Page 62 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

“We need to move fast,” Gallagher murmured to her.

There was a question in his tone I didn’t understand. Obviously, we needed to move fast.

Was he worried about me seeing her undressed when her life was on the line?

Her brow furrowed, pained grimace turning into something more considering.

“Theo, could you fetch Gal’s medical kit from his horse.” Avani might have phrased it like a question, but her inflection was a clear demand.

He nodded, already heading in the direction where Gwyn was standing guard against more rebels.

“Evander—” Gallagher began, but I cut him off before whatever attempt he could make to get me out of the way.

“No.” I wasn’t as easily led as Korhonan, nor as easily pushed aside. Like hell was I leaving her when she was injured.

I caught her pale-green gaze and held it steadily, letting her know that I had no plans of abandoning her any more than I had the last time she was bleeding out on the ground.

Pain pinched the corners of her eyes, but she didn’t break my stare as she clutched my sleeve a little tighter.

Just as I was about to snap that we were wasting time, Rowan gave a bare dip of her chin.

“It’s fine, Gal,” she gritted between her teeth. “It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.”

Davin raised a flask to my lemmikki’s lips, supporting her head so she could drink it.

“Keep her steady,” Gallagher ordered.

I nodded, seeing Avani do the same from her place just above her sister, tears immediately filling her eyes as she helped to hold her sister in place. I braced Rowan’s shoulder firmly against the ground with one hand, keeping the other firmly wrapped around hers.

A shiver racked through her, and I squeezed her hand gently until she took in a shaky breath. As soon as she let the breath all the way out, Gallagher yanked the dagger from her skin in a single, practiced motion.

She let out a ragged sob, clutching my hand while she squeezed her eyes shut. I bit back a curse.

She was so storms-damned reckless.

It should have been me there. Pain was nothing new for me. I would sooner have taken a dozen daggers to my gut before watching her writhe in pain from the one she took for me.

“You’re all right, Lemmikki.” The murmured words that were only mostly for her benefit when I saw the blood pouring from the place where the knife had been.

She didn’t seem to hear me, her eyes blurring in and out of focus.

Instead of staunching the blood, Gallagher only held his hands over the wound, his brows furrowed in concentration. It was the same look Rowan got when she pretended to study the clouds.

Gallagher refuses to…make us any tonics.The table had fallen silent much like the cousins had today when Rowan’sridiculous weather-toe had come up. It defied logic, but didn’t everything about this family?

That memory was the only thing that kept me from shoving him to the side and trying to stop the bleeding myself. Avani and Davin watched with features that were drawn in concern, but not panic. They weren’t as worried as they should have been unless they had complete faith in whatever skills or powers Gallagher possessed.

Slowly, I counted down from five, forcing myself to remain still as I took in steady breaths.

By the fourth exhale, the bleeding had slowed to a crawl. I looked from Gallagher’s blood-coated hands to the healing wound, then to Rowan’s features which were markedly smoother.

A weighty silence fell in the clearing, broken by Korhonan’s return.

“I have the bag.” He stated the obvious.

Gallagher nodded his acknowledgement, but it was Avani who dug through the satchel, pulling out a cloth and solution for Gallagher to clean his hands. Once he was finished, he withdrew a needle and thread.

Rowan closed her eyes in resignation, her hand tightening around mine once more.

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