I shrug, sitting beside Osiris on the bed and scratching behind his ear as he tries to relax. “And you have magic jazz hands, so which one of us is really the weird one here?”
He bursts out laughing and it’s not lost on me how quickly the situation evolved. Not that I should be surprised, because I’ve seen countless examples of just how quickly life can change over the last few weeks.
“So talk us through this,” Ares asks, looking as nervous as the rest of us. “If they just wanted to steal his energy, why wouldn’t he gradually get it back over time?”
Ian’s smile falls as he slowly places his hands on either side of Ozzy’s neck. The feline in question tenses as his heart rate skyrockets. His muscles bunch, like he’s going to pounce at any second. If Osiris lashes out, there’s nothing to stop Ian from walking away, but I refuse to try to restrain him and trigger an even worse reaction.
Slow breaths, Ozzy. We’re not going to let him hurt you and he wouldn’t be stupid enough to try. After watching Ares rip a man’s head clean off his body, he’s going to help no matter his bravado.
“I missed that part,”he admits.
“It was pretty awesome, not going to lie,”Cole adds, coming to sit on Ozzy’s other side.“Brutal as hell, but badass to behold.”
“Says the man running away with his tail between his legs,”Ares scoffs, but there’s a trace of male satisfaction in his tone.
“Excuse you, but I was protecting our mate and hostage. Noble work,”he defends.
“Hands off the ocelot,” Ian declares, closing his eyes, and I reluctantly fold mine in my lap. “So basically, imagine it like surgery, as if you’re carving out an organ. Done correctly, and it’d be like you said; they’d remove a chunk of energy and the body would naturally create more over time. But if you bump something else or don't cauterize an artery, you'll bleed internally until you die, or cause problems elsewhere in the body because things are out of whack.”
“But why cut him?” Ares demands. “If you’re able to just put your hands on him to do this?”
Ian hums, concentrating for a minute before elaborating. “I just told you that it’s a precision thing. You really think if I walked up to someone like this they’d just stand there? They would have wanted to subdue him enough that he wouldn’t thrash around too much to make it easier on them. It isn’t about them caring if he bled out or survived; it’s harder on us to find what we’re looking for if someone’s flailing around.”
“And what is it you’re looking for, exactly?” Furrowing my brow, I attempt to wrap my head around all of this.
Ian clucks his tongue. “Hold on.”
I bite my tongue, worried and on edge, even more so when I watch sweat start trickling down from Ian’s temples. Whatever he’s doing is clearly taking its toll and I don’t want to be the reason to distract him and screw something up. It’s agony though, just holding my breath and waiting, hoping.
Ares and Cole look just as anxious, but they keep stock still for the same reason. We just watch, and the more labored Ozzy’s breathing becomes, the more I start to freak out. I don’t think Ian would do anything to him, but what if I’m wrong? I don’t know this guy. What if he’s putting a failsafe in place, making sure we let him walk out of here alive? That’d be the smart thing to do. Fuck, what if we just made things worse for Osiris?
“I’m not sure how to describe it in a way you’ll understand, so this might come out as nonsense. Basically, shifters have a magic of their own, but they only tap into it to change forms. The rest of the time, it’s just a layer of energy throughout their bodies.
“Mages on the other hand, it’s not a layer; it’s who we are. But the more we use our abilities, the weaker we get because it drains our very essence. It’s not like the magic tank hits empty and we’re just human until it refills. If we push ourselves too hard, there are physical ramifications.” He takes a deep breath, keeping his eyes shut, but looking no less taxed.
“The transfer of energy is something studied in health class for mages in case someone depletes themselves past the point they can recuperate on their own by taking it easy for a few days or weeks. It’s pretty much CPR for mages, I guess you could say. There’s been enough people discussing the theory of pulling energy from shifters that I’m not surprised to find out it happened, just disappointed.”
He pulls his hands away, shaky and panting, but looking proud of himself. “Fuck, they did a number on him. But I think I tetris-ed your boyfriend back together,” he says before slumping to the side. Ares catches him before he bashes his head on the ground, the three of us looking at each other alarmed.
“Shit, does that mean we need to find another mage to top him back up?” Cole asks, looking between Ian and Osiris who has also passed out.
Ares puts an ear to Ian’s chest as we get to our feet before tossing him on the bed beside Ozzy. “I don’t think so. He doesn’t sound like an idiot and definitely has no reason to sacrifice himself. He probably just needs to sleep it off.”
“And Ozzy?” I whisper, biting my bottom lip until I taste blood.
“He’s just dramatic,” Cole teases, but his voice is tight as he starts poking at the side of his brother’s face.
Ares ties Ian’s shoelaces together before stealing a pillow and blanket. He walks over to the door, stretching out in front of it. “We’re all exhausted and worrying won’t give us any answers. This is the only way in and out, so why don’t we take the opportunity to all get some rest?”
Instead of curling up on the free bed, I snag another pillow and settle on the floor with Ares; his back to the door and mine pressed against him. He throws an arm over my stomach, pulling me closer.
“Why the shoes?”
Cole tosses one last longing look at the bed before joining us on the floor. “If we don’t hear his change in breathing when he wakes up, we definitely will when he trips.”
I smile before attempting to reach out to Ozzy one more time, only to be met with silence and have the brief grin fade away.
“This went as well as we could have hoped,” Ares assures me, but it’s hard to accept that when so much is riding on crossed fingers.
