My magic didn’t care who it touched. It never had. Yet Hoshiko remained unfazed and unafraid of the destruction inside me.
“Please . . .” But I didn’t know if I was begging him to leave or to pull me closer.
The torment inside me rose, and I pushed past his wing, stumbling and falling as I tried to make my way to the nearby forest and away from him.
“Finley, allow me to help you.”
“I can’t hurt you. I can’t?—”
The storm broke. It was as if everything inside me tore free at once. Searing, shattering, and then empty.
My knees hit the ground, my hands nothing but trembling, blistered flesh. I couldn’t heal it. I couldn’t even stand.
Hoshiko bent low, and I forced my eyes to remain open to catalog every injury I’d caused him.
“You didn’t harm me, Finley.”His deep voice was somehow tender and reassuring.
His head brushed my side, and I tried to reach for him, to hoist myself on his back, but my arms wouldn’t lift.
“I’ve got you,”he said, his tone still gentle.
His magic slid around me like invisible hands, lifting me to his back. I sagged forward against the rise of his neck, the world tilting and dimming as I felt his magic begin to heal me.
The last thing I felt before darkness took me was the steady beat of his heart against my cheek.
Chapter
Ten
BRENTON
The campfire outsidehad long since turned to embers, and Hoshiko still hadn’t returned with Finley. Through my mental connection with Hoshiko, I knew they were at the very least alive. The island’s warm, salty breeze drifted through the fabric of the small tent I kept myself huddled in. That wind carried the calls of various night creatures that called Vistos home.
Inside, where I lay on my side, resting my throbbing head atop my arm, the air felt heavy. As if the sky itself held its breath with me, waiting for Finley to return.
The broth Elias had brought me remained untouched, its steam gone and surface cooled. I couldn’t eat—not with my insides clenched tight, and every muscle aching from the aftershocks of the magic I’d wrenched out, even when it felt like I had nothing left to offer.
Solana was alive, though. Still ill from whatever attack Finley had sensed.
It was strange how she’d felt the dark magic before it’d struck while it’d remained cloaked from the rest of us. Not wanting to think about it anymore, I closed my eyes while I rubbed my temple.
I sensed Hoshiko before he landed, and in less than a beat, I was on my feet and out of the tent. Finley sat atop him, her chest and head leaning against his thick neck. When she didn’t move to jump off his back like she did earlier, I climbed Hoshiko’s scales to get to her.
“She’s not well, Brenton,”Hoshiko said.“Her magic . . . it took too much from her. She needs rest.”
“Finley,” I breathed.
A muscle on her cheek twitched, but otherwise, she remained still. Her grip on Hoshiko was weak, her fingers curled loosely over the pants of her fighting leathers.
“She collapsed after her magic took from her.”Hoshiko’s words were thick with sorrow.“My magic lifted her and kept her fastened, but—my magic also started malfunctioning. I couldn’t treat many of the burns that rose on her skin while she expelled her magic. I’m sorry I can’t do more for her.”
“It’s not your fault.”I traced a hand over her head, which she lifted to look at me. That single motion was slow as was the breath she released, as if it dragged against her lungs. With care, I scooped her into my arms.“I should’ve . . .”
Should’ve what? Gone with them and let Solana die? Should I have ripped the magic that tormented Finley from her soul?
Finley rested her head against my chest, and when she closed her eyes, I kissed her forehead. Her body slackened further. Too limp, too light. Too willing, without any of the fight I loved from her.
“I have you, Lolli,” I whispered.
