Page 42 of Great Falls Protector
“River!” My throat tightens as I rush forward. The male is limp as I turn him onto his back, his skin cool and clammy beneath my touch. Even without Shade’s knowledge of medicine, I’m all too aware that there is nothing good about River’s shallow racing pulse, the subtle change in his woodsy scent. Magic swarms in me, but the rampaging silver cord is as useless as a hammer. “You bastard,” I tell River through clenched teeth. “Did you have to stop and chat with every bloody scullery maid on our way here?”
There is no response. Not from River, not from Shade, who watches me with confused curiosity.
“Why isn’t Shade shifting?” I demand of Gavriel, who gives me an apologetic shrug of ignorance. “I’ll go try to look it up,” he says, moving carefully away from the wolf.
My mind races. Grabbing River’s spare knife, I slice away the damn coat of his, the rich, tailored cloth falling in useless strips to the ground. I expect to find the wound reopened, but no new blood touches my hands, whatever is killing River is doing so from the inside.
Then I see it. River’s wide bare chest rising only on one side as he draws his ragged, labored breaths.
My stomach clenches, nausea washing over me with such force that Shade is on his feet at once, his warm tongue licking the back of my neck while I wrangle my rebellious insides under control.
“It isn’t me who needs help, Shade.” Inside me, my magic lashes against its tethers with vicious desperation. It’s all I can do to keep myself from grabbing River and letting my wayward magic do something, anything, everything—and destroy whatever chances my mate has to survive.
Breathe, Lera.I force myself to look away from River’s deformed chest.Breathe.
I’m still kneeling beside River when the merry jingle of bells announces new arrivals, Coal’s cursing and metallic scent confirming his presence a moment later. From the way the warrior’s ripped black leathers and hair are matted with blood and sweat, I’m guessing his trip outside the walls was no less adventurous than our own disaster.
“The Night Guard set the arena ablaze and now has hostages in the Great—” Coal cuts off as he marks both River’s unconscious body and my glowing hand hovering by his shoulder. His voice drops to calm, low command. “Hold your magic, mortal. Tell me what happened.”
“He’s right, Lilac Girl,” Tye says, coming up behind Coal, his green eyes gentle. “You can kill him with that magic as swiftly as help.”
“River is doing a damn good job of dying all on his own.” Shoving myself away from River, I yield my place to Coal, who rushes in to examine the damage with a warrior’s skilled eye. My mouth is dry, my hand tangling in Shade’s fur for comfort. My breaths come in shuddering waves. “Shade won’t shift to help, and I don’t know why. Though the way the day is going, it’s probably my fault.”
Coal slides his palm along River’s chest. “His lung’s collapsed. Either air or blood are trapped in there, pressing on it like a sponge.”
My throat tightens. I might have done that too, thinking I stopped the bleeding when I just redirected it. Caused more harm than good.
“Nothing about the day is your fault, Lilac Girl,” Tye says softly, his voice at odds with the growing pitch of my thought. Tye’s once-pristine uniform is covered with rips and soot, a patch of his sleeve ripped open to show blistered, angry flesh. Unlike me, he must have stayed at the arena to help the humans escape the flames—and the haunted sheen to his eyes says not everyone made it out. “But when I find the Night Guard bastard reckless enough to have set flame to a stadium full of innocent athletes and families, I will peel his flesh off in strips.”
My heart jolts, the truth skittering away from my tongue. “It may have been an accident.” I clear my throat. “I mean, their plan was to attack during closing ceremonies. Why change it?”
“Likely because they learned Zake was captured and babbling,” says Coal.
Tye winces as he moves his arm. “I little care why they did it, only that they pay.” The male’s face softens as he takes in mine. Stepping toward me, the male holds out his palm. “Come here, lass. We—”
GRRRRRRROWW!
Shade, who was pressed against my leg a moment ago, leaps to put himself between Tye and me. The wolf’s hackles rise, standing on end like porcupine needles. Pulling back his lips, he reveals a set of salivating canines, the low growl rumbling through his chest carrying promise of a battle to the death.
Tye stops.
Coal scrambles to a crouch, his hands at the ready as he spins toward the sound and puts himself between River and the threat. Shade’s muscles tense, his front legs bending slightly in preparation to leap. His gaze fixes on Coal’s jugular.
Face lethally calm, Coal flicks his wrist, sliding a knife into his palm. “Get behind me, mortal,” he orders with that eerie quiet that sends shards of ice through my blood. “Slowly.”
“No.” I swallow, my hands coming palms up in an attempt to halt the madness. And itismadness. River unconscious. Shade and Coal readying to assault each other. My quint ripping itself to shards when it should be coming together. “Shade isn’t doing anything to hurt me, Coal. He isn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“We agree there,” says Coal, moving slowly around the wolf. “Because I am going to hog-tie the fleabag before he gets a chance. And keep him there until the damn bastard shifts.” His piercing blue glower turns to Shade. “Forgot what losing a quint mate feels like?” Coals snarls at the wolf, both males’ canines reflecting the sunlight. “A few more minutes and you’re going to get the reminder of a lifetime.”
Behind the squared-off males, River looks far too still and gray, his chest shuddering irregularly as he tries to take in rasping breaths. Panic flutters in my pulse, making my hands shake.Not like this.This is not how it’s going to end.
“Enough,” I yell. I’m as surprised as the males when the room quiets immediately, my pounding heart seeming to echo off the walls. Without giving myself a chance to reconsider, I extend my hand directly into Shade’s salivating maw, his sharp teeth now resting against my delicate wrist. “No one is biting or muzzling anybody,” I say, begging the stars that I’m right.
The wolf and Coal growl in twin disapprovals.
Sliding my hand back just enough to curl my finger around Shade’s sharp, sharp teeth, I extend my other hand toward Tye, who hesitates only a moment before gripping it and extending his own to Coal.
“We can’t connect with a wolf,” Coal says.
