Page 81 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

“Get him inside!” Reyna barked, throwing open the nearest door. Blaz knelt and scooped Darius into his arms, G at his heels as they hauled him into the healer’s room. They threw him onto the table, holding him down as he thrashed, his limbs wild, tears streaking his cheeks.

Reyna summoned scissors and shredded through his shirt. What she revealed beneath turned my blood to ice. His skin bubbled like third-degree burns. His veins were black—spidering out from the gaping hole in his chest like rot.

“What curse or blade was this?” Reyna demanded, eyes wide as she turned to Montague.

“I—I didn’t see,” G stammered. “I heard gunshots, then screaming, and found him like this.”

“Bullets don’t do this,” Reyna muttered, already at the wound, her hands glowing.

Darius arched off the table, screaming.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. My mind begged for someone—anyone—with healing magic. Where the fuck were the healers?

“Get me a clairvoyant!” Reyna shouted, throwing Darius onto his side, yanking what remained of his shirt away. “No exit wound,” she gasped. Her eyes found mine. “Help me.”

“Tell me what to do!” I cried, lunging forward.

“Calm him down.”

Calm him down?

I dropped to my knees, cradling his blood-slick face in my hands. “Darius. Focus on me. Right here. I’ve got you.”

“Get it out,” he croaked, barely audible.

“We are,” I lied. “I’m here. I won’t leave you.”

His bloodshot eyes flicked between mine, dazed.

“We’ll patch you up, alright?”

“I’m scared, Freya,” he whispered, voice like paper.

“I know,” I said, throat burning. “But you’re not alone.”

Reyna returned with metal and leather. I offered him the bit and he clamped it between his teeth, shaking.

I felt the moment his energy shifted—the moment he began to fade. Reyna did too.

“No, no, no,” she breathed.

“Where I come from,” I whispered, “this is just the beginning. Energy doesn’t end. In one form or another, we go on.” I kissed his forehead, already cooling. “See you again soon, brother.”

And then Reyna was moving—desperate—climbing over his body and digging into his chest, trying to root out whatever was killing him. Darius groaned, bucking as Blaz rushed to hold him down.

But then his head dropped, going limp.

“No!” Reyna shrieked. “Stay with me, Darius Alexander! You stay with me!”

She pulled something free. A bullet. But it shimmered with a silvery-blue glow, and every inch of my body froze.

“No,” Reyna sobbed, hands glowing, pouring healing magic into him. “No no no no⁠—”

I added my power to hers. Others joined. A desperate, united effort. Still, his skin darkened. Veins blackened. The bullet wound began to decay, like his body was being eaten from the inside out.

“Reyna,” I said, my voice hollow.

She didn’t stop.