Page 73 of The Last Aether

He stared at me for one more moment then turned and stormed away.

I was aware of two healers lifting Aiden onto a stretcher. He let out a soft moan as they moved him. Blood covered the front of his shirt, and I knew his nose had to be broken.

Gentle hands laid on my uninjured shoulder. “Lie back,” the woman instructed. It was the same healer who had helped me earlier. I needed to bake her cookies or something.

A gasp of pain flew from my lips as I lay back on the mat.

The healer frowned. “How bad is the pain?”

I wanted to answer her, but I couldn’t get the words out. I was just trying to breathe through the waves of fire coursing through my arm.

Footsteps sounded, pounding the ground at a speed that seemed otherworldly. A second later, Riven’s face filled my line of vision. “What the hell happened?”

“Aiden,” I croaked.

Riven let a stream of curses fly. “Where the hell is he?”

“He had to be removed by my colleagues. Your friend did a number on him,” the healer huffed.

“Good,” Riven shot back.

I tried to shift and cried out in pain. Riven froze. “Where are you hurt?”

“My arm. I think it’s broken.”

He glared at the woman next to us. “Why haven’t you healed her yet?”

The healer sent him a droll look. “Because you stormed over here and got in my way.”

The look that Riven sent her would’ve frozen lava.

She immediately dipped her head. “Apologies, Your Highness.”

“Heal her.”

The woman ghosted her hands over my arm, reading the injury.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “He gets cranky when I get hurt.”

The woman’s lips fluttered slightly. “I’ve been treated far worse.”

I frowned at that. “You shouldn’t be. You help people.”

She shrugged. “We’re not seen as valuable. When you’re a healer, typically your affinities are weak. That’s what elementals care about.”

“I can’t imagine a better gift than helping to ease people’s pain.”

The woman smiled at me. “Thank you.” She focused on my arm, brows pulling together. “This is a bad break in two places. I can heal the injury, but you’ll be sore for a while.”

“As long as it’s not this level of pain, I can deal.”

“I can do that. The actual healing may be painful because I’m knitting the bone back together.”

I swallowed but nodded. “Do it.”

Riven’s hand slipped into mine. He leaned down and pressed his lips to my temple. “I’m here.”

And I felt that presence. The warm reassurance that I wasn’t alone in this. I gripped his hand hard.