Page 136 of Skyshade
Water pooled in her hands, and she closed her eyes and forced herself to anchor through the panic, just like he had once taught her.
She didn’t know how to heal, but Oro had trained her well. He had said that all powers were similar in their execution.
She heard his voice in her head—Focus. She did. She cleared her mind, even as pain and regret and shame raged. For him, she pushed it all away, until her mind was quiet.
The water was warm beneath her skin, prickling against places she had been cut. Threads appeared, waiting to be pulled. She reached for all of them and formed a bond. The water began circling beneath her hand, faster, faster. She opened her eyes to see it gleaming.
Slowly, she reached toward Oro’s wound. She imagined it closing. She imagined the water soothing his pain, washing the blood away. Saving him.
It wasn’t working. He was dying.
His hand inched toward her. Pressed against her heart. She knew him, knew what he was telling her.
It’s all for you. All this time...I saved it for you.
She had access to his power. Lightlark wouldn’t fall.
But he would die.
No. She refused. She thought of the beach he had promised to take her to, the one with water the color of her eyes. The one he visited every morning. She thought of the golden rose necklace. She thought of flicking his crown. She thought of him pulling the thorns from her back. She thought of crying in his arms and how he had held her, and comforted her, without having to say a word.
That sort of love didn’t just die. He was right. This bridge between them was like the forever flame, relentless and unyielding.
If this was her fate, then she would fight against it. She would break it, the same way she did the curses.
Fate should fear her, should fear this clawing in her chest, this love that burned and burned.
She pressed harder. She poured power she couldn’t spare into her palm, into him, and watched the sea shimmer. Watched as it twisted into his wound.
Watched as it stitched it together.
She didn’t dare move, didn’t dare break her focus, until his own hand came down over hers. She looked up, to see him staring at her. Blinking.
She choked out a sob. “I’m sorry, I—”
He reached up to cup her cheek. His hand wasn’t nearly as warm as it usually was. She shook her head and sobbed again. “I’m a monster, I—”
“I love you,” he said, even with the blade still in his chest. The one she was afraid to remove, for fear of doing more harm than good.
Her own words died in her mouth.
She shook her head. “You—you should hate me. Don’t you see? I’ll kill you, if you let me.”
He just stared at her. “I’ll never hate you, Isla. I’ll love you until my final breath—even if you’re the reason I’m taking it.”
She didn’t want to be the reason. He was conscious now but still bleeding. They were on a beach, far from help. He needed healing elixir. If only she could portal, to get it. If only she hadn’t given up her starstick.
Slowly, Oro dropped his chin to stare down at his chest. “I’m assuming if I die from this, it won’t fulfill the prophecy.”
She shook her head. Her voice was a feeble whisper. “It’s supposed to be my blade through your heart.”
Clearly, mercifully, it had just missed it.
“Ah,” he said. He winced. “Then this death won’t do. It’ll have been for nothing.” The color in his face was fading. The water was working too slowly.
A sob spilled from her lips. She didn’t know how to get help. She couldn’t leave him here—without the pressure against his wound, he would succumb to his injury. She tried to keep him distracted, calm, hoping the water would be enough. “No. You can’t die, because I don’t know if I would ever be happy again.”
“That’s not true,” he said. “You...you love him. I can see that.”
