Page 42 of Hunters and Prey

Failure Is Not An Option And Destiny

~ROXAS~

"LUSHNA!" I shortened the spell and infused as much magic as I could into the single word, my hand shooting it out to activate it.

A swift gust of wind dashed through the hall and caught the ginger female before her head hit the wooden stairs. I breathed heavily with relief as my heart raced against my chest. Waving my hand back to me, the wind carried the girl over Alec's head and didn't lower her until she hovered above my open arms.

Thank you for your swiftness. Be free once more.

The wind vanished with the simple thought, gravity taking over as the girl dropped into my arms. Even with the little drop, it was easy to carry her. I didn't wait for the others to recover from their initial shock, moving back into the room and laying her right on the bed.

She looked terribly pale, and her body was burning hot again.

"Rome," I called out. He was at my side in two seconds flat, already scanning her body with his eyes before he reached for the dry cloth that was on the nightstand. "She's burning up again. Definitely a fever from the shock."

With a twirl of his left hand, a sphere of water formed above his hand. He plunged his right hand with the towel through it, pulling it out to reveal a damp cloth. I knew the water was chilled; the remaining breeze that lingered in the air around me blew the cool air surrounding the water to me.

He snapped his fingers and the water dropped downward, but it didn't reach the floor before it evaporated completely, the mist fading into nothingness. He moved back to the side of the bed, placing the cool cloth back onto the girl's forehead.

I let out a sigh, not minding that Rome was there and would figure out that I actually was worried about this girl.

Alice was her name.

Wasn't surprised, because that was her name in the past life too. Alice from the past was who many wizards like us knew as the first witch who sacrificed herself to give us the freedom we had today.

She was just as beautiful as back then, even though she had no clue about her past. The same scorching flaming hair, down to the hints of white strands. Her fierce eyes that stared into your soul with power. Her pale skin so smooth and radiant. Her personality hadn't changed either.

How did I know all of this? Out of our group, I was the only one who fully had their memories back. Our group was the same five men who once stood by Alice's side.

The men who watched her die for the sake of all. We failed her.

We weren't going to screw up a second time, but Aaron had fucked up the original plan of watching from afar. I knew there would be problems with them going to the same school, but I thought now that she was being homeschooled, we'd have no issues but to make sure she was okay from afar.

Didn't know Aaron was hanging out with her five days a week after school.

"Is she okay?" Aaron asked.

The others crowded back into the room and Romes closed his eyes for a second. "The shock of everything spiked her fever up. I can bring it down, but you guys need to talk outside. I can't concentrate, especially with Roxas about to shout a ton."

He peeked an eye open to see my displeased look."What? It's true and you know it."

I wasn't going to argue with him. He did need to concentrate if he wanted to help Alice and I didn't want her to be in any more pain. She'd been fighting for her life for three full days.

With what just happened, we’d probably added another day or two. That was delaying the whole explanation part even more.

"Fine. If you need a break, let me know. I'll take over," I offered.

Healing magic was extremely draining on an individual. I still couldn't understand how Rome could do it for hours before breaking a sweat.

Sure, he'd trained himself for this, but I could only last two and a half hours before I felt like I was dying. It was something about bringing yourself into a calm serene place within your mind and envisioning the person you'd like to heal, and it just got complicated. My attention span would decline into oblivion after three hours max.

"I'll keep that in mind." Rome gave us a smile before he settled into a yoga pose next to the bed. He took a few breaths, beginning to center his mind for the long healing meditation. I moved to the door with the others, closing it gently before we noticed Daisy's worried look.

"Is she going to be okay, woof?" She looked like she'd break down any minute.

"She'll be fine, Daisy. At least you found the bracelet. Once Rome is done we'll put it on her. Why don't you stay with them?" I suggested.

"Okay, woof!" She looked less sad and more determined to stay next to Alice the entire time as she had been for the majority of her recovery. She handed me the silver bracelet, and in a flash, she'd returned to her husky appearance.

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