Hellebore gave herself more lead on the rope and aimed. Right at the same time as Hellebore’s spike ball hit his hand, a small burst of blinding light appeared in front of Emerson’s face, causing him to cry out and recoil. The bundle of herbs fell intothe dirt and Hellebore looped the ball back around. It crashed into Emerson’s chest, tearing through his skin and sending him farther away from the sedative.
Palladia hissed and started hurrying for it, fumbling for a piece of chalk with her left hand. Even with only one hand, Palladia was not going to let them go.
“Taiyo, get on the horse!”
“Hellebore—”
But she was already moving into action, her spiked ball almost crashing into Callahan, who avoided it only because he threw himself out of the way, skidding across the dirt. She dropped the rope and dove for the sedative, curling her fingers, still black and slick with Taiyo’s blood, around it.
Palladia dropped the chalk, clawing at Hellebore’s arm. “What a disappointment you’ve turned out to be.”
Hellebore grabbed the chalk with her free hand, pressing her clenched fist into her chest as she looked over her shoulder. “I was going to say the same.”
She elbowed her aunt in the nose and then slammed her foot into her charred arm, causing her to scream. It gave Hellebore just enough time to write on her own arm the formula. The sedative disintegrated beneath her palm as it transferred into Palladia’s blood.
Hellebore stumbled to her feet as Palladia slumped to the ground, the sedative flooding her veins. Emerson was blinking furiously, injured hand cradled to his chest. Callahan was on his knees, the rope of Hellebore’s weapon in his hand, but he made no move to rise and attempt to use it.
Taiyo had miraculously gotten onto his horse, clutching his still-bleeding side and leaning forward, but he managed to reach her. Emerson fumbled with a pouch on his belt, and Hellebore took that as her cue to go. She clambered up onto the horse behind Taiyo, wrapping her arms around him and taking thereins. She jabbed her heels into the steed’s side and took off, leaving them all behind.
She pressed one hand to her husband’s injured side, hand staining black all over again.
Chapter 26
Hellebore needed to do what she could to stop the bleeding, but with Callahan and Emerson not incapacitated, she couldn’t risk stopping until she was certain she’d lost them.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Taiyo pressed his hand over hers, applying pressure to the wound. “I’m alright. I can keep going, sunshine.”
“You’d better be,” Hellebore said, doing her best to keep her voice level, but it trembled regardless. “You’re not allowed to die before you give me an explanation.”
“I promise,” Taiyo whispered as the trees flew by them while his horse cantered toward Auror.
Eventually, it wasn’t up to Hellebore to decide when to stop. Their combined weight, even on Taiyo’s strong horse, had the creature huffing and wheezing before noon. Hellebore stopped by a creek, setting the horse to drink while she helped Taiyo down, stumbling when his full weight hit her. She wrapped an arm around him and helped him hobble over to the base of a large tree so he could lean back against it.
She said, “Deep breaths. Give me just a minute. You need stitches.”
Taiyo opened his eyes, holding his side. “You don’t have a needle.”
She ignored him. He was being obtuse because he was delirious from blood loss and exhaustion. Besides, she was still angry at him, even if she chose him.
She stopped by the water first as well, washing the blood off her hands. She dragged her fingers through the creek bank, sandy enough to work for her purposes. Once she’d scrubbed the blood off herself, she returned to the horse, brushing a hand over its flank as it kept drinking from the creek. She ran a hand down its leg until it lifted it for her, displaying the horseshoe on the bottom of its hoof. Hellebore kept one hand wrapped around the ankle, pressing one fingertip on the metal. With her other hand, she drew the formula in the sand and pushed her power into it. She pinched her fingertips together against the horseshoe and turned back around, holding a needle in her hands.
“Clever girl, my alchemist.” Taiyo had one eye open and he started chuckling until he coughed up blood and winced. Hellebore made quick work of her other preparations, including tearing up the hem of her nightgown. It was already a lost cause, so she might as well put it to use. Once she had her bandages, a damp clean cloth, and thread through transmutation, she knelt beside Taiyo and started to help him out of his jacket and then his shirt.
He muttered, “If only you were taking my shirt off for better reasons.”
“Don’t try to be funny. You’re lucky I’m willing to help you after everything I heard.” Hellebore used the damp cloth to wipe away the blood and grime. “Now be quiet or this will hurt a lot worse.”
“You know none of this will matter in two days.”
Hellebore slid the needle into his skin and he gritted his teeth, letting out a sharp groan. She focused on stitching the wound closed, but said, “If I don’t do this now, there won’t be two days to find out.”
“Hellebore…” Taiyo breathed in deeply, hissing as he exhaled when the needle went in again. “They burned the garden. There aren’t any irises left in Auror. Certainly not enough for you to save me even if we make it back in time.”
She didn’t need to be reminded.
With no scissors, she leaned in and used her teeth to cut the thread before moving to press her pad of bandages and wrap more around him to secure it. Once she’d tied it off tightly, she looked up at him.
“Maybe I would rather spend these last few hours with you than watch you bleed out.”
