Chapter 34

34

" H enri!"

Rattle. Thump. Crack.

"Henri! Fuck!" Hands were on me, yanking my body around, but I couldn't even groan at the feeling. I was too tired, in too much pain to waste energy. "Henrietta, look at me."

I didn't have the energy to open my eyes, either.

Those hands were on my face, and I could have cried at the relief that touch gave me. It was like ice soothing a burn or jumping into a pool on a hot day. That relief flooded my body as the pain sizzled. My heartbeat was erratic, though I felt more control over my own breath.

"Fuck, please drink this." Liquid poured down my throat, and when I felt the touch on my jaw, I obeyed the command. I would do anything to keep those fingers touching me.

"Please look at me, baby."

The magic bubbling through me, and the touch of his hands eased the searing pain, but I still didn't feel well enough to move or pry my eyes open. Instead, I focused solely on everywhere I was being touched—my face, my back, my arms. I was being held, and it was fixing every problem I had. I could have stayed there forever.

"Baby, I'm so sorry I wasn't here. Please, just open your eyes." Fingers pressed into my neck, and breath fanned across my face as a sigh was released.

My body was rocked back and forth, hands roaming my skin as I basked in the feeling. I couldn't be bothered at this point. I was fine. Tension was released everywhere, and I became more aware of how much better I felt. I remembered the pain I swore was only seconds ago.

"Henri, please."

There was something in his tone that finally pulled me from the haze.

Gasping, I sat up, nearly slamming my forehead into Noah.

"Noah!" I screeched, throwing my arms around him. I could tell him everything. I got to see him one last time, and I could have screamed at how that wasn't enough for me.

"Henri, thank fuck. I thought—you were completely out. I could have lost you." He was murmuring into my neck, holding me like I would break.

"Noah," I whispered, taking a sharp inhale, greedily sucking down his euphoric scent.

As I calmed, I recalled everything, and it brought about an overwhelming amount of anxiety and emotion.

"Noah, I couldn't stop her. She's going to kill everyone. I didn't fix this. I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't—"

"Henri, shh." Noah smoothed a hand over my hair, cradling my head as he pulled back to look at me. His pupils were blown wide, the whites of his eyes red, yet nothing but relief painted his expression. "You're alive. That's what matters. I'm so sorry, baby. So fucking sorry."

I sobbed into his chest, not knowing how to express everything I felt. I muttered absolute nonsense while he just held me, rocking me back and forth and whispering affirmations into my ear.

"Noah, it wasn't enough. She's going to—"

"She's not going to do anything. She won't hurt anyone else, Henri. I promise. Enforcers are already on their way. You're fine."

I shook my head, looking at him as though his face would give me answers. "Did she poison the whole campus?" I was terrified of the answer, of knowing his answer could mean that while I was saved, others would die.

He swallowed, nodding. I opened my mouth, but I had no words for the horror I felt. It would consume me for the rest of my life, and there was nothing I could—

"I cast the antidote. Everyone is going to be okay." Noah pressed a kiss to my forehead, running his hands over my head and back soothingly.

"Wh-what? What antidote?"

"When you were sleeping yesterday, I added Pratbane to our antidote, just in case something like this happened and I couldn't get to you in time. I told you I couldn't let anything happen to you." Noah gripped my face, his words and face deadly serious. "I made you drink the antidote as well, just to be sure."

"You…you saved everyone." Relief dumped over me like a bucket of cool water, and I could have laughed had I not been in such shock. He was brilliant.

"No, darling. I saved you. Everyone else just benefitted."

I laughed, though his tone held no humor. He meant exactly what he said.

"Thank you, Noah." I had no other words for him at that moment. I pulled his face down, hungry for his lips on mine. He'd truly saved the entire campus.

"Do you feel well enough to stand?" Noah whispered against my lips. I nodded and shifted so he could stand and help me to my feet. Dizziness fought me, but I wanted to get out of here. "We can't leave until the authorities get here, but I want you to know you're safe."

He pulled me from the closet, and my breath caught. The first thing I noticed was the demolished door. Or, what used to be the door. Now it was a hole, shards of wood jutting out of the wall and scattering the floor. When I scanned the room, I found the door across the room in pieces, partially covering the workbench and partially on the floor.

Broken glass shards littered the room, scattered and burned paper covered the floor, and charred marks covered the walls. It looked like a war zone, and I snapped my attention back to Noah, looking for any sign of harm. He reached up to turn my head slowly, pushing my attention elsewhere.

In the back of the room in the furthest corner from the closet, was Aster, knocked out and bound with rope in a chair. I could tell from the slight shimmer around her that she wasn't just unconscious but held unconscious with magic. Illegal magic.

"How?" I barely breathed, afraid she would somehow weasel her way out of the bindings and come after me. I took a small step behind Noah.

"I felt the second the poison set in. And when I saw your backpack under the tree…" A dark look crossed his face as he looked from me to her. "I knew something was wrong. When I got here, she'd melted the door handle. I-I couldn't get to you fast enough, Henri." He coughed, covering up the way he choked on his words. "I would have killed her if I had to. I swear it, Henri."

"Shh." It was my turn to be soothing as I ran a hand down his neck, hoping to calm the way his chest was heaving.

"No. I could have lost you, Henri. I don't think you understand how terrified I was." I could feel his anger, and though it wasn't exactly directed at me, I felt terrible.

"I'm sorry, Noah. I shouldn't have followed her. I should have stayed at the tree, and I'm so sorry." Tears refilled my eyes, though they were never truly gone.

"It's okay. You're okay." Noah pulled me in for another hug, as if to assure himself I was real.

"I thought I would never see you again," I whispered, my voice catching on the words as a sob shook my body.

"I'm right here, Henri. I promise I'm never going anywhere."

Our lips met again tenderly, and I tried to stop crying.

"I love you," I whispered against his lips. It had been the only thing I wanted to say to him when I thought I would die, so I couldn't hold it back now.

He froze against me, his breath stopping.

Then, he pulled back quickly, grabbing my face in both of his hands, searching my face for something. Noah shook his head, and my stomach dropped before I understood that the look on his face wasn't disappointment or rejection—it was disbelief.

"I love you, Henri Baker."