Page 261 of A Warrior's Fate

They’d been down here. She’d fought them.

Why the fuck didn’t she say anything?

Why was that even a question—he knew the reason.

Kai dropped to his knees, not recognizing the black cloak wrapped around her. She was entirely bare beneath. He pulled her head up into his lap, finding her heavier than he’d expected as he cradled her. She was completely out, and her skin when he went to touch her cheek was freezing.

“Isla.” His voice was just above a whisper but echoed through the cavern.

This was a nightmare.

He put a hand over her chest, even though he could hear it—her heart was beating but barely. The same sluggish cadence of her breathing.

“Isla,” he chanced again, brushing blood-crusted hair from her face. He needed her to open her eyes, needed to hear her voice. “Isla, wake up.” He dug deep for that light again, that thread, but it was dimming, nearly gone. Fuck. “Come on, I’m not doing this without you.”

He lifted his head, taking in what was around them. He had no idea where they were, how to get her out.

He heard footsteps and panting, followed by, “Oh no.”

Kai turned to Raana, and with the movement came the jostling of tears he hadn’t realized were forming. “Can you get us out of here?”

Raana frowned. “I can barely travel with one person. I could never do both of you.”

“Then take her.”

“It’s not an easy trek, I can’t guarantee she’ll survive it.”

“What can you do?” Kai snapped, and Isla’s breath caught, becoming shallower. He lowered his head in an apology. “She’s dying.” The word gutted him. “And there’s nothing I can do. And I can’t…I can’t lose her. None of us can lose her, so if there’s something you can do. A spell or a potion or whatever, I need you to do it. Take whatever you need from me. Any of my power, all of it. Just save her.”

Kai’s chest felt heavy, his breath hampering as if he could feel Aeterna over his shoulder, ready not to take him away as he’d wondered this morning, but for her. And he decided at that moment, he’d fight even death and eternity to get her back. Whatever that power was inside him shuddered at the thought.

“My mother’s a healer,” Raana began quietly, and Kai turned to her again. “And I know…something, but my magic is different. I don’t know if it’ll work. If I’ll hurt her or hurt you.”

Hurt him?

He didn’t ask. He didn’t care. “Please.”

Raana gave a firm nod and went to kneel at Isla’s other side. “Whatever you do, whatever you feel, don’t let her go. Focus on that piece of her. You’re her anchor. If she starts to pull away—just—just tell me.” She hesitated before removing the ring from her finger. A hiss passed her lips, and Kai felt something in the air shift, a new scent emerging, and energy beating and twining with the world around them.

As she steeled herself, he inspected the metal. Iron.

The pieces came together oddly hard and fast, and he lifted his head, examining Raana’s face, her ears—round, not pointed. But…

“You’re fae.”

He didn’t know why he was so certain.

Raana stiffened and met his eyes briefly. There was something different about hers now, brighter. She looked down. “Half. My father’s fae, my mother’s a witch.” She reiterated, “So my magic is different.”

As if witches couldn’t have gotten worse.

Alpha Cassius couldn’t have known, even he wouldn’t have been reckless enough to tangle with the fae. There was a reason they’d been locked out of the mortal plane, their continent now left to ruin. How did Raana even exist?

As if she could see Kai’s train of thought, feel the weight of history, Raana drew her hands back. Hurt crossed her face. “Do you still want me to—”

“Do it.”

There was no other option. Isla would die.

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