He stared at me for a long moment. His expression wavered. Pain? Recognition? It vanished before I could name it.
But I was too exhausted to argue. Too worried about Darius to fight.
So I just nodded and sank down against the cavern wall, watching Doc work on the man who’d kissed me several times and called me a liability.
The Elder Dimension was absolutely insane.
Chapter Twelve
Alice
Doc knelt beside Darius and examined the wound. The arrow was embedded deep in his side—deeper than I’d realized.
He pulled a knife from his satchel and cut away Darius’ shirt.
I gasped. My hand flew to my mouth.
Oh god. His entire side was drenched in crimson. Blood everywhere—pooling beneath him, soaking into the stone floor. How was he still alive? How had he carried on this long?
The skin around the wound had turned an angry black, veins of darkness spreading outward like cracks in glass.
The poison. It was already in his blood.
No. We hadn't come this far just to watch him die. I grabbed his hand without thinking, holding on like I could anchor him to life through sheer will.
“This is bad,” Doc said, his jaw tight. “The arrow is barbed. When I pull it out, it’s going to tear tissue. He’ll scream. He’ll thrash.” His pale eyes swept over the group. “I need people to hold him down.”
I'd seen pain before—caused it, even, with my uncontrollable magic. But the thought of watching Darius suffer, of hearing him scream... I wasn't sure I could bear it.
Caterpillar moved first, positioning himself at Darius’ right arm. Chester followed, his grin gone for once, his face grim.
“Someone on his legs,” Doc ordered. “Someone on his opposite shoulder.”
Archer knelt silently beside Doc, pressing his hands against Darius’ shoulder.
I sat frozen, my heart nearly breaking in two. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t die. Not after everything.
Tears slid down my cheeks. “Will he survive?”
Doc didn’t look at me. “Ask me after I pull this arrow out.”
I wasn’t sure which would be worse—pulling it out slowly or fast.
Doc seemed to be wrestling with the same question. He looked at everyone, his face somber.
“If I pull this out quickly, it will rip through muscle and tissue. But if I go slow...” He exhaled. “The pain could send him into shock. Either way, this is going to be brutal.”
He wrapped his slender fingers around the arrow shaft.
“Hold him. No matter what happens—don’t let go.”
Caterpillar and Chester pressed down harder. Archer braced against Darius’ shoulder.
My stomach lurched. I wanted to look away. I couldn’t.
This man had kissed me. Held me. Promised he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
Now he lay pale and broken, poison spreading through his veins, and there was nothing I could do but watch.
