“MAITAGARRI.”
Waleron? No, it was impossible. But he sounded so real, as if… as if he was right next to me.
“Baby, please.”
Heated breath swept across my cheek, warming it for a few seconds and then it was gone again.
“Jedrik. Zurina. I found her. East side of McCowen Road, half mile north of Vivian Road.” Silence. “She’s dying, damn it. Get here now.”
The familiar telepathic voice drifted into my mind, but I didn’t understand. Waleron was dead. Why did his voice sound right next to me? Why did I hear him speak so clearly in my mind?
But maybe I was finally leaving this Earth. The pain from Tarek’s beating was gone and the violent shivering had stopped. I felt nothing. The suffering would finally be over.
Something heavy lowered on top of me. I jerked, afraid of more pain. Afraid Tarek had come back to hurt me.
Soft fabric rubbed against my chin and the material smelled like Waleron. Every raspy inhale was him, and I silently cried with relief.
He was here to take me away. To take me with him to the afterlife.
His hand slipped under my head and lifted it, then slowly lowered it again onto something soft.
Oh God, Waleron.
His scent invaded my senses and I slipped further into the void, no longer scared to die alone. He’d never let that happen. Waleron would always find a way to be with me.
I pried my swollen lids open, wincing and hesitating as pain shot through my head. I shut them again then tried once more.
A shadowy figure crouched beside me, a man with broad shoulders and small cuts all over his face. My eyes trailed from his chin to his lips, nose, then eyes… eyes like…. Ice-blue eyes.
Waleron.
But—it was impossible. Waleron was dead. I was hallucinating in the last moments before death claimed me.
I tried to move my arm, to reach up and touch the blurred face hovering above me.
“No.” Fingers curled around my hand and squeezed. “Do not move, maitagarri,” he said.
Maitagarri. Only Waleron called me that.
He held my hand. His scent all around me. It was him. Yet believing that Waleron was next to me was—
“I’m here, baby.”
Oh God.
My breath hitched and was quickly followed by coughing as I choked on the blood in my lungs. Tears that had dried and evaporated days ago trickled down my face anew.
“You need to stay still.” He caressed my temple with the pad of his thumb.
I moaned, half with pain and half with delusion. Was this real? I was terrified to believe and then have it ripped away before I died. That would be my ultimate torture.
“How? How could he do this to you?” His voice was raspy and cracked, as if the words were trapped in his throat and he had to force them out. “Jesus, Delara. If you had died….” He leaned closer, his lips a breath away from my cheek. “Please, I beg of you, live. Hold on for me, baby. Zurina is coming.” He tucked my hair behind my ear, but a few strands stuck to my face, and based on the scent it was from the dried blood.
“No one will ever harm you again. I swear this to you, maitagarri.”
His warmth radiated from him and a gurgled sigh escaped my lips. “Waleron,” I murmured. “How… are you… alive?” I coughed again and blood spurted from my parted lips, dripping down my chin.
“Shhh.” The pad of his thumb wiped the blood away.
“What happened—”
He placed his finger on my lips. “Do not speak. Please.”
I coughed again and from the amount of blood that sprayed from my mouth and nose, I knew it wouldn’t be long.
He squeezed my hand. “I will never let you go. Understand me. Never.” He kissed my temple and across my brow. “You will not die.”
But I was dying, and I was ready. I’d die in his arms, the only place I ever wanted to be.
“No!” he growled, as if he’d read my thoughts.
God, I wanted so badly to touch him. Hold him.
Our eyes met and in the ice-blue depths of his I saw fear hovering. But Waleron didn’t fear anything.
“You will not die. I won’t let you,” he ground out.
“So… long… you were gone. I felt… you.” I tried to whisper the words, but they came out broken and harsh. “Cold… I’m….” Why was I so cold again? I coughed and swallowed the bitter iron taste of blood. “So cold.” My vision faded and I struggled to inhale a breath.
He tucked his jacket in around me. “Zurina is near. A few more minutes.”
There was an intense burning in my chest as I dragged in air. But it wasn’t enough.
Suffocating in my own blood.
I glanced one more time at the man I loved then closed my eyes, my head sagging to the side, my hand limp in his.
“No!” he roared. “No, goddamn it. You can’t leave me. Do you understand me? Fight, baby. Fight, and I swear I will find a way to protect you for the rest of my fuckin’ life.”
My last thought was that it was odd hearing Waleron swear. A car door slammed, then running footsteps.
Then nothing.
