I heard the teasing lilt in his tone, but the words struck me like a dagger. I went still against him, my breath stuck in my throat.Died. The word carved through me.
I lifted my head to search his face. “You . . . are you joking?”
Humor softened his eyes, but his smile faded. His chest rose beneath my cheek. He drew his breath slower, as if weighing whether he should tell me.
“When we were exiled to the human realm, some of the humans in our region were testing various metals to see which caused the most damage,” he said, voice bare. “I was struck with an iron bullet. Gods, I remember that day.” He swallowed hard, the sound sharp in the quiet. “Elias, George, Teddy, and Everly never left me. It was the first time I truly realized that the family I’d always longed for was right there. Nalari thought Teddy’s blood could help me. At the time, none of us knew she was a mage.”
I pressed myself closer, holding him tighter. The idea of him bleeding out clawed through me. It had to be the day I’d been inconsolable. The day I yelled at Etienne and accused him of things he’d never done. The day I’d left my post in Commander Hudson’s region in search of my mate. But I’d felt as if my very soul had died. Turns out it had.
“It wasn’t enough.” His voice dropped as if the memory still split him open. “Teddy went into the astral realm. I saw her there. And the foolish female told me she was there to fight Death for my life. Fight Death for me.” His laugh was brittle. “He, Death or Eiran, agreed and sent me back to the human realm, mostly healed but terrified we would all now lose Teddy. If you believe her side of the story, she kicked Eiran’s ass. Sent three bullets straight through his head. Then he taught her how to properly defend herself in a sword fight.”
His fingers wove through my hair and down my back while he took another steadying breath. “I came back. I’m here because of her. In drinking her blood, we formed a one-sided sibling bond. And then Elias . . . gods, I’ll never forget his face. He let her drink mine to seal the bond. You could see how much it hurt him to do so. I wanted to refuse it, but the gift was too great to turn away. I gained a sister through mage blood and a magic I don’t understand.”
His hand turned, palm up. Etched there, dark and fine-lined, was a tattoo of the sun. Its rays radiated outward, faintly shimmering as if magic still lived there. “After we sealed our bond, Eiran gave me this. Teddy carries one too, but hers is of the moon.”
She saved my mate’s life. How brave. How fearless.And in that act, she saved my life as well. How could I ever show her how in awe I am of her sacrifice?
I brushed trembling fingers over the image. A spark leaped into my skin, jolting through my arm. It startled me, and I gasped out a small laugh.
“I think the death god has a strange sense of humor.” Brenton rubbed his palm. “I swear he gets a sick sense of joy in zapping me like that.”
The spark faded, but the warmth lingered, bleeding into my veins as if it wanted to stay. As if that was where it belonged. I fisted my hand around Brenton’s shirt, not wanting to let him go.
“I’m grateful for what Teddy did,” I whispered. “I’m glad you’re here, and . . . I don’t know how to ever thank her for it. I get this second chance with you because of her.”
“I’m grateful to both of them,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I like living. I like it even more now that I get to hold you. What they did . . .” His voice sobered, and he coughed to clear his throat. “Teddy sacrificed herself for me. Elias, I can’t imagine the jealousy he felt as he watched his mate drink from me. That’s how much they love me. They gave me family.”
His words settled heavy in my chest, and for long beats, I couldn’t breathe past them. They gave him a family. They gave him life. And he trusted me to share it with him.
I chewed my bottom lip, thinking over his words. “I thought I wanted to give Zaicha my magic, but . . .” My magic pulsedbehind my ribs, a soft rhythm that drew more curiosity than fear this time. Now that I’d experienced its healing properties and the joy I’d had in playing with Brenton, I wasn’t certain it was what I wanted. “If Zaicha continues teaching me, I could heal the dragons and the fae’s dying magic, Brent. I could heal all the realms.”
Just as I said those words, the world shifted.
My chest tightened, sharp and merciless, as if invisible hands reached inside me and tore at the threads of my magic. I gasped, choking on the pain, at the surge in my magic that I couldn’t hold back. I jumped to my feet, clawing at my chest and trying to contain the waves of magic that tore through me. I barely registered Brenton’s expression but clutched at his shirt as pain lashed through me. The threads I’d only just learned to guide unraveled in a frenzy, streaming from me without my consent.
“No!” The word cracked through the air.
Brenton’s smoke whipped wild around us, protective and furious, but it couldn’t touch the horror tearing through me.
Something terrible was happening. I could feel it in my burning blood and my aching bones. In the space, tearing at my magic.
And something inside me answered. Something unknown, unnamed. A thought. Or instinct.
A spark flared deep in my chest, desperate from the unraveling. Fierce. Defiant. But it also felt likemine.
It surged outward, not truly directing it, not understanding it. It reached for the ones tethered to me. Brenton. Hoshiko. Everly. Sama. Javier.
I didn’t mean to. Gods, I didn’t know how to. But I would not let them be taken.
Hoshiko’s voice pressed into my mind.“I’m coming.”
But then the world went white.
Chapter
Nineteen
BRENTON
