“She’s here!” I call to Dayton.
My bond cries out within my chest. She’s here, but where? I can’t see anything but churned earth, cracked branches, and a rusted sword in the sickly trunk of the tree—
“There.” Dayton rushes forward then slides to the ground, reaching toward a pile of broken boughs and ragged cloth.
From that pile, he lifts my mate on to his lap.
“This isn’t happening.” I fall to my knees beside them, grabbing her face. I hardly recognize her; she looks so small, her skin sallow and limp, as if all the moisture has been pulled from her. Dark bruises encircle her eyes, and her lips are cracked, cheekbones too prominent.
“What’s wrong with her?” Dayton cries.
“I-I don’t know.” I feel her pulse—weak—and her breathing—barely audible. “She doesn’t seem injured. It’s like the life has been sucked out of her.”
Dayton casts his gaze around the grove. “The same as the rest of this place.” Then he stares at me. “Fix her, Fare.”
“Me? I’m no healer.” Panic rushes up my chest. Suddenly, I’m back on the fields outside of Coppershire, holding my mother in my arms as her blood runs over my hands.
“You’ve been training with Ezryn.” Dayton’s blue eyes are relentless, burrowing into me. “She is your mate. Do something. Do anything. Just save her.”
It’s so simple in his eyes—save her. Just do it. But he doesn’t understand. Doesn’t feel what I feel: the panic rushing through me, the crying out of my bond for hers, each of her weakening heartbeats sounding in my own chest, the image of my mother’s open-eyed stare.
“She needs you, Farron.” Dayton’s voice cracks. “I need you.”
I close my eyes. Rosie needs me to save her life. Dayton needs me to protect the woman he loves. Kel needs me to keep my promise that I will do anything for her. Ezryn needs me to save him from a life of guilt.
And I need to stop thinking and just do this.
I will not bear witness to any more final breaths.
I place my hands on Rosalina’s face, bringing my own body tight to Dayton’s. Wind bellows around us, carrying both a man’s cry and a wolf’s howl. I seek inward for my magic reserve, for the new knowledge I’ve learned since studying with Ezryn. Tendrils of orange power spark out from me, dusting over her figure.
There are no bones to be mended, no skin to be sealed. No blood to redirect back in the body, no oxygen needed to inflate the lungs. She’s simply … empty.
I don’t know what to do here. Even with my healing magic, what is there to heal?
“It’s her life force,” I whisper. “Everything’s been sucked into that huge storm. We need a way to replenish her.”
Dayton’s jaw twitches. “Okay, then.”
Panic surges through me with each pump of her weakening heartbeat. “Okay, then? Okay, then? Day, we need to do something now—”
“Use me.” He smiles softly. “My magic is at your disposal, Fare. Siphon my life force into her.”
“Day …”
“Our bargain. Through every storm and every season.” He grabs my upper arm, touching the gold and silver cuff. “There’s no time. Take my magic and use it to save her life.”
“I-I don’t know what I’m doing. It could kill you—”
His blue eyes flash. “Then kill me.”
“Dayton, no!” a high-pitched voice cries.
I turn to see a fae woman hanging on to one of the dead tree trunks, wind tearing at her short brown hair and robes. It’s the acolyte Dayton saved from the river, Wrenley.
She rushes forward and grabs Dayton’s arm, trying to tear it off Rosalina. “You can’t, Dayton! It’s too late to save her. She’s gone. Don’t throw yourself away.”
Dayton shrugs her off. “I’ve never been afraid of death.” He looks up at me and smiles. “And there’s no one I trust more.”
In this moment, I feel his faith in me. And I trust myself, too. Because I won’t let the world take him or Rosie from me.
Ever.
Ignoring the acolyte, I hunch over Rosalina and place one hand on her chest and one on Dayton’s.
“I’m going to start by funneling your magic into her,” I explain. “If I have to, I will also siphon your life force. Hopefully, a little will be enough to stabilize her.”
A guttural sound emits from his throat. “Everything I am belongs to her, anyway. Take it.”