Page 117 of Hidden Kingdoms

“Fuck,” I groaned, as the pain of the wounds on my back hit me with force, and I was ready to fight whoever thought laying on the injury was the best idea.

Being asleep had been much less painful.

Trying to adjust myself on the hard bed I was half laying on, a hand landed on my arm, halting me.

“I’m going to need you to keep still for now.” The face closest to me was unfamiliar, their warm brown eyes creased slightlyin what could have been concern, or intrigue. I was to tired to care which. A riot of black curls fell around the man’s face as he looked down at me, hand still on my arm as a warm heat radiated from it, and I pulled my arm away as I felt his magik reach out to mine.

His hands raised in surrender. “I’m just here to help.”

My heart was racing as the pain crushed me, but I could feel my magik stirring, and that helped calm my nerves as memories of the last hour flashed through my mind.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“You passed out, Killer, you didn’t take a nap.” Alouette’s teasing voice came from the other side, and I whipped my head towards her. Her face the picture of mischief, but there was a hint of concern hidden in her light eyes. A twisting in my chest loosened as I found her next to me, felt her hand slide into mine with a quick squeeze before letting me go.

“That’s embarrassing,” I murmured. A blue curtain had been pulled on either side of us, and opposite I could see the same set up with someone else sat sideways on their bed as others crowded them. It smelt like lemons and something chemical that made my nose itch, which cemented the fact I was in some sort of hospital.

“You’ve only been here for a few minutes,” the man said, arms back by his side.

“Couldn’t of let me just sleep it off?”

“You need a little more than sleep to fix those.” He motioned to the mess of my back.

“You might have a point,” I agreed, wincing as I adjusted myself slightly.

The part of my chest that seemed to be attuned to something beyond me, squeezed tight at the same moment I felt the pull of a familiar magik. An intoxicating energy that had my coreclenching in a way that wasn’t appropriate while in a hospital with my back torn open.

Not to mention I can do nothing about it.

“Kaius,” I whispered, as my eyes snapped to the direction his magik had come from.

Those around the bed opposite shifted as a large man stood, pushing past them towards me, and stormy eyes met mine. Raking my gaze over him, panic skittered through me as I took in the blood that crusted one side of his face to pool in his dark beard. The scratches that had ripped through his jacket and were scattered across his tattooed arms.

“What happened?” My voice was barely a whisper as I made to move off the bed to get to him. Needing to feel him under my fingers, to spark that connection that had my pulse soaring. Before I had the chance to go anywhere, he was by my side, placing a hand on my thigh to keep me in place. I chose to look at his face and attempt not to focus on the way he was squeezing me.

“I’m fine, Goldie, I can sort myself out. The nurses here just like the chance to get their hands on me.” He winked, removing his hand once I’d stopped moving, but not leaving from his place next to Alouette.

“Don’t worry about him, it's only scratches. It’s you we need to focus on. It’s not every day we get a victim of The Darkness in here,” said the man, who, given his attire of matching blue scrubs, I had taken was the doctor.

My curiosity piqued unpleasantly. “Who else was hurt?”

“By The Darkness? Just you.”

“Well, that’s… unsettling.”

“Isn’t it? Anyway, those look like they’re going to hurt like a bitch to clean up, so I really need you to focus.”

“You have a shitty bedside manner, doctor.” Kaius’ easy laugh made my magik hum.

“I’m a healer,nota doctor. But that’s beside the point. Now, you have to do what I say, when I say it. Got it?”

“Anything for you, Doc.”

“It’s Healer Kale, thank you.”

With a slight roll of his eyes, he shifted behind me and gesturing for me to move forward before he pressed a button, and the bed laid flat. I cringed as the edges of my wounds unstuck from the bed, the unfamiliar touch of his magik gently poking at them, and my own rushed to create a barrier as I tensed in anticipation.

Healer Kale pressed no further than the exploration of my wounds, yet I focused hard on keeping that barrier up—not risking the chance he could push his energy into me.

---