Page 11 of Cursed Magic

My throat closed, and something sweetly painful unfurled in my chest. It almost seemed as if Ryker…cared about me.

I exhaled and shook off that thought. If Reid—my fated mate—could turn on me, Ryker definitely could. I wouldn’t leave him and the others until I knew they were safe and accounted for, but the more time I spent with him—with all of them—the harder it would be to leave. And I had to leave for both Briar’s and my safety.

But when Ryker’s hand fell limply to his side, my heart plummeted. His eyes fluttered closed, and his breathing grew shallow and ragged.

“No, no, no!” My voice rose in panic. “Ryker, stay with me!”

He was no longer fighting us, so I was able to move my hands to his wound and press firmly against it.

Warm blood continued to seep between my fingers at an alarming rate. The metallic scent of copper filled the air, making my stomach churn.

“Oh Fate, Ember,” Briar gasped, moving to the mid-rowseat I’d been sitting in. “It’s bleeding so much more now. I told you it wasn’t smart to remove it!”

Doubt crept into my mind. Had I made the wrong choice? The blood continued to ooze steadily between my fingers. Each trickle felt like another grain of sand slipping through an hourglass, counting down the precious seconds of Ryker’s life.

His skin grew paler, and his heartbeat weakened further. Panic clawed at my chest. I pressed harder against the wound, desperate enough to beg Fate to help me.Please, please, please. If he died because I’d made the wrong decision, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to live with it.

“Don’t listen to her, Ember. Leaving it in would have been even worse,” Raven said confidently. “The knife could have shifted and caused more harm. This is the best chance to stop the bleeding since the blade missed an artery. There’s no gushing sound, which would indicate we made the wrong call. And right now, doubt is your enemy. You need to focus on saving him.”

As Raven’s words sank in, I forced myself to take a deep breath and refocus. She was right—doubt would only hinder me. The decision had been made, and I had to continue with the plan.

Desperate to slow the bleeding, I pressed my hands against the gaping wound. I glanced around, searching for something to use to help clot the injury.

The strange sensation flared inside me, warmth pulsing from my chest and flowing into my hands. It seemed to connect with something primal and hot, reminding me of my wolf magic.

I shook my head, trying to dispel the weird feeling. Between the grief of losing my pack, the stress of our current situation, and the bizarre shadows only I could see,I’d begun to question my own sanity. These odd feelings and sensations had to be my mind playing tricks on me. And I couldn’t afford to get distracted now.

Ignoring the strange warmth, I surveyed the SUV again for anything I could use to help stop the bleeding. The leather seats and floor were already slick with Ryker’s blood, and I didn’t see a damn thing that would be better to use than my hands.

I looked down at my own bloodstained shirt. The fabric was torn and dirty from the earlier fight, but it was still better than nothing.

The SUV hit another bump, jostling us. Ryker’s body shifted beneath me. I waited for the blood to pour, but despite the tingles in my hands, I didn’t feel any pulse of fresh blood.

I removed my hands and grabbed the hem of my shirt.

“What are you doing?” Briar cried and leaned toward me. “You can’t stop putting pressure on it.”

“I need something to help clot the wound.” I removed my shirt and winced as my damaged back burned with the movement. “My hands alone aren’t enough.”

Cool air hit my bare torso, and I bundled up the shirt, keeping the cleanest portion outside to press against his injury.

My eyes flicked back to Ryker’s rib cage, and I blinked several times, trying to understand what I was seeing.

CHAPTER FIVE

No matter what I did, each time I opened my eyes, I saw the same thing. I struggled to make sense of it because, even in the supernatural world, healing this rapidly was unheard of.

Moments ago, Ryker’s wound had been gaping and bleeding alarmingly. If I didn’t know any better, I would swear this wasn’t the same injury.

The skin around the stab wound was pink and puckered, as if a day’s worth of shifter healing had happened in mere minutes. The flow of blood had ceased entirely, leaving behind only the congealed evidence that it had been bleeding as horribly as I remembered.

Seeing my reaction, Briar’s brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?” She leaned over toward Ryker’s injury.

My lungs stopped working. The urge to grip her by the nape of the neck and yank her away from him had my spine straightening. Forcing air out of my lungs, I attempted to keep a level head. After all, Briar was my sister, and she felt responsible for Ryker’s injuries because they’d happened while he was protectingher.

She gasped and recoiled. Her jaw dropped open for a moment before she muttered, “How is that even possible?”

With trembling hands, she reached toward him, and my heart raced.

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