Anger was welling up inside him, manifesting from his fear. It swelled inside him like a rip current. He pushed back. Tight. His chest was so tight.
Get control of yourself, he begged.
Maeve’s agonizing cry filled the cavern. The sound ripped through him like lightning. He gripped her tightly in response. Too tightly.
But she was too frantic to know he was hurting her, too distressed to feel the magic pouring from his hands involuntarily.
Control, goddamit-
He pushed down and down and down but that darkness pushed back with every jagged breath she took.
She was crying now. It was a cry he had never heard from another human. Pain. Fear. Relief.
He couldn’t bring himself to look at her leg. He was too afraid the sight of her injury would create a burning inside him strong enough to take the entire mountain down.
If I could just see her eyes-
He grabbed her forcefully now, hands shaking. Leaving her no room to thrash away.
There.
Her face was dripping wet. The whites of her eyes were pink. Her black lashes clumped together wetly.
But her eyes. Those sapphire blue eyes sparkled up at him despite all else. They would be the end of him. He had been captivated by them since the first time she glared at him.
And then the first time she smiled at him. It had not been a smile of joy. She smiled at him like a cornered lion, ready to play. No one had ever looked at him that way. Like they were up for the challenge.
But she was his challenge.
He stroked her cheeks and placed his forehead on hers.
“Breathe,” he said to both of them.
And they did.
His hands stilled. The veins in his arms and neck retreated.
And they breathed in synchrony. In and out. In and out.
“It hurts,” she cried, sniffling sharply.
“Your leg?” He asked.
In and out. Inhale and exhale.
“My ribs,” she said. “It hurts to breathe.”
In and out. In and out.
Mal’s hands moved to her ribs. She winced as he pressed into them. He was no healer. But he could get her breathing properly.
He pressed a healing spell through his palms and fingertips. Magic wrapped around her. She relaxed ever so slightly.
“Better?”
She nodded up at him.
Mal breathed deeply. That darkness in him fully retreated. He was in control once more.
