I shook my head. “I don’t know, but his outlook is not good. I think his body is in shock from the blood loss.”
My gaze lifted, and I saw fear in that usually unreadable gaze. “Who is this boy to you?”
“My nephew,” Soren answered, brows drawn.
Thoughts ran through my mind of what more could bedone. We could have avoided all of it if a healer was available to them.
An idea crossed my mind. “Timothy, grab two needles and the blood tubes.” My gaze lifted to Soren. “I will ask you a question. As a leader to your people, you can speak for them. I need you to tell me the truth. What you feel. None of this will get to Clause, to anyone, but it needs to be your truth.” I pulled my sleeve up and tied off my upper arm with a rubber cord before splashing disinfectant onto my skin. “Are you a Bavadrin?” I asked Soren, just as Timothy placed the supplies before me.
I grabbed a tube and needle, connecting the two before disinfecting the tip.
The needle nearly bit into my skin before a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
“What are you doing?” Soren asked, hand still preventing me from moving.
We were working against time to give the boy a fighting chance. “I need you to answer my question. Are you a Bavadrin?” I pressed.
There was a pause. All of us suspended in a single moment of time.
“Yes.” He finally breathed out the response, hand falling from my wrist, and by the look in his eyes, his answer surprised even himself.
The needle cut through my skin into my vein. My blood ran through the tube to the other end before I sealed it, keeping it from running out. I pressed my fingers into the boy’s arm, searching for a vein that was nearly impossible to find. “I am the Bavadrin Leader Superior. My blood runs through the veins of my people.” Finally, I found afaintcord beneath the flesh. “I am giving this boy a chance of surviving this.” I sent the needleof the other end into his arm and, by the Spirit’s blessing, found my mark.
My blood began running into the boy.
“What if I lied?” Soren asked, his voice soft, as if afraid.
“You didn’t,” I answered with certainty.
“But what if?”
“Then he may very well die. My blood possibly killing him.” I glanced at Soren, who nodded yet said nothing more.“This is the Spirit’s way.”
The three of us remained in that room, standing around the boy lying on the table. Time trickled past and nothing outwardly changed. The boy still did not move, the three of us still stood in somber silence. Slowly, I began feeling the weakness as it came over me. My head going dizzy. I shifted, placing my hands on the edge of the bloody table, distributing my weight.
“Maybe we should stop?” Soren asked, his gaze torn between duty and love. He wanted his nephew to live, but he also likely was not supposed to allow harm to fall upon me. But I was not in harm’s way.
“I can go a little longer.” I sounded more confident than I felt.
“Maybe you should sit down? Want me to bring a chair?” Timothy moved closer. His hand reached out as if to touch my shoulder, though he hesitated, uncertain whether he should touch me at all.
“I’m okay. Thank you.” I began swaying when I looked up, trying to meet his eye.
Soren reached out for the tube connecting his nephew and me and pinched it, cutting off the flow. “No. That’s enough.”
“Okay.” I suddenly lost my will to oppose him and pulled the needle from my arm, pressing the clean fabric to it. I wentto take a step, but my vision turned blotchy, and darkness took over. Timothy’s arms circled me, keeping me from falling to the ground. Then everything went black.
I woke with a start.The room blurred into focus,myroom.
“Hey, welcome back to the land of the living!” Olive rushed to my bed, her eyes large and hopeful. “You gave us a scare there.” She smiled.
I pulled myself up into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard. The effort such a small thing took was extraordinary.
“What happened?” I asked. My head spun, worsened by the shock of being in my bed, not knowing how long I was out or what transpired after the darkness took me. Was everyone alright? Had Clause harmed any of them for my actions? My throat closed up as panic coursed through me, chest tightening.
“Hey.” Her hand found mine. “You are safe. Everyone is.” Her voice soothed, and the tension left me, replaced by a calm. It happened so quickly that it felt unnatural.
“Did you just calm me?” I looked at Olive’s hand covering mine and she removed it.
