“I’ve got nothing like Lucien and Grey, so we’ll save the healing for them. You okay, baby?”
Wiley nodded, a small smile playing about the corners of his lips. “We won.”
Baer nodded. “We sure as hell did.”
Dane looked over his shoulder. “The witch?”
“Dead,” Baer said. “Hopefully, it’ll take them a while to get another group of pestilents together.”
Clay nodded. “Whoever they send will be more powerful. We should start practicing more spells. I caught a glimpse of the one Wiley and Grey did tonight—it was impressive.”
“I can’t wait to hear about that,” Dane said as he moved to Grey. Damn, his face looked bad, covered in burns and blood. Dane put both hands over his cheeks, causing Grey to jerk back from him. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I have to touch you for this to work.”
“It’s okay. Just…startled,” Grey murmured, his voice low and strained.
Again, the glow came from his hands. It didn’t take long for Grey’s face to look better. There was still blood, but the harsh burns and cuts were all gone. Baer held his breath, hoping to see a return of Grey’s vision, but the man continued to stare off into space.
“You still can’t see, can you?” Dane asked, his face twisted with worry.
Grey shook his head slightly, wincing at even that motion. “All black.”
Dane’s shoulders slumped, and he slowly lifted his bloody hands from Grey’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Grey. I…I don’t know that I can heal your eyes. They’re tied into your magic, and I’m scared to screw something up. If I do this wrong, I could potentially cut you off from your magic. I’d really like to have the goddesses here to answer questions, maybe look for some proper healing spells.”
“I understand.” Grey’s lips tightened as he closed his eyes.
“Hopefully, it won’t take long,” Dane said. “They should be showing up anytime now.”
“Thank you for trying.”
“Are you in pain?”
Grey started to shake his head but stopped and winced. “Dull ache in my head. Slight throbbing behind my eyes. Balance feels off.”
Dane placed his hands carefully on the top of Grey’s head, and the glow resumed. “Probably from the concussion. I’ll see if I can ease it a little.”
“Grey,” Clay said carefully. “Your powers…”
“Without my sight, reading people, their thoughts and who they are, is completely out. You’re gonna have to check the delivery people.”
“We’ve got that, Grey,” Baer said as worry streaked through him over his brother. The Soul Weaver was a prickly SOB, but Baer didn’t doubt that he cared for all of them. He’d kept his promise and protected Wiley with his life.
“I can feel hints of emotions around me, but it’s like they’re all under a heavy blanket. Muffled. I get worried, angry, and scared from all of you, but since you’re close to each other, I can’t tell exactly who’s feeling what.” A tiny smirk lifted one corner of his mouth and then disappeared again. “It’s not nearly as overwhelming as it was before.”
Wiley kneeled beside the couch and picked up one of Grey’s hands in both of his. “Maybe you’ll have a mini vacation for a day or two from hearing everything. At least until the goddesses can help figure this out. And we’ll be right there to help you the entire time.”
“Thanks,” Grey whispered. Baer couldn’t read emotions like Grey, but he swore the Soul Weaver looked scared.
“We’ll figure this out,” Clay said firmly.
Baer studied his best friend. There was something in his expression as he looked at Grey—something he didn’t understand. Clay almost looked angry, which would make sense because none of them wanted Grey to be blind.
Clay looked up and caught Baer watching him. The Animal Weaver lifted an eyebrow and Clay’s lips twisted. Then he nodded his head toward his bedroom, and Baer knew he wanted to meet him there.
“I’ll be right back,” he told Wiley, who merely nodded, his worried gaze on Grey.
Baer followed Clay into the master bedroom, taking in the stiff shoulders of his friend as he turned and shut the door behind them. It had been a while since he’d last stepped into this room. He’d been bleeding out, in danger of dying that night. It was also the night Clay had bonded with Dane.
Not much had changed, except there were more things in the room. Clothes and framed pictures from both Clay and Dane.
“What is it?” Baer asked.
“You know how I’ve been reading all the journals from the other Weavers? I found something in one,” Clay said in a low voice.
“Something that could help Grey?”
Clay shook his head. “No.” He walked to the bedside table and picked up a book. It was dark red with gold embossed decorations. “I don’t want us to keep secrets from each other, but I don’t think this can be shared with everyone yet. I…I just need a second opinion.” Clay brought it to him and opened it to the last page. “I’m pretty sure this was mine in a past life. He was an Earth Weaver named Malek and leader of the group.”