Absolutely not.
If I don’t, I’m guessing. Once I make contact, I’ll be able to track this if the person responsible is close by. I know I can’t physically reach out, but I can try to wrap my thoughts around it and see what I can find out.
The god hesitated.Evie will have my hide if I risk your life.
You aren’t doing anything. I’m telling you what I need. If you take me back now, none of us will get the answers we need.
He wavered until I took the decision out of his hand. I lunged, slipping my consciousness free of his hold, and enveloped the presence.
Darkness coated my thoughts in inky night, but this presence didn’t feel inherently evil to me. It simply existed, and its existence was dangerous to everything it touched.
Including me. Neither human nor animal, the presence still held a sentient, almost alien intelligence. Was it a spell that had gone wrong or was this meant to target one thing or person? I couldn’t tell.
Once it got over its surprise, it wrapped itself around me, clinging like a barnacle to my consciousness, and it drank me down, stealing my thoughts and memories, rifling through them like a hacker with stolen credit card info. My magic drained, stolen away to power this thing.
MOIRA!
A shout of horror and a hard jerk on my arm, followed by a suction sound and an ominous pop, and Cernunnos and I were flying through the ether.
His grip was bruising, the fury he tried to contain burning against our link. My energy faded slowly into darkness.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
“Your friend is an idiot!” Dad yelled, shoving a hand through his hair. His normal calm and cool exterior had disappeared the second he and Moira had appeared on Rowan’s land, right next to me as I knelt in the bed boosting the roses I’d brought back earlier.
I had a million questions and zero time to ask them. My best friend was too pale and motionless. “Kinda busy here, Dad.”
Moira lay on the ground, oblivious to the world. My hands glowed with magic, sweeping back and forth over her body, restoring function to her limbs. Whatever had done this had completely wiped her out. Her magic registered as a faint blip inside her body. Moira’s organs were close to failure; her heart pumping at three times its usual rate. I closed my eyes and allowed my power to seek out the worst injuries, healing with a gentle touch as best I could.
Dad had brought her back to me close to death and couldn’t save her thanks to the type of magic used. As it was, Dad’s hands were disfigured and burnt from carrying her back here. I couldn’t afford to tap all my power to save her, otherwise I might find myself trapped in the ground for a few days and missCaelan’s deadline. But if it came down to my shop and land and Moira’s life, I’d risk it.
Rowan was on his knees beside me, in the event I needed him to hold Moira down. Sometimes when people came back from the brink, they seized, but Moira hadn’t moved an inch. My friend looked dead, a thought that threatened to make me freeze in horror. The only thing keeping me moving was the soft rise and fall of her chest.
She was breathing, which meant she was alive. I allowed my magic to do one final pass before I sat back on my haunches. “I’ve fixed everything I could. She’ll need a few days of rest and cannot use any magic, otherwise she might undo all the work I’ve done here.”
Dad squeezed his eyes shut. I watched him carefully. His reaction seemed over the top. Even when I was injured, he kept his shit together. Why was he so beside himself with Moira?
“I’ll move her to the main house,” Rowan said as he got to his feet and extended his hand to help me rise.
But Dad stopped him. “No. I’ll take her to the fae lands. She’ll recover faster there.”
I started. “Um. What? Why? She’s not from there. If she’s here, I can watch over her and continue with her healing.”
Dad’s jaw tightened, a stubborn twist to his lips as he bent to scoop her up.
“No!” I snapped, snatching his hands away. “Let me look at you before you touch her.”
He sighed but held his hands out for an inspection. Touching Moira had infected him. His golden hands were blackened all the way to the wrists, his fingers cracked and blistered.
I hissed in sympathy and took both of his hands in mine. Closing my eyes, I swept over his wounds with my magic, healing all the deeper burns and blisters and cleansing his system of thespell. When I finished, I released him and scooted back. “Why can I cleanse this magic, but you can’t?”
Dad shook his head. “I’m not sure. Moira got close enough to figure out what it was. When she wakes up, I’ll talk to her.”
Rowan walked away, a far enough distance to give us privacy. “What happened? Why are you being such a worrywart over Moira?”
Dad rolled his eyes. “She’s your best friend. I would not deprive you of her presence if given a choice.”
