CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
We walk and walk, until I feel the hum of my magic running through me, healing me constantly. Mierda, it’s not like we’re running or anything. It’s almost embarrassing that I can’t walk very far, considering my young age and general good health. Clearly, I’ve spent too much time sitting in classes or studying, too much time standing at the clinic, and not enough time walking. Ironic. You’d think as a med student I’d be more aware of the need for exercise. Doctor, heal thyself, and all that mierda.
It’s not as if I didn’t sleep well the night before. In fact, it’s the first time in a long time I didn’t have the dream about Papi. I woke feeling more well rested than I’ve felt in years. And safe, so safe. I’m in a strange new world full of magical creatures, some of whom want to hurt me, but in Sturrm’s arms, I feel the safest I’ve ever been.
The next time we take a break, I brush my hand carefully across Sturrm’s arm. A tiny current of my magic flashes through him, reporting back… nothing. There’s not a single thing to heal. He’s in such good shape that all of this walking hasn’t done even the tiniest bit of damage. Damn, that’s hot.
A gnome somersaults down the tunnel, heading toward all of us at full speed. One of them cries a warning, but it’s too late. The newcomer crashes into the mass of gnomes at the front like bowling balls hitting pins.
Everyone goes down in a scream of laughter, most hopping up immediately. But the new gnome stands slowly, his hand pressed to his side.
“Let me see,” I say. “I can help.”
He shies backward.
“Let me see.” My magic pulses through the air, and in a blink, there’s a naked gnome standing in front of me.
Carajo! I guess I don’t have as much control over my powers as I thought.
Everything’s proportionately sized, and it turns out their hair is white everywhere .
He shrieks, his hands cupping his crotch, which lets me see the darkening bruise on his light-green stomach. It must be bad to be showing so quickly, or maybe their metabolisms just run so fast all of their biological processes are sped up.
Whichever, I’m determined to heal him. I crouch in front of him and slide the guitar off my back. “Sorry! My power goes a little wonky sometimes.”
“Should I be jealous?” Sturrm asks, his voice a deep rumble behind me. “You’re stripping other men naked now.”
I throw a sheepish grin over my shoulder.
My embarrassment gets worse when another gnome throws his body in front of the injured one. It’s the very first gnome I healed of the deathsleep. “Stay back, human witch. You can’t have him! He’s my boyfriend.”
“I want to heal him like I healed you.” I hold up my hands, showing empty palms. “That’s all. I promise.”
He eyes me warily, then gives a reluctant nod. Staying right in front of his boyfriend, he watches me carefully as I extend a single finger and rest it on the injured gnome’s shoulder.
My magic spools through him, reporting back with several small bruises all over his body, all eclipsed by the bright yellow flare centered on his side. I gasp. It is a bad injury. He’s ruptured his intestine. There’s massive internal bleeding—that’s why he’s bruising so quickly. Worse, digestive wastes pour into his bloodstream. Mierda—literally. He’s going to go septic if I can’t stop this. He must be in so much pain I’m not even sure how he’s standing. It seems it’s not just orcs—all Wild Fae are made of stern stuff.
I push a burst of healing energy into his body, and all of the secondary bruises fade from my awareness. But it didn’t touch the main injury. Grimacing a contrite smile to the boyfriend, I grip the gnome’s shoulder with my entire hand. Then I pour magic into him in pulsing waves. This is different than the work I did eradicating the deathsleep coma. This injury is localized but also much more severe. I close my eyes and feel for where to send my power, arrowing in on his abdomen.
The yellow dims, first to orange, then red, as I send more and more of my magic into him. It doesn’t seem to matter than he’s small. It still takes a great deal of effort to localize the magic so it can seal up his intestine as quickly as possible and stop the bleeding.
But even once I’ve done that, I’m not finished.
“Selena?” Sturrm’s hand brushes my shoulder, his tone concerned.
“Shhh.” I concentrate even more. This is the opposite of what I was just doing. Now I send my magic throughout his entire body. Gnomes really do have fast metabolisms. His little heart beats quickly, and the mierda has spread through his blood. Again and again, I chase the miniscule particles through veins and arteries, down to capillaries and cells. It’s endless.
It’s fascinating .
I’m seeing a body on a micro-level I never would have imagined without dissection and microscopes or the distancing of a scan on a digital screen.
Finally, I slump backward, only to have Sturrm catch me before my butt can hit the ground. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It took a lot of concentration, is all.” I smile up at him, then twist to look at my patient. “How are you feeling? That was a really bad injury. You ruptured your intestine. ”
Gasps come from all around, and the boyfriend throws his arms around his love in a crushing hug. “I didn’t come back to life just to lose you.”
The leader steps over to them, and the very fact that he’s walking telegraphs how serious this all is. “Exactly why were you moving so recklessly?”
“Soul stealers on the mountain. They look like they’re going to enter the caves again.” Worried eyes look to his boyfriend. “They carry deathsleep gourds.”
“Fuck,” Sturrm says, his arms tightening around me. “Do they know there are more crystals in these mountains?”
“They do,” the leader says. “One of the sluagh…” He swallows. “One of them ate the souls of two of my people. It will have access to all of their memories.”
“Then we need to hurry.” Sturrm looks down at me, his brow creased with concern. “Can you walk?”
“I can carry her,” Dash says.
Bella adds, “Or I will.”
“No one’s carrying her but me,” Sturrm growls.
“No, I’ll walk,” I say. Carrying me will make it harder for them to get through the twisty places, which will only slow us down.
The success of this quest is crucial. It will protect every human in Alarria.
More than that, it will prove to Sturrm that he’s not a failure, that all of that old self blame is built on a lie.
He sets me on my feet, his hands lingering until he’s sure I’m steady, in that heart-meltingly thoughtful way of his .
I sling his guitar onto my back and march forward, determined to keep up, even if I have to pour healing magic into myself every step of the way.
There’s no way I’m letting these soul-stealer pendejos get those crystals.
There’s no way I’m letting Sturrm fail this quest.