Page 88 of The Fox Heir

The man nods. “I’ll stay with him.”

Tabitha walks into the next room. She slams the door closed.

I rush to the boy’s side and kneel on the ground. One touch of his forehead and I know his fever is dangerously high. I touch his skull tenderly, looking for injury.

“Did he hit his head?” I ask the man.

He lets out a shaky breath. “We’re afraid it’s his spine.”

And they waited a full day to ask for help? I swear under my breath. The injury is far worse than I feared. I hold my hands over his chest, summoning my power. It slinks out through my veins, and I can feel the wound there. His spine is severed in two places. It’s a miracle he lived this long.

I look toward Elisandra where she waits a few paces away. “I don’t know if I can save him.”

Her chin quivers as she says, “Please try.”

Next to her, Nalina narrows her eyes at me, as if daring me to refuse. Not that I would. If she knew anything about me, she’d know that I’d never leave a person to suffer. I’m not as proud as some.

The man kneels beside me with a wince and sets his cane aside. “We’ve heard of your family’s great healing feats; surely you can help one small boy?”

My heart clenches in my chest. “My power has been a little unreliable lately.”

The man puts a shaking hand on my forearm. “Please.” His eyes dart to the closed door where Tabitha just retreated. “She has no one else.”

I know that feeling all too well. I take a shuddering breath and nod.

“Thank you.” He says, with tears in his eyes.

I turn my attention to the boy on the ground. His breathing is too shallow; his heartbeat is weak. I can feel the heat of the injury on his back. It blooms from the breaking points along his spine in both directions. Nerves are already dead, limbs already disconnected and limp. For some reason, it terrifies me.

When I worked as a healer in the borderlands, I mended injuries like this often. I repaired severed limbs and called back souls hovering on the precipice of oblivion. But that was before burnout. Still, I was able to save Hunter. I just need to remember how I did it.

My power swirls inside me, anxious and ready. I close my eyes and try to focus on it. I draw the golden light out, little by little, coaxing it forth. Sweat begins to prickle on my skin. The power resists me, like pulling a worm from the dirt. I lose my grip, and it snaps back into hiding.

Frustrated, I sit on my heels to think. I can feel Nalina’s eyes on me, judging. No doubt wondering if she’s made a terrible mistake in bringing me here.

I steady myself as I feel the weight of the room press in around me. Nalina, Elisandra, and the man are watching, waiting. The man’s face isn’t filled with fear anymore. It’s filled with hope.

I lean closer to the boy and reach a trembling hand to his forehead. His skin is fire. Sweat clings to his pale skin, making his hair damp and matted. I press my palm against his chest, feeling the weak, shallow rhythm of his heartbeat. My own chest tightens in response. He should have died already, given the way his body is shutting down. But still, he clings to life, like a flickering candle in a storm.

“Please,” the man beside me whispers again, his voice pleading.

I nod slowly, taking a deep breath. My power stirs inside me. I close my eyes and feel it hum in my chest, trying to break free. It pulls at me, struggling to be released. No more control, I remind myself. I need to let go.

This time, when I reach out toward the boy on the quilts, something feels different. My hands don’t shake. I close my eyes, and instead of forcing my power, I feel it. It swirls and flows through my body, a warm, golden light. I don’t try to tell it what to do; I just rely on instinct.

Energy swirls just beneath my skin. Sweat beads along my brow, and the temperature in the room shifts as a strange heat radiates from me. Serenity washes over me before the dam breaks.

My power surges from my core, rushing through my body and down my arms, seeping from my palms. It reaches into the boy, mending broken nerves, and fusing the shattered bones together. His body jerks beneath my hands, but I hold firm, not daring to stop.

I can feel his soul hovering near the edge of life and death. Somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind, I call to it.

Come back. It’s not your time.

There’s a long moment of uncertainty. Then, with a jolt, the boy’s life force rushes back into his body. Finally, his breathing steadies. The fever that burned through him fades.

His eyes snap open. For a split second, his pupils are dilated with panic, but then they focus on me. The fear in them morphs into confusion. Elisandra rushes to the boy’s side, and the man lets out a choked sob of relief. His hands tremble as he reaches for the boy, stroking his hair with shaking fingers.

“It’s okay now. You’re going to be all right,” he whispers through tears.