Page 69 of 3 Shifters to Break a Curse

“Agreed,” I said and slid my arms gently underneath her shoulders and her knees. I lifted her into my arms and held her close to me. “Where to?”

“Not the couch,” Ezra said firmly. “She’s been through too much for that.”

I nodded and took her to my room upstairs. Once I arrived, I gently kicked the door open and carefully made my way to my bed before laying her on the mattress. I then headed to my closet for a quilt and took it over to the bed and draped it over her. I made sure she would stay comfortable by removing her shoes and adjusting the pillow under her head before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

Not long after, Ezra came in with some cool rags. He held them up. “I thought these might help.”

I nodded.

He approached the bed and placed one on her forehead and then one on her upper chest.

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

He looked at me and silently nodded. I half expected him to leave the room. But he didn’t. Instead, he walked off to my side and took a seat in the chair that sat in the corner of my room. It was my reading chair when I didn’t care much about being around anyone. I didn’t like anyone else sitting in it, but I also didn’t have the energy to argue.

Ezra loved her as much as I did. He had as much right to be concerned about her as I did. It wouldn’t have been fair of me to kick him out.

“She could be out for hours,” he said. “You should go eat something. I can keep an eye on her until you come back.”

I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”

“At least go get cleaned up,” he suggested. “You’re covered in blood and forest.”

“I’ll clean up later,” I said. “I’m not leaving her.”

“Rin,” Ezra said, drawing my attention to him. When I looked at him, he continued, “Go. Do something to feel better at least a little bit. I’ll sit with her until you come back.”

“I need to be here when she wakes up,” I said.

“Which still won’t be for quite some time,” he said.

“How do you know?” I asked, leveling my gaze on him. “How do you know how long it will be?”

“I don’t,” he said. “But from what she told me, this was a possibility. Please, do something for yourself.”

I shook my head, refusing to budge. “I don’t care how long it takes for her to wake up. I’m not leaving this spot.”

Ezra simply sighed and took my response as an answer.

Toni looked so still, and if I stared too closely, and allowed my imagination to get the better of me, she looked as though she was nothing more than a mere a shell of herself. Like her life was gone. She was pale, dark purple covered the lids of her eyes from the lack of sleep, and her lips were smooth and sealed.

I hated that she looked like she was dead. I hated that she barely breathed. I hated that she had exhausted herself with the spell.

The pain in my heart overwhelmed the pain in my body from the battle. Tears burned my eyes and a lump had formed in my throat. I couldn’t stand the idea of her never waking up.

“Tell me you know for certain she’s only sleeping,” I said, setting my gaze on him.

He stared at me with his mouth opening and closing, his eyes full of worry, as he struggled with an answer.

“Lie to me if you have to,” I said. “Just promise me she’s going to be okay.”

Ezra sighed and nodded. “She’ll be fine, Rin. She’ll sleep for a while. Could be all night. Could be for several nights. But once her body has recovered, she will wake up. You’ll see.”

“And if she doesn’t?” I asked.

“She will,” Ezra said. “I promise.”

I stared into his eyes and believed him. Probably because he even believed the words he spoke. And though I wasn’t satisfied with an exact answer for how long she was going to be out, I was relieved to hear she would be okay.

---