Chapter 24

“I won’t let you die,” said Joseph, but it was too late. Lyka couldn’t hear him anymore.

The back end of the truck sloshed around as he pulled up to the front step of the Gerai house and slammed on the brakes. He jumped out of the truck and raced around it to get Lyka to the relative safety that awaited them inside.

His shirt that was draped around her was smeared with blood and oily black poison, but she didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore. For an instant, he worried that it was because her heart had stopped beating, but her panting reminded him that she was still alive.

Barely.

He was so used to feeling the potent strength of her spirit on the other side of the link, he hadn’t realized just how powerful it was until it was nearly gone.

Joseph carried her to the front door and smashed the lock open with his boot. He laid her inside on the couch and pulled out his phone.

Ronan still wasn’t answering, so he dialed Tynan. “Where are you?”

“I called for Logan.”

“You mean you haven’t even left yet?”

“I can’t leave, not with so many people here to protect. Even if I did, I’m not sure how much good I could do. I’m weak, Joseph.”

“I’d give you all the blood you need.” Every drop, if that’s what it took to save Lyka.

“And what of the pregnant women here? The children? Who would be here for them? Logan will come when he can, but there was a battle up north and several Gerai were wounded. He and Hope went to offer aid.”

“Tell them to hurry.” Joseph was freaked-out by the tremors that racked her body. She was pale, cold. He covered her with a blanket, but it did no good. “What do I do to help her?”

“Keep her still, calm.”

“She’s unconscious but still shivering.”

“Did you start a fire?”

“No time. I need to burn the clothes she bled on, but I thought it could wait.”

“The heat might help make her more comfortable.”

Joseph set a match to the kindling that was all laid out and ready to go, thanks to the helpful Gerai who stocked this place. Lighting a fire wasn’t nearly enough to ease his worry, but at least it was something—some action he could take.

“Her Theronai blood is going to kill her, isn’t it?” he asked Tynan.

“You don’t know that. She needs you to stay positive. You’re connected to her now, remember? She may be able to sense your feelings. You must stay strong for her sake.”

Tynan was right. It was Joseph’s duty to see to her every need, so if she needed him to stay positive, then that’s what he’d do. “I need to go. Call me if anything changes.”

“You as well, Joseph.”

He hung up. The fire had grown enough for him to lay a log on it. It was time to add the clothes to burn away the blood.

He made careful work of stripping away Lyka’s dirty shirt and jeans. Her skin was whole, thanks to her Slayer blood quickly regenerating her skin. By the time he was done taking away all the clothes holding traces of blood or poison, she was naked except for her socks.

Joseph secured the busted front door with a chair and then lifted her into his arms. She let out a soft moan of pain and shivered.

He slid her under the blankets on a bed, then unbuckled his sword belt. The weapon shimmered a moment before becoming visible. He set it within easy reach, praying he wasn’t going to need it again tonight.

He hadn’t found a new shirt yet, but that didn’t slow him down. She needed warmth, and his bare skin on hers would give it to her.

She shivered as he wrapped his arms around her. The fact that she was naked was not lost on him. He tried not to think about it, but the smooth skin under his hands made it impossible. The best he could do was keep his roving grasp from going too far onto intimate territory.

As he gave her his body heat, her shivering slowed and finally stopped. She relaxed in his grasp and practically melted into him. He found the conduit between them and pried his way through in order to reassure her that she was going to be fine. He was going to see her through this. She wasn’t alone.

The second he entered her thoughts, he was surrounded by beauty and chaos. She was deeply confused, her dreams a jumbled mass of frenetic images. She battled sgath from all sides, her body blurring in motion. In the next instant, she was diving into a clear, moonlit lake. Her head broke the surface of the water and she looked at him with silent invitation in her golden eyes.

Joseph was already halfway to the lake to join her when it disappeared and she was standing next to a dead Theronai, tears streaming down her face.

This was the man she’d killed—the man who’d begged her to end his suffering. There was a slight smile of relief on his face. He was free of pain and fear, free from the worry that he would hurt the people he loved when the last leaf on his lifemark fell and his soul died, leaving him dark and twisted.

Inside her dreams, Lyka looked up at Joseph. “I had to help him.”

“I understand.”

“Please don’t kill me for helping him.”

“I won’t. I could never hurt you.”

“You already have. You’ve stolen me from my family, my people. You’ve turned me into the enemy.”

“We’re not enemies anymore. And you can visit your family whenever you want.”

The landscape around them went dark, tossing them both to the destroyed Slayer settlement. There were bodies strewn everywhere, as if the graves had never been dug, the dead never buried.

“My family is gone. There’s nothing left for me here.”

“They will rebuild. We’ll help them.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How?”

Joseph exerted his will over her mind just enough to show her what he envisioned. He brought the sun back, buried the dead, rebuilt the buildings and planted flowers and trees where only ash had remained. It was a beautiful place again, filled with hope and life.

“We can do this?” she asked him, disbelief clear in her tone.

“Yes. Together we can wield powerful magic.”

“I don’t know how.”

“You’ll learn. All you have to worry about is getting strong again.”

She frowned as if trying to remember. “I was dying.”

“No. You’re going to be fine. You’re just resting now.”