Page 75 of All's Fair in Lion and War
Ava’s eyes widened further. “Um, no. How did you—You know what, never mind. I brought magick-benders and Connie. Where are they?” If he knew, he knew, so knowing a bit more wasn’t going to end the world any worse for him.
“Lorelei’s still in the tub. Saul’s laying on the couch.” He thumbed over his shoulder, then moved out of the way. “What’s a magick-bender?”
“We can heal them.” Dyna and Mira both spoke together.
“Well, that would be mighty nice. If they were human, I’m pretty sure they’d both already be dead from the blood loss alone.” His gruff voice was laced with a tone that said I’m-gonna-need-to-see-this-to-believe it.
They all walked in from the dark.
Ava held back an audible gulp.
A table lamp illuminated Saul’s face in a yellow glow. He looked like an entire tribe had taken turns kicking him. She could only imagine what the rest of his body looked like underneath the fresh clothes. And his hair was cut in strange lengths and sticking out at odd angles, making him look deranged.
He barely moved from his place on the couch when they came into the room.
Connie stood next to Ava. A few gurgled noises that might have supposed to have been words came out of her mouth.
The two other females hurried to the couch and settled on their knees in front of him. They put their hands on his body, closed their eyes, and began chanting in Reylean.
It’d been so long since Ava had heard her language spoken.
Everyone in the Tribe had completely switched to English, except for a few choice words. It made her heart clench in her chest with fond memories of her mother taking her to the temple one year when she was eight and had broken her leg. The magick-benders had healed her in a matter of minutes, but the journey there had taken a week and had been excruciating.
Saul groaned under their hands.
The magick didn’t make the healing more comfortable, it just sped up the process. It fed enough energy into the body so that it could knit itself back together in an amazingly short time.
Reylean’s healed much faster than humans with their own magick from their beast, but with the influx of a magick-bender’s magick. They could be healed in minutes from almost any ailment.
Liam and Connie’s face were white with shock.
The swelling and redness and purple bruises on Saul rapidly vanished. He thrashed a little and growled, but the magick they were using to heal him also held him in place like he was tied down.
Tor appeared from the hallway and stood quietly while they worked.
It was done in mere minutes.
Saul sat up straight on the couch and met the eyes of the two women. “Thank you. Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but there is—”
“Yes. We will help her next.”
They both rose from the ground and looked to Ava expectantly.
Ava shrugged. She wasn’t sure where Lorelei was located in the cabin.
“This way, please.” Tor bowed his head respectfully and gestured to the dark hallway behind him.
Saul rose to follow, but the women waved him off. “Wait here.”
A slow growl of complaint rumbled in his chest, but he did as asked and sat on the couch.
“How bad were Lorelei’s injuries?” Connie asked the room.
“Worse than Saul’s.” It was Liam who spoke. “She had a deep gut wound from that bastard shoving his clawed hand into her body. I still don’t understand how she stayed conscious. My toughest soldier would’ve puked and passed out.”
“Reylean’s are strong, but what she survived, I can’t even—” Saul’s words were layered with gratefulness and the knowledge that he had narrowly evaded losing Lorelei. “I’m so grateful you were there for her.”
Liam nodded his head.
