Page 34 of Room for Three
The light pulsed once in affirmation.
Cautiously, Azelon lifted the bowl and studied its contents. The paste gave off a sharp, clean scent. He dipped a finger in and tasted a minute amount.
Cooling properties. Something for fever. And something else he couldn't identify.
Jamie's breath hitched suddenly, a small sound of pain escaping his lips. Azelon set down the bowl and leaned closer.
"Jamie?"
The human's eyelids fluttered but didn't open. His breathing quickened, growing shallow and labored.
"Can you hear me?" Azelon pressed a hand to Jamie's chest, monitoring the rapid beat of his heart.
Too fast.
Much too fast.
Azelon reached for the medicinal paste, scooping some onto his fingertips. He hesitated only briefly before brushing it across Jamie's forehead, murmuring words in the Tideborn tongue—a healer's blessing, though Azelon was no healer.
"Find your strength," he said softly in the common language. "The store needs you. Corin needs you."
He paused, something tightening in his chest, as if there were more words he should be saying, but they would not come.
And Jamie's condition didn't improve.
If anything, his breathing grew more labored, his skin hotter. The paste wasn't working quickly enough.
Azelon didn't know what to do.
If the human died…
Corin would never forgive himself… or Azelon.
But the only option he had…
Tideborn healing magic.
It required intimacy—a sharing of life force that was only permitted between bonded pairs or those with blood ties.
To use such magic on a human would be considered sacrilege among his people.
Another reason to ensure he could never return home.
Jamie's breathing hitched again, this time accompanied by a pained moan that seemed to rise from deep within his chest. His fingers twitched against the blanket, as if reaching for something—or someone.
"The store can't lose you," Azelon said. "And neither can Corin."
Not permiting himself to think, Azelon moved the basin of water aside. Gently, he pulled back the blanket covering Jamie, exposing the bandaged torso. Trying his best not to aggravatethe wound, he unwound the bandages just enough to reveal the worst of the damage Jamie's body had taken. An angry red gash across his ribs that showed early signs of infection despite Azelon's careful tending.
Azelon hesitated.
Tideborn healing required skin-to-skin contact.
He opened the front of his own tunic, revealing the bioluminescent markings that curled across his chest like living tattoos. In normal circumstances, they pulsed a steady blue, but now they brightened with anticipation, as if the magic within recognized what he was about to attempt.
"You must survive this," Azelon told Jamie softly. "You must return to your world. Find your brother. Return to your life."
The alternative—Jamie staying here, becoming more entangled with Corin and perhaps even with Azelon himself—was too dangerous to contemplate.
