“It’s okay,” he said, but he was grinding his teeth as he spoke.
He’d most likely been able to ignore the pain during the adrenaline of battle, but now I was sure he was feeling all of his injuries at once.
Slowly, I began to lower my hand, fingers grazing against the swollen skin of his forehead. His eyes closed and he shivered against my touch with a long, painful breath.
I reached the bridge of his nose, and my hand stopped, my heart pounding and my chest warm.
I didn’t know how to do it—only that I could. And all at once, I could feel heat spreading in my hand. Could feel my chest warming as the light of the Valalumir glowed beneath my armor, lighting up my palm.
Rhyan’s eyes sprang open in horror and he grabbed my wrist, pulling it away. “Lyr, no!”
“What?” The light inside my chest went out. “Why?”
“Don’t,” he said, his eyes widening. “Don’t heal me.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I can do this.”
“But I don’t want you to,” he growled, suddenly shifting back from me.
“Rhyan!” I looked anxiously around us, but Dario and Aiden were too far to hear, their heads bent to each other in deep discussion. “You need to be healed. We … we don’t know what we’re going to face next.”
“Exactly.” He took both of my wrists in his hands, his touch gentle, but firm enough that I’d have to struggle to break free. “It’s fine. It will heal on its own.”
“But it can heal faster. What if we have to fight again tonight?”
“Then we fight! Lyr, this is exactly why I won’t let you! If you do this, you’ll take on this pain. And it will weaken you. There’s no way in hell I’d risk that.”
“But right now it’s weakening you!” I said.
“No, it’s not.” His mouth tightened, his under eyes dark bruised shadows. “You saw how many akadim I just killed. I don’t want you taking this pain on. Okay? Swear to me! Swear you won’t heal me.”
I searched his eyes, breaking free of his hold. He let me, but I kept my hands in my lap. “I can’t stand to see you in pain.”
“Neither can I stand to see you!” He took my hand in his.
“I can handle it,” I said. “I’m strong enough.”
Rhyan shook his head. “No. They needed to do it—it’s mine to bear. Not yours.”
“But—”
“Lyr, stop. Please. You can’t.”
“Rhyan!”
“Lyr, listen to me. When we went to bed earlier …” He squeezed his eyes shut, his expression miserable. “You healed me. You took my exhaustion away.”
My jaw dropped. “I …” I’d thought my chest had heated as I laid there in his arms. But I thought it was just a remnant of his touch, a reminder that he was a Guardian.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you earlier. That’s why you slept so long. Okay? That’s why. You healed twice today and it’s worn you out both times. Lyr, we don’t know enough about this yet. I don’t want you using it again until we know how it’s going to affect you. And right now, I need you ready to fight whatever comes next.”
“And I need you ready to fight,” I said.
He breathed out slowly. “I am.”
I was about to demand a compromise, for him to let me heal him when we landed and knew we had time to rest. But there was a sudden flash of light in the sky, and the gryphon screeched, its body turning violently away. My hand shot out for Meera, as Rhyan wrapped his arm around me, pulling me back against his body.
“What is that?” Meera asked.
