My vision blurred.
“In a while?” Slater’s voice was sharp and angry. “What does that mean?”
“Tell me who else hurt you like this,” Zuko gritted out. “I’ll kill them.”
“Sparring with other agents.” I shifted but was nearly paralyzed by the pain. My ribs felt like they’d been peeled open. Breathing fucking hurt. Talking was worse. “Firedrake burns hurt worse than phoenix burns. Either way, I haven’t lost a sparring match in years.”
“Then why aren’t you healing faster?” Eleanor’s worried tone hit my ears.
“Give me space,” Koa barked. His hands shook as he reached for me. “I’ve got you,” he whispered to me. “Trust me?”
I nodded. “Do what you have to.”
He shoved my torn shirt up, eyes widening at the sight of what had to be charred flesh over my rib.
I didn’t look. I couldn’t pick my head up to, even if I wanted to. Thankfully, it was already healing on its own.
“Oh Fates,” he breathed.
I grit my teeth as another wave of agony hit me, along with trickles of my magic pushing to heal it. “It’s rude to stare. I’m already healing. Give me a boost.”
“Your pain tolerance is admirable,” he murmured, pressing both palms over my wound gently.
A gasp punched out of me. Our skin-to-skin contact was searing and cooling all at once.
Blue fire erupted from his palms, licking across my skin. It melted my agony into a heavy pressure before it turned into raw pleasure. His magic poured into me in a wave of shimmering warmth, like sunlight cracking an icy pond.
My back arched hard off the ground, air slicing from my lungs as his magic threaded into the core of mine. His healing was intimate in a way I hadn’t expected. Koa sank into the marrow of my soul, tugging at threads I hadn’t known were loose. His essence embraced me, a comforting presence I hadn’t known I’d been missing.
I moaned, unable to stop the sound from escaping. It was raw and involuntary. The sound echoed through the trees.
Zuko appeared on my other side, crouching low, grin wicked and breathless. “If she makes that sound again,” he drawled, “I’m going to lose it.”
“Distract me,” I pleaded, trying not to hit a peak in front of everyone in a broadcasted simulator. “Your venom.”
“My venomwilldistract you, if you can handle it,” he murmured with hesitation.
“Focus!” Dimitri barked from above. “Fates above, this is a combat simulation. Get your hormones under control!”
“I am focused!” Zuko hollered back to Dimitri.
I turned my head. My chest was still heaving as I locked eyes with Zuko. His pupils were blown wide, his molten-orange gaze flicking hungrily across my face. The feral gleam in his eyes sent a new flush under my skin, even as Koa’s magic rippled through me.
“Venom?” I rasped.
Zuko leaned closer until his lips brushed the shell of my ear. “After we pass this simulation.”
My breath hitched. “Promise?”
He grinned, leaning back on his heels. “I never go back on a promise, pretty little poison.”
The nickname he’d given me seared my heart like a brand.
Koa’s magic slowed to a simmer. The blue flames in his hands dimmed, but his hands didn’t leave my ribs until I was fully healed.
He helped me all the way to my feet, his arm wrapped around my waist. We both were trembling slightly. His cheeks were flushed a deep crimson, and the blue glow of his special power of healing was still visible in his irises.
Coolest special power to heal I’d ever seen.
