Emmery’s back arched, as if it could ward off the pain. But she couldn’t hold back the sad, weak cry that slipped from her. The pain persisted. And persisted. Ravaged and ate away at her, bit by bit, scraping and clawing and writhing, but the wounds slowly knit and she worked down his arms and chest, desperate to have this done. To be rid of this pain. She focussed on his back, where she finally identified and found those splintered membranes.
Agony. Sheer agony. The corners of her vision faded, the pain became a warm, wet blur and her heavy head lolled. She fought for consciousness.
Destonne’s eyelids fluttered open and his lips parted on a ragged exhale. “I forgot what it’s like,” he murmured. His deep, gravelly voice stirred something in her chest. Emmery met his eyes but couldn’t speak.
“Not to hurt,” he said on an impossibly long breath.
At the statement, bloated with such vulnerability and heartache from the depths of his soul, she couldn’t do anything but stare. After she’d endured his pain at the pond and now this confession, she now knew that was how he lived—his body his own casket of torment.
After running his tongue over his bottom lip, something sharpened in his eyes. “Careful, your vestige is thinned.”
Emmery hated to admit he was right, but as her body heat fled with each of her threads, her glow faded to a mere honeyed residue. Yet underneath it the urge to take all his pain and holdit within herself screamed. Also the urge to hunt down that bitch Senka, and cook her eyeballs like eggs.
But as she reeled back her magic, relief struck her so violently she nearly crumpled to the ground. Emmery brought her finger to his cheek to heal Senka’s claw marks last. His stuttering breath caught her off guard, and the way he looked at her made her focus anywhere but on him. Anywhere but at whatever lingered in that look that she couldn’t handle, like a waltz she didn’t know the moves to. When his hand lifted and caught hers, she yanked it away, though her heart leapt at the touch.
Her gaze fell to the patchwork of scarred skin mended countless times, shiny, uneven, and sort ofbeautiful. Though the thick blood coated him, the skin on his shoulder she’d healed after the hound attack appeared slightly smoother.
“I could probably reduce your scars,” Emmery observed.
His eyes hardened. “That’s not necessary.”
She withdrew the little remaining magic inside her. “I don’t mind. The skin where I healed you last time almost looks normal, and—”
“I didn’t know you found my scars so offensive.”
His black stare bore into her, stripped her bare. She opened her mouth to speak, but Destonne clenched his jaw and turned away. Emmery didn’t know what to say, her tongue suddenly thick and a lump lodged in her throat.
Brennen raised his head and nuzzled his shoulder. Destonne rested a tired hand between the wolf’s horns in a familiar gesture they easily sank into.
“I’m alright, Bren. No need to concern yourself.” Destonne’s head slumped back against the tree trunk as the two fell into a conversation Emmery once again only heard one side of.
Her chest throbbed with a hurt she had no business harbouring. She shifted closer to the fire and willed the warmth to absorb into her core. Unfathomably tired, Emmery laid downon the ground and curled into a ball. Her eyelids closed as the silence needled her soul.
“Thank you,” Destonne finally said, but hesitance dragged his words.
Emmery sucked in a breath and held his gratitude, waiting for it to provide some relief after the pain she’d contained in her body.
It never did.
“It’s the least I could do,” she replied. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Done what?”
She wrapped her arms tighter around herself. “Taken my payment.”
“Why not?”
Always so many questions. She ground her teeth. “She could have killed you. She wasgoingto kill you.”
“Though it’s very sweet you’re worried about me, I can handle it,” he said simply, his voice close behind her. “Are you going to sleep like that?”
“How else would I sleep?” she grumbled, her eyes still closed.
“You could sleep with me. It would be warmer.”
She huffed a laugh and fought a shiver. “No, thank you.”
“You didn’t seem to mind on the way to Reize’s house.” Emmery cracked an eyelid to see him watching her. Darkness circled his eyes and the hollows in his cheeks appeared deeper. “The invitation is open should you change your mind.” Then Destonne fell onto his side, and fell asleep in moments.