Dark red tints the top of Leo’s cheeks. “I fell, but Selene flew down and carried me back up. Then Callan saved both of us.”
Unfamiliar warmth flares in my own cheeks as Rio turns to gape at me. “I am not a display. No need to gawk.”
“Sorry.” He swallows and pushes to his feet, reaching out to ruffle Leo’s hair. “You went after him? Into that void?”
When I nod, he crosses the room. A wince flits over his expression before he leans down.
My muscles lock, all of them. “What in Hala’s name are youdoing?”
“Thanking you.” His voice is muffled in my hair as his arms wrap awkwardly around me where I’m propped up in the bed. “Because Sol definitely forgot.”
“I didn’t forget,” Sol snaps behind him. “Get off her, you oaf. She’s healing too. I can thank her without hurting her further.”
“Damn.” Rio yanks himself back. “Sorry.”
My face flushes. “It’s not that bad.”
“Enough.” Sol moves to the door. “We have to go. Selene, join us when you’re able. We’ll give you privacy. Bathroom is there. There’s a clean shirt at the end of your bed.”
Not just a shirt. Another pair of perfectly molded leather pants is neatly folded. I sink down on the bed, wondering what Esme gave up this time.
“Selene?”
My head turns to the door, where Sol lingers. He meets my gaze. “I’m sorry. For the way I behaved before. And… thank you.”
I almost smile. Probably would, if it weren’t for the panic icing over my chest at what might be happening upstairs. But Sol meets my nod with one of his own, before he vanishes, pulling the door closed behind him.
Yanking the door open with more force than I intended, I almost trip over Leo on the floor, his back pressed to the wall. He looks at me, and quickly away. His voice is small. “I don’t like this part.”
The part when they return, when Callan brings them home. And the pretium hits.
I hold out my hand, urgency snapping at my feet. “Then let us go up together.”
His hand is tight in mine as we step out onto the deck. Nobody turns to look at us. Wind whips into my face,Volatusmoving faster than I’ve ever felt, enough that we both have to fight to keep our balance.
And Callan is on his knees.
His hands press against the deck, his head hanging forward. The wooden planks in front of him are spattered with dark pools of liquid. Sol kneels in one, his hands on either side of Callan’s face as he shakes him lightly.
My throat burns as I take in those dark patches. Sol’s hands are almost frantic as he pushes cloths against Callan’s face, pulling them away stained and soaked. Merrick does the same beside him, both of them working to stem bleeding that has no end.
I look down, to where Leo is staring at his feet. “I’ll be back, Leo. Stay here, just… just for a moment.”
Perhaps the wraith caused more damage than I thought.
Because I cannot seem tobreathe.
Callan struggles to focus on my face when I fall to my knees beside Sol, his own breathing a wet, thick rasp that sounds like it’s stuck to the sides of his throat like tar as he coughs. Blood spills from his mouth. It joins the rest covering him.
It’s everywhere. Even the whites of his eyes are filled with it, and blood-red tears slip down his face as his slow breathing locks. Stops.
Sol’s scolding sounds closer to a sob. “Breathe, you ass. Don’t give up yet. Matthias is on the dock, remember?”
Bronze irises, tinged with crimson, blink slowly.
“How do we stop it?” I don’t look away. My hand somehow finds his, squeezing his fingers. There’s no strength in Callan’s whisper-soft grip. My voice rises, panic and grief lacing across my chest until I wonder if my scar hasn’t split right back open. “Sol. How do we stop this?”
“You can’t.” His voice is anguished, even as he carefully wipes away the blood that trickles from his mouth. “It’s the pretium. This is not something we can stop, Selene. It’s the will of the gods.”
