Still, no time for pride when you were burning to death.
“Serafina! You donottell other men tocome!” Zane snapped and emptied his clip as I reached them.
Her fingers locked in my burning fur without hesitation, her other hand gripping Zane’s elbow.
“Hold on, wolfie,” she whispered, all sugar-spun innocence, before reality tore open like a gutted deer.
My molecules came apart alphabetically. Aorta, bronchioles, clavicle… Someone had sorted my body into separate zip codes. On the plus side, I tasted lunar magic. Clean and pure and sharp, like biting into a winter moonbeam, and my last coherent thought was that the Cimmerians hadseriouslyundersold their wife’s abilities.
#
Casimir
I pulled three elixirs from the cabinet and lined them on the metal tray. Green for cleansing, blue for binding, amber for healing. The glass bottles clinked against each other, a small sound that somehow filled the med bay while Koa worked silently across the room, securing the leather restraints to the cot.
Fifty-seven seconds had passed since Seri had shadow-walked Zane out of our bedroom to rescue Foster. Fifty-seven seconds, and my mind had already mapped sixteen different scenarios for what might be happening to them right now, fifteen of which ended with someone bleeding.
“Think the leather will hold?” I asked.
“Yep.” Koa didn’t look up, just tightened another buckle with a hard yank. “If Foster’s in a feral spiral, we’re ready.”
I nodded and returned to the supply cabinet, pulling out rolls of gauze, antiseptic, and six different balms for six different magical emergencies. My fingers worked independently of my brain, which was still replaying the moment Seri had vanished with Zane like smoke through a keyhole.
It had been quick.Tooquick. Zane standing there in our bedroom, Seri’s fingers on his arm. Then the shadows had simply eaten them. One moment, they were solid; the next, they were vapor, slipping through the seams.
My heart hadn’t quite settled back into its cage since then.
“You’re going to break the cabinet door,” Koa said.
I glanced down at my white-knuckled grip on the handle. The metal had bent slightly. I relaxed my fingers one at a time and switched to organizing the medical equipment. Scalpels. Suture kits. Bone saw, just in case. Cruor, I hated using that thing.
“She’s got this, Cas. Seri’s strong.”
“I know that.” I aligned another row of instruments. “But the strong ones are the ones who break your heart, trying to carry it all themselves.”
“She’s not alone this time.” Ko’s dark eyes met mine.
“No. This time, she’s got Zane.” The words came out sharper than intended. “Our brother who once set himself on fire trying to make flaming shots for your birthday.”
“He did put himself out. Eventually.” A flicker of a smile crossed Ko’s face. I didn’t smile back.
“Foster’s been undercover with the Harrows for months. If they found out he’s been spying for us, or if Arabesque got her claws into him, he’s not going to be in good shape.”
“Then we’ll fix him,” he said, as if it were that simple.
With a frown, I continued pulling out charcoal tablets for poison and blood replenishers for exsanguination. Every container placed exactly where my hand would need to find it.
Seri walking directly into Arabesque’s clutches, however, was a problem I couldn’t solve with antiseptic and sutures.
“Think we’ll need Holy water?” Ko asked.
“Better to have it ready.” I pointed to the cabinet behind him. “Top shelf, left side. Use the bottle with the silver wax seal.”
“The one from the Vatican.” He retrieved it and set it on the rolling tray beside me. “You expecting multiple casualties?”
The question hung between us like shrapnel suspended mid-air. My thumb worried the edge of a fresh gauze packet. Plastic crackled like distant gunfire.
“Contingency planning isn’t expectation,” I lied.
