Rowan looked down, torn. Helping was in his nature.
I gave him a reassuring smile. “Let’s go. If we can help, we should, right?”
He yanked me to my feet. Stones rattled loose, but Ravana’s home held. After pulling on his shirt, we sprinted past stunned faces into the hall’s heart, where a bleeding man staggered out of a set of double doors and collapsed.
We darted into the room he had exited. Magic and dust hung heavily in the air. A few mage lights hovered, but the cauldrons were inactive. With a thought, I directed my magic into them. Two were completely dead, but two fizzled to life, causing the room to sparkle with my rainbows.
“The room’s still sound,” Rowan said, crouched down with his hand on the stone. “Ancient humans knew how to build, but the plaster is shredded. Q-tip, we need to get people out.”
I nodded and followed Rowan. I wasn’t a medic, but I did what I could. I helped the people Rowan unburied into a corner as more Westwaters poured into the room to help.
A young woman, sixteen at most, clung to me with blood running down her dragging leg. She was tall, curvy, and far too heavy for me to support alone.
“I’ve got this,” a painfully familiar voice said.
I looked over just as Cayden pushed under the girl's other arm. Together, we got her to the side of the room with the other injured and laid her next to a moaning man.
“Cayden,” I breathed. The chaos swallowed the sound, but he rushed me and pulled me into his chest as if I’d screamed it.
“What happened?” Cayden demanded.
I looked up at him. “There was a boom, and we ran here.”
Cayden hooked a finger under my chin. “You’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine. I wasn’t in the room. We just heard it and ran. Shocked, not hurt.”
Cayden pulled me close again before brushing the collar to make sure I still had access to my magic, putting me first, always. I hugged him harder this time, soaking in his solid frame.
The young woman whimpered in pain. I released Cayden, and he dropped to the ground next to her. Leather skirt, black tunic, sandy pigtails, total goth-teen vibe. Pain twisted her face. Aside from her clearly broken leg, the rest of her appeared intact, but I couldn’t be sure.
“I don’t have my healing runes on my skin anymore,” Cayden said, almost mumbling to himself. “I will have to draw everything from scratch. Keep her calm.”
I kneeled at Goth Girl’s side and made her look at me. “It’s going to be okay. Cayden’s a healer. He’ll fix you right up.”
Goth Girl panted.
Another injured woman landed next to us. Rowan took a moment to place his hand on my shoulder before rushing back into the room.
Cayden finished drawing, and dark green sank into Goth Girl’s skin. “She’s in pain but not in danger. I think it’s best if I check everyone and heal anyone gravely injured first.”
A hand landed on my shoulder. I expected it to be Rowan, but instead, Ravana looked down at me.
“Use your Majekah on her, Quinn,” she said, her voice low but sharp as she focused on Goth Girl.
I blinked in confusion. “I’m not a healer.”
Cayden looked up from his runes and narrowed his eyes at the hand clamped on my shoulder. Ravana swore under her breath, as if only just realizing he was there, and her grip tightened, fingers biting into my sweater like she might drag me back.Cayden rose in one fluid motion, already settling into a fighting stance.
This was not what we needed. The world stuttered to a halt.
I looked back at Ravana, holding her breath, and met her gaze. She made a throat-slitting motion and leaned her head toward Cayden.
My heart stopped, and I violently shook my head. “He’s a good one. I promise. If you don’t trust him, trust me.”
Ravana wrinkled her nose but let out her breath. Time sped back up.
“Pretty desperate, Lawson.” She didn’t let go of my shoulder. “Blow up half a room just to play hero?”
