I couldn’t be a part of that cycle anymore.
It would take too long to heal him completely, but I could give him enough that he’d live. My hands never shook. Never. But knowing that Quinn might be dying at this very moment left me trembling with uncertainty. I prayed to hear another cough, but nothing met my ears.
My runes sank in, slowing his bleeding and easing his breath.
The man grabbed my hand. “She’s crazy. She fucking crashed us.”
Quinn. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I couldn’t clear the power haze cloaking the tunnel, and my forest-green mage light wasn’t bright enough to make out details. I cursed, wishing Rowan were here. Panic made my heart race and my blood pump. I’d lost everything: home, faith, family. Only she remained.
I forced myself to breathe and pushed down the emotions that were destroying my logic. If she had crashed the train, she would have been at the front, where I assumed the controls were.
With my speed and strength runes still boosting me, I surged forward, searching for the area with the most debris. Voices echoed behind me down the tunnel. I called out to them, informing them about the man I’d found while still searching for Quinn.
The shadows rippled as Ezra stepped out, vaulting over a twisted chunk of wreckage. I followed, then froze.
A small, crimson-soaked body hung limp, skewered by a brutal mess of metal rods jutting from her back. One pierced clean through her hip. Her head, framed by unmistakable waves of red and glints of crystal, lolled against a golden cog slick with a slow, steady stream of blood.
My heart seized.
Quinn.
Dripping blood echoed through the silence, mingling with the groan of twisted metal and the faint buzz of residual power. I looked down—more blood pooled beneath her, dark and spreading.
Ezra removed his fingers from one of her dangling wrists. “Her heart still beats. Xan’s coming as fast as he can.”
I tore my gaze from Quinn to Ezra. Devastation filled the stoic commander’s face, and his purple eyes darted around. But there was no one to fight. He reached for her, and I rushed forward, knocking his hand away.
“Pulling her down will only kill her faster.” The fear of the unknown, which had made my hands shake earlier, vanished, and I pressed two fingers to her throat. So slow, her pulse was too slow.
I met Ezra’s gaze. “Do you trust me?”
Ezra’s purple eyes darkened. A look I knew too well filled his face. Desperation, terror, and sheer helplessness reshaped his world. I’d looked like that when my Prophet took my daughter and put a knife through the back of her tiny neck, ending her life before she even got a chance to see it.
“I do,” Ezra stated.
I didn’t draw. She didn’t need healing; she needed to share my life force. I closed my eyes, and my time with her filled my world. Thiswoman forced me to look beyond my conditioning. She supported me no matter how little I shared. Every person she touched lit up brighter. She had to live.
I placed my hands on her stomach, fingers sliding in the blood soaking her overalls, and pushed my essence into her, giving her my pure energy before hers could slip away. Her pain flooded me. I staggered, teeth clenched to stay upright.
“Quinn, you can’t leave me,” I said, gripping our magic like I held her ankle under the table, tight and sure. “Stay strong! You are so stubborn. Use that. A minor train accident isn’t going to take you out.” I swayed. Between her pain and the rush of power going through me, the world spun.
“A minor train accident?” Rowan’s hand pressed into my back, steadying me as his voice cut through the chaos.
With no awareness of anything but Quinn, his sudden appearance startled me, but didn’t surprise me. He’d felt her impact; if anything, I was angry it took him so long.
“She’s been skewered.” Fear clipped Rowan’s words. “I didn’t think she hadthat muchblood.”
“Xan’s close.” Ezra’s voice, though it sounded distant.
I swayed, and Rowan stepped closer, pressing both hands to me. With a grunt, a storm of elemental power tore through my body, latching on to my own and doubling it in an instant—too much, too fast. My magic howled out of control. A blinding white crack split my vision, and thunder ripped through the cave as stone shards hailed down.
A second heartbeat flared next to mine. My senses locked on to Quinn, her fragile life force flickering beneath mine. I wrapped myself around it instinctively, shielding her while taking the strength Rowanfreely offered. We floated in a sea of raw power, anchored only by our connection. Her pain eased. Her pulse steadied.
And slowly, either the storm calmed, or I learned how to stand inside it.
Feet slapped against the stone, and the sound of voices echoed amongst the wreckage. The Architect, Quinn’s other tether, the man who sent her here, appeared at Ezra’s side. He stepped forward as if to touch her. Power surged from me, shoving him back before I could think.
