I know we need to move, need to find whoever distracted me. "One more," I manage, struggling to lift my hand in the right direction.
Yri darts off as my eyes slip closed, panting heavily. My stomach roils, and all I want to do is vomit, then sleep for three days. But we can't, we don't have time.
"Give me a couple hours and we can get going again."
Ezra gently brushes the hair from my face, and I can feel the sweat trickling down my forehead. I turn just in time, heaving and vomiting. I don't feel any better, if anything, I feel worse. I manage to open my eyes, but it's a struggle. The afternoon light is blinding and stabs into my head, making me cringe.
Wiping a hand across my face, a streak of red swims in my vision and I narrow my eyes in an attempt to focus. Blood. Just...everywhere. I touch my mouth again, my fingers coming away wet with the blood I just threw up.
That didn't happen to her.
"What's happening to him?" Ezra demands, bringing a water bottle to my lips.
I can't tilt my head, much less swallow. My eyes flutter shut as exhaustion pulls at me, tempting me with a reprieve from the pain. I just need sleep. Just a few hours, maybe a day, and we can get going again; we have to. We can't come this close just for me to die in such an anticlimactic way. It was a fucking dart, not even anything memorable like taking down a bear.
"Hey, Ren, come on," Ezra pleads, firmly slapping my cheek a few times to try and keep me conscious. "If you wanted to get out of child support, there's other options; no need to be so melodramatic," she teases, but her voice is strained.
I groan, leaning into her touch. I try to speak, but no words come out. I feel myself slumping to the side, but can't so much as put out a hand to catch myself. Ezra manages to ease me down on my side, and the next convulsing of my stomach coats her jeans in blood, but she doesn't move away.
"It's going to be alright," she continues, stroking her fingers through my hair soothingly. "Just like you said, they can't take my abilities away permanently with one shot and they can't kill you with one either. You're built like a brick house and you're going to go down from a mosquito bite? No way. A little sleep and you'll be good as new."
She continues to ramble, tries to convince herself that everything's going to work out. I don't hear Cai or Yri, not that I blame them. I promised to protect them, and here I am adding more fuel to their nightmares. How much death can one person handle before they snap?
I focus on her voice for as long as I'm able. When the words stop making sense, I focus on the sound, soaking up every bit of her that I can while I'm still able.
I never got to give her my gift, never told her I loved her.
When oblivion threatens to consume me, pulling me under, I'm only left with one thing for company. I stop fighting and let go, surrendering to the unknown hand in hand with regret.
Chapter 19
Caius
––––––––
There's a low groanon the other side of the small room and my head whips around in relief, despite the way it makes my head scream. It sets off a chain reaction and Yri starts to wake up next, he and Soren crammed on the small bed beside each other. I get up on shaky legs, stumbling over that way.
