Page 3 of Tell No Tales
"Stay with me, sweetheart."Klaus's eyelashes fluttered open at the term of endearment, and then he closed them again.
"I don't want to die!"
"I won't let you."
Vadim felt a surge within his magic, something new. It wasn't death magic, per se, and it certainly wasn't the life magic Martiz had drained from him one dagger cut at a time. This was something else, more powerful, and yet more ephemeral, something Vadim couldn't touch but which he could control with the sheer power of his will.
"Save him."Vadim shouted into the void, this new and overwhelming force in the universe, begging it to answer him.
Instead of words, he felt his power wrap around Klaus like ropes, binding his extremities first, and then lashing around his core to the very center of his being. That rope pulled tight against Vadim, tethering them together. It coiled around him, much the same way, and it bound them together as one.
Pain seared through Vadim, latching onto every nerve ending in his body. It took everything he had not to scream. He didn't want to scare Klaus.
He lowered his head to Klaus's chest. Both of his hands clutched Klaus's clammy one between them. He brought Klaus's knuckles to his lips and uttered another silent prayer.
Klaus released a breath. When he inhaled again, it was slow and steady.
Vadim splayed his hand above Klaus's chest and focused on healing the wound from the inside out. When he'd done everything he could, he lifted Klaus off the ground and headed up the hill to the pleasure houses. He went door to door until the owner recognized Klaus. A boy swinging a bucket for tips led the way to an empty room. Vadim gave the boy every bit of coin he had for the night. The caretaker would probably still complain Klaus was worth more than that. He was, but Vadim hadn't planned on this.
"We need a healer," he whispered to the boy.
"You don't have enough coin for the room," the boy explained.
"The empire will pay for the healer. And the room," he muttered as an afterthought, "if you'll accept it tomorrow."
The caretaker must have agreed because a healer ducked into the room not ten minutes later. They wore a thick brown robe with a cowl so deep Vadim couldn't see their face. Their hands were brown and aged, and he trusted them instantly with Klaus's life.
"I can't heal the disease," they said. "Only the flesh wounds."
"Do what you can." Vadim hoped it would be enough.
They nodded, and he felt their healing flow into Klaus, repairing his lung tissue and knitting his lacerations.
"What have you done?" they whispered. "This bond between you won't be lifted easily."
"I know," he lied. He didn't know what he'd done, but it didn't matter. Klaus was alive. Even better, he was no longer on the brink of death.
Vadim could still feel the residual pain through their bond, as though he still bore the wounds the healer had closed for Klaus.
"Breathe," the healer said. "It will pass."
"Thank you." He rose and took their hand as they turned to go. "I am good for the money. I'll pay you before we leave port tomorrow afternoon."
"You'll pay me by forgetting I was ever here," they said. "Send the money to the pleasure house and overpay for the room. They deserve your coin more than I do."
Once they were gone, he sat on the floor with his back against the wall beside Klaus's bed. His pain eased with each steady breath until it was a mere ache, like muscle soreness after overexerting.
"Thank all the gods," he whispered to the invisible force that connected him to Klaus. It had kept Klaus alive long enough to get him help, and he would be eternally grateful.
"No, thank you."
He banged his head against the wall in his shock. The response had come from inside his head. Even more alarming, he recognized the voice as Klaus's.
"How can I hear you in my head?"Vadim asked as he scrambled to his feet. Klaus wasn't near death anymore, thanks to Vadim's intervention. He could still sense the disease waiting to ravage Klaus's body, but their link had staved it off.
"I don't know!"
Klaus's voice in his head sounded petulant, and he puckered his bottom lip in his sleep."How can I hear you inside my head? Am I dead? Did you kill me?"
