Page 61 of Rose and Shadows
I swept over to the bed, easing on to his side as carefully as I could in my panic, so as not to wake Velra. She hadn’t been sleeping very much at all lately.
I stroked Sylas’ hair, then ran my knuckles over his cheek.
His eyes snapped open and he jolted as he saw me right there in his vicinity.
And likely also, the look on my face.
“What is it?” he asked, concern blazing. “What’s happened? Is Lazriel—”
“His status remains the same. This alarm you’re witnessing from me concerns you.”
He frowned and went to bring his hand to his face—the one on Velra that was desiccating.
He couldn’t, the limb currently non-operational while it was in that state.
He sucked in a harsh breath and I saw his utter struggle to swallow down his clear terror. He’d been through far too much of this—years of it—and it had finally ceased. Yet, now there was this. The return of that nightmare for him.
“It… no… it shouldn’t be possible. Itisn’tpossible,” he murmured to himself.
“I need to head to the Guardian Compound and retrieve whatever they have left of your serum.”
“You think I’d leave it in their hands?”
I frowned. “Where is it, then?”
“Before I made Kai leave so he didn’t have to witness me having my magic bound weeks back, I asked him to store the remaining vials of my serum. They’re at Solumira.”
“Fine. Then I will go there immediately.”
As I moved to do just that, he snatched my wrist with his remaining good hand. “The Healers had to use a mass amount just to keep me somewhat stabilized. There’s not enough left. A day’s worth, maybe.”
“Sylas—”
“There’s no point, Cassius.”
“Of course there is. I’ll have Ariana and Kai manufacture more right away and—”
“I can’t go through that again. Being pumped full of that toxic shit, having my magic bound again… this necromantic core transplant was supposed to be the solution. At least long enough until I was able to take what my father had stolen to permanently restore myself. If it’s not then… then that’s it. I won’t be able to call my power to maximum effect in order to take back what I need from him, so the entire thing is moot.”
Just as I moved to speak, obviously to attempt to reason with him, Velra awoke with a gasp.
Her gaze shot straight to me.
“Cassius,” she breathed, eyes wide. “What’s wrong? What’s happened? I felt your panic through the Soul Brand and…” She looked between me and the door to her dormitory. “Yeah… you clearly burst on in here, which is you in urgency mode.”
“You felt me through the Soul Brand?” I muttered.
“Yeah. Why the tone?”
“You are preventing me from doing the same, from feeling you.”
Her brow furrowed. “What? No, I’m not.”
“I cannot feel you.”
“I swear I’m not doing anything. I don’t know why—” She choked as her gaze fell on Sylas, specifically his desiccated hand on her. “Fuck. What’s going on? No.No.You can’t be desiccating… the transplant...”
She lurched then and hastily lifted his arm off her, then hauled herself to the edge of the bed and vomited all over the floor, catching the drapes in the process.
