“Use me.” He smiles softly. “My magic is at your disposal, Fare. Siphon my life force into her.”
“Day …”
“Our bargain. Through every storm and every season.” He grabs my upper arm, touching the gold and silver cuff. “There’s no time. Take my magic and use it to save her life.”
“I-I don’t know what I’m doing. It could kill you—”
His blue eyes flash. “Then kill me.”
“Dayton, no!” a high-pitched voice cries.
I turn to see a fae woman hanging on to one of the dead tree trunks, wind tearing at her short brown hair and robes. It’s the acolyte Dayton saved from the river, Wrenley.
She rushes forward and grabs Dayton’s arm, trying to tear it off Rosalina. “You can’t, Dayton! It’s too late to save her. She’s gone. Don’t throw yourself away.”
Dayton shrugs her off. “I’ve never been afraid of death.” He looks up at me and smiles. “And there’s no one I trust more.”
In this moment, I feel his faith in me. And I trust myself, too. Because I won’t let the world take him or Rosie from me.
Ever.
Ignoring the acolyte, I hunch over Rosalina and place one hand on her chest and one on Dayton’s.
“I’m going to start by funneling your magic into her,” I explain. “If I have to, I will also siphon your life force. Hopefully, a little will be enough to stabilize her.”
A guttural sound emits from his throat. “Everything I am belongs to her, anyway. Take it.”
I close my eyes and go inward. Not to myself this time, but into them. Fragments of my self spread out through my magic, seeping into theirs.
With this oneness between the three of us, I begin to weave the threads of life together.
Like I thought, Rosalina’s light is dim, barely visible. Dayton shines like sunlight on a turquoise ocean. His magic is familiar to me: he gave it to me once before, on the field outside of Coppershire, when he fought by my side to protect my realm. This I shepherd into Rosalina, feeding her with wind and sea spray and strength.
Dayton’s magic will replenish when he returns to Castletree, so I take it all, every drop, every spark. He will be okay without such power; I will watch out for him, as he has done for me for so many years. The only thing that remains is the slumbering beast within him, for that is his alone.
Rosalina’s light brightens, fed by this magic. But it’s not enough.
Now, I must take blood and breath.
I grit my teeth, feeling my own body weaken under this channeling. But I can’t stop. Not yet.
I’m sorry, Day.
He’s strong, I know he is. And so is Rosalina. She has always flourished on so much less than others.
Dayton cries out beside me, but I don’t dare open my eyes or tear myself from this inner space.His light flickers, but hers is growing…
Blood and breath and bone and water. Fires within, one I stoke and one I dim.
Just a little more…
“S-stop.”
A weak voice, but one that sends my bond bouncing through my chest. I tear myself out of our inward space, blinking against the light.
Rosalina pushes herself up from Dayton’s lap. Her face is too pale, eyes rimmed with dark circles, but she’s herself again, awake and alert. Dayton wavers, all color has drained from his face, and his hands tremble.
“Dayton,” she breathes, falling off his lap and letting him collapse against her. She turns to me. “What did you do?”
