I nodded. "There's something wrong with the Sanctuary, and I see it's affected this place too."
The man nodded, his frown deepening. "The sun is too hot. I can't get them out."
"I'll help."
Together, we carried the residents of the area out into the hallway one by one, including the man's—Bellamy, he'd introduced himself as we each carried a person out—mate, a kelpie named Alaric.
Before we moved to the next area, I took them to the Forest and melted some ice so they could cover their dry skin and get some of their strength back. Most of them could spend a few hours without water, but not when the sun shone down on them and dried every drop in their body within minutes.
"The Dining Room is normal. Jacinta and some of the others are already there, so they'll help if you need more water," Bellamy said, then turned to me. "Next area?"
One by one, we visited the other areas. The desert with pouring rain, the mountains with wind that made it hard for even me to stay standing.
Zamir gathered the others, and by the time everyone was in The Dining Room, they looked wrecked. The ones who were the least affected—the humans, and those that had been here already—helped the others, offering them water, food, helping them get dry and warm, or cold and wet, depending on their species.
The door opened, and Zephyr came in, followed by Draven, Keoni, and another human I recognized as Zephyr's assistant.
"Is everyone okay?" Zephyr asked, his voice pained, and people nodded.
"They're okay," Zamir murmured, and Zephyr blinked, appearing surprised to see him here. His eyes scanned the room,stopping when they fell on me. I nodded, and he glanced away, his right hand curling into a fist.
I glanced at Zamir, and his lips were turned down in a frown, his eyes on Zephyr. I knew how much Zephyr meant to him, and I hated that I was the reason for the strain between them.
Zephyr nodded, his eyes falling to the ground. He took a deep breath, then glanced up at everyone.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for this, and all the other things that have gone wrong. I promise I'll fix them, but I—I understand if you've lost faith in me, if you'd like to... leave."
Silence filled the room for a long moment, and then someone snorted. All eyes turned to a cecealia, who crossed their human arms across their chest, their purple tentacles flexing in annoyance as they gazed at Zephyr with narrow blue eyes, their platinum-blond hair giving their face a sharp, ethereal quality. "You won't get rid of us that easily."
"What Jacinta said," someone else chimed in, and warmth filled me at the love these people clearly held for Zephyr. I'd failed to save him, but he'd saved all these people. He'd done so much good, and while I'd played no role in it, I still felt proud of him.
Zephyr swallowed hard, his blue eyes pained and full of tears. He cleared his throat, then nodded to himself.
"I'll fix this. Please stay here until then."
"Let Nolan help," Keoni said, and Zephyr turned to look at him, his brows furrowed.
"I can do it," he said, clearly wanting nothing to do with me.
"I'll assist," Draven—who was older than most of the people here, including Zephyr—said, but Zephyr shook his head.
I frowned. I understood why he didn't want my help, but...
Zephyr took a step toward the exit, but Keoni stepped in his path, his eyes full of some emotion I couldn't read.
"That's enough."
"Excuse me?" Zephyr asked, a hint of incredulity in his voice.
Keoni's hands balled into fists as he glared at Zephyr, all of his earlier cheer gone. By the looks of the people around us, that didn't happen often.
"For months. For months you've been dealing with this shit on your own, refusing help from anyone who offers. You aren't sleeping, you aren't eating, and you haven't had a proper conversation with any of us in weeks. You're killing yourself trying to carry all this weight when you don't have to!" he shouted, his voice ringing in the hush that had fallen over the room.
Zephyr's lips moved, but he was too stunned to speak, and Keoni didn't give him a chance to gather his thoughts as he kept talking.
"I don't know if it's fear or anger or plain old narcissism that's keeping you from accepting help, but I'm done. I can't watch you do this to yourself anymore, and I can't let you do this to me," he said, slamming his fist into Zephyr's chest. "I won't leave because I love this place and I love my friends. But until you're ready to accept that you're not the only one with powers here, until you get it through your thick skull that we all want to help, I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you. I don't want to hear from you," he declared, emphasizing each statement with a smack of his fist on Zephyr's chest. "And I certainly don't—" He leaned up and whispered something in Zephyr's ear that even I couldn't hear.
Zephyr's eyes went wide, but Keoni turned away and stalked out of the room without a backward glance, the clatter of his cart the only sound in the silent room.
Zephyr gazed after him, his fingers curling and uncurling at his sides. He stood there for a minute, then stalked out of the room without a word, and I realized he'd been waiting for Keoni to get far enough away.
The silence broke as soon as the door shut after him, and Zamir hurried up to me, his eyes wide. "Did you hear what Keoni said?"
I shook my head, and he blew out a breath.
"Fuck. I knew Keoni was worried about the headmaster—we all were—but I didn't realize how strongly he felt about this." He shook his head, then leaned against me with a sigh. "What a day."
I wrapped an arm around him, pulling him into my side as I glanced around at all the people who loved my mate, who loved Zephyr. They seemed like a great bunch, and I hoped that one day Zephyr would allow me to live here so I could befriend them all.
