!"
The air shimmered and hummed. "Hold his head. Give him support. Don't let his head fall back." The usually calm Nolche's voice carried tremors of fear I felt within my core.
I adjusted my position, my arm sliding beneath Ramiel's shoulders and lifting him up. My breast pressed against his shoulder, and my hair swung over his face. His weight made him difficult to move, but his fingers knotted against my leg, digging in as if to anchor himself. "Shhh," I whispered. "Deep breaths."
He managed a weakened nod. Each breath was a struggle.
I held him as best I could, trying to offer comfort and yet feeling entirely out of my depth. My cheek pressed to his brow as I studied him. "You'll be all right," I said, my voice thick. "Justbreathe. Breathe." At least one of his ribs was broken. Possibly more. Maybe his sternum. I adjusted him just a little to a better angle so that there wasn't so much pressure on his lungs.
The air within the tower hummed around me, heavy in my ears. Something was working even now. Whatever it was, I prayed it helped him.
A door slammed farther in the tower. Something fell, rattling across the floor.
"'ll. Be. F-fine." He struggled to speak.
I shushed him again. "Save your breath. Unless you can tell me something that will help you."
He drew in another shaky breath.
I glanced once more down the hall. "Don't use words. Shake your head or nod. I know a little healing magic. Some runes of soothing. Will that help?"
"Maybe," he rasped.
I narrowed my eyes at him, pretending to be angrier than I was. "That's not shaking your head or nodding." I placed my hand over his chest and summoned my energy to my fingertips. With slow strokes, I traced the runes onto his chest. Slow was good, but it was also necessary because I had to remember what to do. I didn't usually do much healing magic. Lessons in the old solar and adjoining library about layering runic symbols and enclosing them in a circle and infusing with focused intent murmured in the back of my mind. Battlefield healing wasn't nearly so tidy. This felt like a fusion of the two.
His breaths eased a little as the gold light shimmered over his chest. Something wavered inside though. Energy pulsed back, bitter and hard. Not him. Something inside him. I moved my hand up higher and drew another series of runes just above his heart. The same sensation was there, though not as strong. Something was constricting his very heart. The energy made my skin crawl like the omenfang.
I tugged at the ties of his tunic, opening the front. My mouth fell open as I stared at him in horror. Thread rot. No wonder he hadn't been able to breathe!
11
A PARTICULAR BARGAIN
The healing runes illuminated what was within Ramiel's chest. His very heart was wrapped in tight knotted threads that had coiled around it like a constrictor. The golden light from my runes only highlighted the starkness of these poisonous threads. They were like the omenfang. Probably from one of his attacks or connected in some way.
Broken ribs and femur aside, this is what would kill him. My heart clenched in sympathetic pain. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.
He shook his head weakly. "'ll pass."
Until one day it wouldn't.
