Turning back to Lucas, still grasping Liv, refusing to let her go, I asked, “What are her odds without the spring?”
Lucas grimaced. I saw him debating how honest to be with me. I didn’t know what he saw on my face, but he let out a low breath before speaking.
“Not great,” he admitted. “But better than if we leave her here and they aren’t able to get the spring working again.”
I glanced between Emma and Rachel over at the spring and the cavern entrance. “If the spring is her best choice, we’ll keep her here,” I said.
Lucas nodded, not letting on whether he agreed with me or not. “I need to take care of some other people, but I’ll send someone to the town to bring back some supplies that might help her, all right?”
I gave a short, sharp nod.
“We need to debrief and go over plans for Azaret,” Elias said.
“Later,” I growled. I wasn’t going to do anything until I knew more about Liv’s condition. To their credit, no one argued or tried to convince me otherwise.
Ignoring everyone else, I sat down and placed Liv’s head in my lap. She let out a low murmur that might have been a groan. Her eyes flickered, possibly peeling open for the briefest of moments, then closed again as her head lolled a little.
All I could do was watch Emma and Rachel as I continued stroking Liv’s hair as she fluttered in and out of consciousness. I monitored her, my eyes remaining locked on her chest, watching it rise and fall, each time a reminder that she was still okay. But for how much longer?
I didn’t know what I would do if I lost her. After everything we had been through, I didn’t want to imagine a life without her, without her exuberant nature and friendly demeanor. I didn’t want to imagine a life without her teasing me for being a grump. I loved waking up and knowing she was in the house. I loved smelling her scent as I wandered through the halls. I loved spending time with her. I loved her. I had always loved her. I had just been too afraid to admit it, to her or to myself.
And because I was an idiot, she had no idea how I truly felt.
You can’t die, I thought.Because I won’t be able to tell you the truth. You were right all along. You’re my mate.
I wasn’t sure when I had finally admitted that fact to myself. Maybe it was during our earlier argument, maybe it was during the battle when I saw how incredible she was in action, maybe it was when I realized she might die. It didn’t matter. At some point, I realized that my father had been full of shit and I should have listened to my instincts. I should have apologized for my mistakes when I had the chance. I should have told her the truth about how I felt. Because, deep down, I had always known what Liv was to me.
I just wish that I had been smart enough to realize all of that when I still had the chance to tell her. I would never forgive myself if she died before I could tell her the truth, before I could tell her I was sorry for putting her through everything I did when we were kids. I could have had years with her if I hadn’t been so fucking stupid.
A shadow appeared over us. I craned my neck up to see Rachel hovering above us, looking as worried as I felt.
“What’s the status?” I asked.
“Emma’s working on it,” Rachel said. “We think we’re close. How is she?”
I glanced down at Liv. “I’m not sure,” I admitted.
Pain and fear flickered across Rachel’s face as she stared down at her best friend. She took a moment for a deep breath.
“She’s going to be okay,” Rachel said.
I grunted, but didn’t say anything, just kept stroking Liv’s hair. I didn’t know if I trusted myself to speak, not with the swirl of emotion running through me.
A wild, whooping cheer echoed around the cavern, reverberating and harmonizing with itself, causing everyone in the room to jump and spin around. Both Rachel’s and my heads whipped around to the spring. Behind the constantly moving cluster surrounding the pond, I could have sworn I saw the water gently rippling.
“I did it!” Emma said.
Everyone went rushing over. I stayed in place, still holding Liv, letting her rest in my lap as I continued stroking her hair. Rachel stood next to Emma, bouncing on the balls of her feet, clutching Emma’s shoulder in celebration. When shetwisted to look back at me, delight and relief sparkled on her features.
“Drake, come over,” she called.
I was reluctant to leave Liv, even for a moment, but I slid her head off my lap and onto my jacket and clambered to my feet toward the spring, where everyone was clustered.
Where the spring had been still moments earlier, it rippled gently, bubbling just a little, the way it had the last time we had been here. A sort of glow seemed to shine from it, as if it had been rejuvenated. I gave a half-laugh of relief as the tiniest bit of hope began to swell in my chest.
Emma collapsed back, sitting down on the cool, damp moss as she wiped her forehead, a relieved and exhausted grin spreading over her face.
“It took a while,” she said. “But there it is.”
