“Do you know how this works?” she asked him.
He angled to face her and nodded once, solemnly. I wished I could be the one to do the magical transfer so he wouldn’t have to endure another second in this room.
I tensed when she reached across the table, her palms upward.
When their hands met, I rocked back into the couch, scrambling to find an anchor in the chaos. The pain was like a sharp spike jabbing me in the chest, sucking the important bits out of me, until finally, the torture ended.
Fin lay hunched over, and Melinda shook, vibrating with power next to Helix.
She met my eyes. “I won’t let you down.”
They disappeared in a flash of light. I had to swim through the waves of the pain back to myself long enough to try and block what shot down the bond from his limp body. I checked his pulse first and sighed in relief to find it solid and strong.
“The least they could have done is help me carry you into the bedroom.” I came around to try and get him over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, but I couldn’t manage it from his awkward position on the couch and my head spinning from his reaction to the power drain.
After several tries, I gave up and shifted his long legs up onto the couch. I squeezed between the cushions and his body to curl against his arm. In these situations, it helped being compact size.
I lay my head on his chest and breathed in time with his steady heartbeat. If he didn’t wake up, Helix and Melinda were going to learn why those I hunted feared me so much.
And why Esteban should as well.
Chapter Fourteen
I WOKE STIFF AND ACHING, curled face first into the couch cushions, Fin’s hard body caging me in on the other side.
It took some maneuvering to throw my leg over the back of the couch and lift myself up and over to head to the bathroom. After a quick shower and clean up, I came back out to the living room to find Fin still sleeping. My stomach let out a long rumbling growl, so I decided to make breakfast.
While I waited for him to wake up, I considered how intense the feelings were that I felt down this bond of ours. I suspected he tried to block the connection between us last night to save me from feeling how bad it was for him, but the pain of his magic being ripped away was too much for him to maintain the wall.
I pulled out some eggs and cracked them in a pan with some onions and cheese. Once I had a plate full of fluffy scrambled eggs, I practically shoved my face in them to eat as fast as possible. It was like I hadn’t eaten in a week. Must be something to do with the magic. I hated how much I still didn’t know about everything.
When I finished the entire plate of eggs and sipped a cup of coffee, I made another plate for Fin. He’d need his strength. It had been a rough couple of weeks for him physically.
With a fresh cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and toast, I nudged him awake. He blinked his eyes open, the blue glow usually around his iris dulled to a soft sky blue. I smiled down at him and he let out a long groan.
I tucked his hair away from his face. “Are you alright? Is there something I can do to help make you more comfortable?”
He shook his head and pulled the blanket higher up his chest. “No, I
just need to rest while everything recharges. It’ll come back in a few days. Promise.”
I lay my hand on his chest and focused my own ebbing and flowing power to heal him. The magic spread out under my touch but didn’t seem to help him.
He pried my hands off him. “It won’t work, but thank you for trying.”
I twisted around to grab the food and sat the plate on my lap to feed him. When he allowed me to, his eyes closed, his head supported on the arm of the couch, I melted a little bit more for him.
“How do you feel?” he asked between bites.
“Fine, I think. I woke up a little stiff but that was from sleeping on the couch. I can feel your pain, but it’s not affecting me like it is you.”
He popped an eye open to study me. “My apologies for that. I tried to block it the best I could, but I don’t think I remember much after that first initial pull.”
I fed him some more food. “Do you want to talk about what happened with Melinda?”
“Not right this moment. More toast, please.”
Lifting the toast to his lips, I glared even though he couldn’t see me. “Demanding, aren’t you? Men are such babies when their sick.”