Page 82 of When Storms Ruin

My vision went red, and I swept Stormslayer out, slicing the Shade in the back of the knees hard enough for him to fall. I stepped up behind him and, without hesitation, ran Stormslayer across his throat.

I let his body slump to the ground and stepped over it, my heart beating so hard it felt as if it were in my throat. That it might beat right out of my chest.

“Nik!”

I could hear a struggle in the townhouse, and a moment later Isaac shoved the archer out the window, his body joining the others in a cloud of dust.

I ran to Nik’s side, pulling his head into my lap. His eyes were closed, his breathing heavy and labored. The laceration in his abdomen bled through his fingers, making the wound from the arrow the least of our problems.

“Nik, open your eyes,” I commanded, giving him a gentle shake. “Nik, can you hear me? Stay with me, Nik.”

Hadn’t he said the same thing to me mere hours ago? When Fletcher had wounded me? His eyelashes fluttered against hischeeks and when his eyes met mine, I had to swallow back my terror.

His eyes were a dull, lifeless blue.

“Poison,” he whispered, blood trickling from the corners of his lips.

I shook my head violently, tears streaming down my face.

No.

If it weren’t for that archer, the Shade never would have gotten the upper hand. Never would have had the opportunity to pierce him with his sword.

I couldn’t lose Nik.I couldn’t.

I blinked back the tears as they blurred my vision, wiping my face with my blood and dirt-stained shirt.

“Liss,” I whispered back, searching frantically around us.

The only faces that met mine were that of Tess, Puck, and Zion, their expressions somber.

“Where is Liss?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“I haven’t seen her,” Zion’s voice was sad as he crouched next to us.

“Isaac!” I screamed, gripping Nik’s hand tightly in my own. I could not lose another person I loved. I wouldn’t. “Isaac, I need you!”

I tried to focus, to dip into the well of my magic again. But again…I felt nothing.

“Dammit,” I ground out through my teeth in frustration. I tried again and again.

There was nothing there.Absolutely nothing.

I could hear when Isaac joined us, cursing under his breath.

“He said it’s poison,” I told him, searching his gaze. “We need Liss. She is the most skilled healer.”

“How did you heal your own wound before?” Isaac asked, his eyes searching mine.

“I used my storm magic…but there isn’t any left. I depleted it. I can’t feelanyof my fucking magic.Please, you need to help him.”

I could hear the panic in my own voice, and the calm soberness of those around me only made me want to scream at the top of my lungs.

Why wasn’t anyonedoinganything?

“I don’t know where she is,” Isaac replied, his hand covering Nik’s over the wound on his abdomen. One of my hands was buried in his hair, the other gripping his shoulder tight. “We can’t take the arrow out right now. He is too weak from the loss of blood as it is. We need to move him.”

“To where?” I asked, my voice raw. “The safe house is gone. I don’t have any supplies in the town house.What do we do?”

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