Page 79 of Soul of Thorns
The mention of my brother’s name shocks my mind back into focus. Reahgan. My brother. He came to my rescue.
“You’ll be okay,” Reahgan claims. I’ve never felt pain like this. It didn’t last long, I don’t think. The manticore slammed me against the stone a few times, and after that, I can’t remember much.
“Can you heal yourself? That will help.”
I groan. I don’t want to move even an inch. My magic squirms beneath my skin, but I don’t have the energy to command it. “Caelynn,” I mutter.
I can hear the annoyance in Reahgan’s voice as he speaks his next words. “She’s fine, so far. I don’t know why you care. She left you to be tortured to death.”
I blink rapidly. I have a hard time telling if my sight returns to normal because wherever we are is pitch black. Eventually, I’m able to command a bit more of my body. I can move my legs and arms, though the pain is intense.
My stomach churns as I attempt to move.
“Stay still, you fool,” Reahgan tells me. “Heal your brain first then your bones. You’re certain to have a major concussion and possibly internal bleeding. That beast is lucky you’ve got healing abilities, or you may have died anyway.”
I groan, trying to push my dizzy mind into submission. Finally, my magic sparks and warms inside my mind. Reahgan is right, my brain is swelling. Panting, I push the magic to stitch my brain tissue back together. My limbs roar in pain, my vision spinning. But after a few minutes, my mind has returned to, well, close to normal.
It’s still hard to think with so much of my body in excruciating pain. I can’t move without agitating shattered bones. It may take a long while to heal the rest of it. And damn, I don’t want to use all of my magic. But what else can I do?
“You might,” I say between tense breaths, “want to tell your master that if he does that again, I won’t have the magic left to heal myself.”
“My master?”
I grunt. “She is, isn’t she?”
“No. I made one bargain with her to save your life. That’s all.”
“Mhmm.” I don’t know Reahgan’s full intentions, but I don’t believe he’s truly on my side. “Caelynn?” I ask again. I need to know she’s okay.
“She’ll never love you.”
I groan. “I didn’t ask you about our relationship.”
“You didn’t ask me anything. You muttered the whore’s name.”
A ragged growl escapes my lips, anger simmering, but I don’t have the energy for any more than that. “Don’t you dare...” I seethe.
“All right, all right. She’s a saint. She only murdered me in cold blood.”
“After you captured her. And threatened her. Hurt her.”
“Semantics.”
“Facts.”
“She still ended my life. Aren’t I allowed to be bitter?”
“Be bitter. Don’t call her names.”
He grunts in annoyance, and I take the moment to drag more magic to my limbs. I have several broken ribs, and my femur is snapped, but I first heal my shattered shoulder.
“Your mate is living. She is not under the control of the Night Terror. Yet.”
She’ll never love you.Dammit. I hate that those words get under my skin. “Why do you think she’ll never love me?”
Reahgan chuckles. “Couldn’t resist, could you? She loves you in some kind of way, clearly, or she wouldn’t have been willing to sacrifice all she has for you. But she can’t ever love you the way you want. The way a mate should love the other.”
I swallow. “Why?”