“Heal her. Now!” I shouted at Zurina as she and Jedrik ran toward me.
Zurina knelt beside Delara, cat-like charcoal eyes sweeping over her massacred body. “Her lungs are filled with fluid.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I ground out the words, unable to even comprehend the reality of what was happening. Delara had to live. “Heal her lungs first.”
She lowered her head, sitting back on her heels, hands resting on her thighs. “Waleron, it’s too late. She’s beyond healing. I’m sorry. I cannot save her.”
“No!” My roar ripped from my throat, so loud the sparrows took flight from the trees. “You’re a Healer. Her heart still beats. She will live.”
Zurina sighed, reaching out to touch my forearm, then deciding at the last second not to touch me. “I’m not strong enough to heal her wounds. They’re too severe and I’m weak after healing you in the Realm.” Resignation. There was fuckin’ resignation in her voice. “This is Tarek’s doing. His image came to me the moment I stepped from the car. I suspect he doesn’t know she lives.” Her eyes trailed down Delara’s body. “He meant for her to die.”
“Well, he failed.” I held Delara’s hand, feeling her weakening pulse, and my own pulse slowed with it. We were connected in every way, and her death would kill any sanity I had left. “She will live.”
Zurina shuffled back on her knees, her jeans wet from the ditch. “It’s too late. Please, Waleron, allow me to put her in DS and let her go in peace.”
My eyes snapped to hers. “Never. You will save her,” I ordered, and grabbed Zurina’s wrist, forcing her hand over Delara’s chest. “Take the fluid from her lungs. Now!”
Zurina jerked back when her palm touched Delara’s body, her face paling. As a Healer, she’d envision Delara’s pain and the images of what had happened to her. After healing me in the Realm, it was a lot for her to take in.
Christ, how long had she been lying in this ditch? Why? Why would Tarek, a Scar, do this?
“Think of what you ask,” she said, her voice unsteady. “It will be days of healing and she can’t survive DS. She may never heal and could slip away after intense suffering. I would not want that for any of us.” Zurina’s eyes closed and she inhaled a deep breath. “Please, Waleron, reconsider. You’re not thinking clearly. Let her go.”
Was it too late? Was Zurina right and I was going to cause Delara more suffering? Zurina had never hesitated to heal any of us. Could she be right?
I shook my head. “No, I’ve given my oath to protect her. I will not break it. Ever. You will save her at all costs.”
Zurina’s lips pursed and eyes narrowed. “Your oath is to the Scars and your mother and more importantly, to the Goddess Azzurra. This woman cannot surpass that. Let her go, Waleron. Please, I beg of you.”
My gaze landed on Delara and I felt her heart struggle to take its next beat. Or maybe its final beat.
But let her go? No, it was impossible. Losing her would be like taking out my heart and throwing it in the pit of hell. No. Delara must live, even if I could never have her. She had to remain on this Earth with me.
“Waleron.” Jedrik stepped closer and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Delara wouldn’t want…. Frig, you know I love her more than anything, but maybe it’s best—”
My eyes snapped to Jedrik and he quickly let me go and stepped back.
I glared at Zurina. “Save her. I will not ask again.”
“I won’t put her through the suffering. It’s not right.” Zurina went to back away, but I grabbed her arm with such force she cried out.
I didn’t know why she was so adamant about refusing to heal Delara, and right then I didn’t give a fuck. “I’m not asking any longer, Zurina.”
She waited for several seconds before finally giving a solemn nod.
I released her and took Delara’s hand in mine.
“Her pain will be great,” Zurina warned. “And I fear not all of her will heal.”
I nodded. Holding Delara while Zurina healed her meant I too would feel and see what had happened to Delara. “Do it now.”
Zurina lowered her hands over Delara’s chest and her palms slowly burned bright red as she closed her eyes, a soft hum emerging from her lips.
The visions and pain struck me hard and fast.
Tarek pushing her down the stairs. His fists pummeling into her like a punching bag. Dragging her across the floor by the hair and smashing her head into a marble table. The snap of bone as Tarek twisted her arm.
A low growl emerged from my chest, like that of a wounded animal, and my grip on Delara released as my body convulsed and stomach heaved.
I staggered to my feet.
“Waleron?” Jedrik called.
Stumbling out of the wet ditch, I fell to my knees on the gravel shoulder beside the car, one hand leaning on the front tire for support.
“Whoa, you okay?” Jedrik asked as he came up behind me. “Christ, maybe you should—”
“Fuck off!” I growled, then threw up on the side of the road.