As I feel everyone’s tension release from their bodies, I look over our haven for the next few hours. The living area is simple, with a fireplace and a massive bed in the middle that looks like it’s seen better days. But to be honest, I could pass out on the wooden floors right now and have no complaints.
Along the back wall is the kitchen area, and off to the side is a door open to the bathroom. The other door, I can only assume, leads to our final level. Doing a circle of the room, I spot a pedestal by the bathroom with a rolled-up parchment on it. Unrolling the scroll, I read to the group.
“Congratulations on surviving this far. Enjoy your rest because it might be your last. You have three hours before your next trial.”
Not enough to fully replenish my magic, but I’ll gain some of it back.
“Only three hours after the hell we just went through?” Chester asks indignantly, pushing up his glasses. “Since when did they become stingy with the time?” He lets out a curse, and Moni quickly turns to him.
“It’s okay, Chestie, we made it. That’s what we should focus on,” Moni appeases him as she tends to his shoulder wound.
“Besides, we’re trying to get to the end of the Road of Worth as fast as possible to save Hell, remember?” Zeke reminds us but frowns when he looks at Chester. “Hey man, are you okay?”
“Levi?” Moni calls. “I can’t stop his bleeding. Why isn’t his injury healing?” Her tone rises, and her bark starts flickering between light teal and pale white. I don’t need to see her bark to know she’s worried and scared—that’s her mate that’s hurt.
She is right though. He’s a shifter; his body should already be healing itself…unless there’s something from the trial that’s prevented it.
Going over to him, I call out for supplies. “I can only assume he’s not healing because this last trial is preventing it. But I’m low on magic, so we’ll have to do this the hard way. Who has clean linen, and can someone boil water?” I ask no one in particular.
“Oh! We can use Chester’s clothes,” Moni says, grabbing his bag and pulling out shirts.
“I’ll get the water,” Knox tells us as he runs to the kitchen and starts heating a pot.
I gently pull back Chester’s armor, schooling my face as I examine the cut down to the bone.Shit.This is going to need some magic to repair the muscle and tendon.
“Is he bad? Will he live?” Moni cries, seeing the damage her mate has.
“It’s okay, Moni. I won’t let anything happen to your mate,” I reassure her as I get close to Chester’s ear. “Try to bear this pain for your mate. I need to knit your muscles back together so you can use your arm,” I whisper to him. He pulls back enough to look at me with determination and nods.
“Here,” Knox sets down a bowl of water in front of me and grimaces. “It’s not boiling, but hot enough to clear out any infection before patching him up.” Turning to Chester, he hands him a brown item. “Use it for the pain,” he explains before sitting down across from him. I give Knox my thanks and dip an edge of Chester’s shirt into the water to wash out his wound.
Without questioning Knox, Chester slips the thick strip of leather into his mouth and bites down.Oh! I see. I’m guessing shifters use this tactic a lot.What exactly goes on in those Blood Matches?
Chester bares down and nods at me as Moni stares at her mate in horror. “What? Why do you need that?” she asks, but Zeke pulls her to him and whispers something in her ear. Focusing on Chester, I gently clean his shoulder, and as I wipe away the blood, I whisper my mending spell.
Chester grunts a few times as his muscles and tendons reattach and heal, but he takes it like the warrior he is. I pause as I re-clean his skin before I try to continue, but we hear a commotion outside the house.
I spin to the door as Ryker, JP, Knots, and Reaper tumble into the room. Zeke and Knox quickly help pull them to their feet.
“Where are the rest?” Knox demands, his eyes emitting a slight glow, giving away that his beasts are riding him hard.
“They are right behind us,” Ryker pants, his hands on his knees. Knox quickly guides him away from the door to make room for the others.
As the last seconds tick down, simultaneously, Beleth’s laughter echoes around the cottage, a loud buzzer rings out right as the house shakes violently, and Lynx shoots through the door like a bullet. Luckily, Knots is there to soften his crash but drops Reaper in the process. It’s disorder as we try to figure out what’s happening, but Reaper’s whining briefly pulls my attention away.
His tail is underneath Knots, but he’s pulling and trying to get back out the door. Searching around, it dons on me as to why.
“Where’s Rez?” I call out before focusing on Lynx. “Lynx, where’s Rez? Wasn’t she with you?” My anxiety is rising, and I have no magic button to press to dampen it. The game is over, the timer has rung out, and my mate is gone, lost to this level.
Lynx furiously yanks himself free of Knots and glares back at the door he came crashing through moments ago. While thedoor is still open, there is a film over it blocking our way, showing the empty landscape and no Rez.
“NO. No, no, no, no…” he chants, crawling back to the door in a rush. “Where is she? She didn’t mean it. I know she didn’t mean it,” he murmurs, placing his hands against the film and trying to push through.
“Lynx, try to calm down and tell me what happened before you came through,” I gently coax through gritted teeth, but my anxiety is riding me hard, and all I want to do is shake the damn shifter.
A sob escapes him before he sits down, his back against the door, and pulls his knees to his chest.
“We weren’t going to make it. She said for us to take care of each other, and the next thing I knew, I was being pushed toward the door at rocket speed within a second.” His voice cracks before he buries his head between his knees and cries.
