“Amara,” Braxis growled, “you need to leave now!” Then he moaned as he slid out of his seat and onto the floor. The branch stayed behind. “Fuck!” he hissed.
“Don't be a baby!” I snapped as I put pressure on his wound. “It's no worse than the time I stabbed you.”
Braxis opened his pain-filled eyes and stared up at me. “Amara, I have to tell you... I... I'm sorry.”
“Shut up!” I hissed.
“I think I—”
“I know!” I snarled at him. “I saw it in your aura. Now, shut up, Braxis. I can heal you.”
“You have your magic back?” Braxis blinked at me in wonder. “And you're going to use it to heal me? You would do that for me? Amara, I—”
Then he passed out.
“Yeah, I'm going to heal you,” I said to his comatose face. “Although, I have no idea why.”
I slipped into my second sight and latched onto his aura. Gut wounds were the worst. Braxis had to be in immense pain. Hell, the simple fact that he had passed out said it all. I had stabbed the man in the side once and he stayed standing. Death was coming for the stupid jerk, and I should let it. Why didn't I let it?
“Because I'm a stupid jerk too,” I muttered. “But you're not getting my blood, buddy. That's where I draw the line.”
Healing a body was complicated. In the case of a wound like this, I could probably get him stable but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to heal him completely, especially when my magic was diminished. First, I needed to stop the bleeding. I hit Braxis with a blast of magenta. The color sank through his aura, into his body, and his wound immediately stopped seeping.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. I hadn't been sure that I had enough magic to heal Braxis at all but if I could do that, there was a good chance that I could repair his wound. But before I could do that, I needed to replenish his blood. With so much blood loss, he could still die at any second. So, I shifted the magenta to vermilion, a color that represented life but could also form fresh blood. It flowed through Braxis' aura like the blood it was forming inside him, and Braxis let out a soft sigh. His flesh started to warm and a healthy flush returned to his skin. Now, I could move onto repairing—
“Get the fuck away from him!” someone snarled.
I looked up and saw Granelt. I would have rolled my eyes if things hadn't been so dire. Of course, it would be him to find us. He jumped into the cruiser and grabbed my upper arm to yank me away from Braxis.
“He's still alive!” I shouted. “I've stopped the bleeding but you need to let me heal his stomach before the acids—”
“As if I'm going to let you near him ever again,” he cut me off. “You're a killer, not a healer!” Then he shoved me away and growled, “Take her! And someone help me get our chief out of here.”
I fell into the arms of a man who tossed me over his shoulder, then ran toward a nearby cruiser. I latched onto his aura and poured amethyst into it. He crumpled to his knees. I hit the ground, surged back up, and started running. Shouting followed me and then I was tackled. My assailant flung me onto my back but before I could connect with his aura, he punched me in the face.
I woke up with a blindfold over me. Someone had my hands behind my back and was tying them together. My one weakness is sight; if I can't see the aura, I can't alter it. But I still fought. I kicked and thrashed until I got another punch for my efforts. So much for real men not beating women.
I was carried a few feet and then tossed on the floor of a cruiser. Every time I lifted my head, I got hit. I finally wised up and stayed down. A tremulous whirring vibrated through the metal beneath me as the cruiser rose. I tried to stay calm. I'd had the chance to escape and I'd blown it. I should have run. Why did I have to save Braxis? Why?
Because of that stupid rose.
No, not a flower but the color. That morning, when my magic had returned, I'd seen excitement in Braxis' aura and one other color—rose. It wasn't the dusky rose of love, but it was getting there. Rose indicates loving sexual attraction; it's the color of the aura of a manfallingin love. And when death had come for Braxis, he didn't fight it. Instead, he had fought for me. He had tried to get me to run. To leave him and save myself. So, of course, I had to stay and save him. I wasn't a monster. But now, I was paying for my good deed.
This is why I never wanted to be a superhero.
The cruiser docked and someone lifted me. I didn't fight this time. The warrior carried awhile before he set on my feet. Then the blindfold—a bloody strip of fabric from someone's shirt—was removed and a female face appeared before me.
“Rusalla, thank goodness,” I groaned. “You—”
She blew powder into my face.
I coughed and tried not to breathe it in but the spell had me in seconds. The freezing cold on my neck vanished as did the furious aura that surrounded the witch.
“If Braxis dies, I will cut you into pieces and let you heal, over and over again,” Rusalla vowed.
“Where is he?” I demanded. “I tried to help him. Is he still alive?”
“She tried tokillhim,” Granelt growled as he stepped up.
