“Uther,” Elwen snapped. “Get him out.”
Heavy footsteps. Then a grunt of effort and the sound of bodies colliding. Kairos snarled viciously.
There was another impact, followed by a pained curse, and then soft hands touched my forehead and chest. Magic as cool as spring water slipped down, inflating my lungs. The agony melted as the parts inside me stitched, properly this time.
I blinked, my vision clearing enough to see the circle of faces hovering above me. Elwen. Lioren. Healers. All staring down with expressions I recognized from death watches. How close had I come?
A crack made me flinch.
Kairos had Uther pinned against the wall, grappling with him. Uther’s lip was split, his fangs bared, but Kairos wouldn’t let go.
“Stop!” Elwen shouted.
He didn’t seem to hear her. His chest heaved as he snarled in Uther’s face. Then our eyes met, and he stilled. For a heartbeat, he just stared at me. Then he released Uther and tore across the room, shoving healers aside. They scattered as he dropped to his knees beside the bed, seizing my hand in his.
I tried to speak, but only managed a weak croak.
Kairos shook his head. “Don’t try to talk yet.”
Elwen leaned over me, her lip quivering. “Can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“Any sharp pains?”
I dragged in air. It hurt, but not like knives shredding me from the inside.
“Sore,” I whispered.
Elwen’s hand drifted to my abdomen, and I flinched. Her expression darkened. “The deal is worse.”
“How much worse?” Kairos demanded.
She pulled back the blanket slightly, and I looked down. Black veins spread from the rune like cracks in glass, spiderwebbing my skin. They hadn’t been there this morning.
“Gods,” someone breathed.
Elwen sighed harshly. “It’s progressing faster than we thought.”
Kairos’s grip on me tightened like he was trying to anchor me to the world through sheer force of will. Like if he held on hard enough, the deal couldn’t take me. But we both knew it could.
A healer pressed cold fingers to my wrist. “Pulse is steadying.”
Elwen’s hand flew to her mouth and she turned away fast. Even Uther blew out a breath.
“You scared the hell out of us,” Elwen said, her voice thick.
Blood trickled down Kairos’s face. I lifted my free hand—gods, it was heavy—and touched near the cut.
“You stopped breathing,” he said, wrecked. “I barely got you here.”
“The village? Did we save them?”
“Everyone’s fine.”
Relief crashed through me. “Uther’s family?”
Uther pushed off the wall, crossing to the bed. “Alive because of you.”
