“I’m not here to fight. Or to take you back.”
Callahan stood in front of her, arms raised toward his head.
Hellebore gasped when the moonlight struck the glass he held between his fingers. Taiyo’s blood.
“What are you doing here?”
“He’s dying, isn’t he? I’m no alchemist, but I know his blood right now is black and this blood is red. You want to save him, don’t you? I thought you might need this.”
“Yes, but you don’t want me to.”
Taiyo wasn’t stirring. He was in bad shape. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her fingertips, slower than it had ever been before.
“I didn’t realize… You bludgeoned Emerson and sedated our aunt. You were willing to bash my skull in just for the chance to spend a few more hours with him.” Callahan held out the vial. “I know you would never have forgiven me if we had succeeded.”
Hellebore reached out and took the vial, all without disturbing Taiyo. “I wouldn’t have bashed your skull in.”
Callahan nodded at the vial. “Can you use that to save him?”
Hellebore looked at it, throat tightening. “Maybe. I don’t know. Not without irises.”
Callahan ducked his head. “I’m sorry, Hels.”
She said nothing, just stared at the healthy red blood.
Her brother took a seat beside her. “You never answered me why.”
Hellebore laughed, shaking her head as her vision blurred. “You know why.”
“Does he?” Callahan’s brown eyes flickered down to Taiyo’s face, grimacing in pain even as he slept.
Hellebore curled her fingers around the vial and pressed the cool glass to her heart. “He will.”
“I have to go. I’m sure our aunt will have woken up by the time I return and Emerson is a terrible medic. We’ll have to get her back to Chymes if we want to save her life, if not her arm.” Callahan leaned over and kissed her temple. Then he reached into his bag and passed her a waterskin and a parcel of food. Then he pushed himself to his feet. “Good luck, Hels. I hope he’s worthy of it.”
“He is, Cal. I promise you, after all of this, you’ll see.”
“Oh, after all of this is settled, I will make sure of that. If he wants to keep you, he’s going to have to deal with me.”
Then Callahan was gone, and Hellebore looked back down at the vial.
With this… maybe she didn’t need the whole garden. She just needed one.
Chapter 27
When dawn broke the next day, Taiyo’s words were slurring and his vision was hazy, eyes not quite focusing on her fully. She did her best to get him to eat some of the food Callahan had given her. It hadn’t been much, and she was still hungry afterwards, but at least it should get her back to Auror. She looked up at the rising sun. Hopefully Taiyo would improve during the day.
Either way, Hellebore was going to have to ride through the night in order to reach Auror before the eclipse. His horse would just have to deal with it. The beast was already going slower carrying two of them; Hellebore had to make up for it somehow.
She managed to get Taiyo up onto the horse and herself behind him, holding him up against her as they rode. When noon approached, and Taiyo’s strength rallied just a hair and she could trust he could hold himself up in the saddle, she slid off and jogged beside the horse for as long as she could.
Her lungs were ready to burst and her legs were scratched and shredded since her nightgown had been cut to the knees to make bandages.
Every time she started to falter, about to faint from the exertion, sweat pouring down her back, she reached out, pressing her fingers against the saddle back and finding the bump of the vial. Each time it gave her enough strength to take a wretched, gasping breath and keep running.
“Sunshine,” Taiyo rasped, leaning forward the fifth time she nearly passed out. “You don’t have to do this. It doesn’t matter if I’m in Auror or not when the eclipse comes. Just stop and stay with me.”
“Don’t—break—my—concentration!” Every word came out as a gasping wheeze.
