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“And I improved them,” Wilder added. “You’re welcome.”

“You didn’t improve anything,” Acheron snapped, his brows drawn and his mouth turned down in a grimace. “You just spent the entire time wiggling your fingers and trying to look pretty.”

“You think I’m pretty?” he asked with a cocky grin.

“I said ‘trying’, asshole.” Acheron pinched the bridge of his nose before giving Damyr a flat look. “Can I kill him? please?”

Damyr sighed heavily. “Like it or not, he’s here as a guest to help us. So you’ll just have to play nice.”

Wilder blew a kiss at Acheron which made him snap. He hurled what looked like a lightning bolt which struck Wilder right in the middle of his chest. The witch fell forwards, his hand clutching the spot above his heart.

“Acheron!” Damyr snapped, but I was already lunging towards Wilder.

I rolled him over onto his back. He wasn’t breathing. I checked his pulse. Shit. I started chest compressions.

“What the fuck was that, Acheron?” Vlad demanded.

“Just a few thousand volts of electricity.” At least he had the grace to look sheepish. “I didn’t think it’d stop his heart. I thought he was more impervious to magic than that.”

I paused the compressions and checked for a pulse. Nothing. I started up again. He’d be lucky if I could get his heart started again. I needed a defibrillator to shock it back into a rhythm.

Fuck it.

I curled my hand into a fist and thumped it hard onto his sternum.

“What the hell are you doing?” Damyr asked.

“Trying to save his life!” I thumped Wilder again. “Come on. You will not die today.”

Another thump.

His eyes shot open, and he flew upwards with a jolt. His chest heaved deep breaths into his lungs and his eyes were wild.

I grabbed his shoulders and soothed him like I would a wild animal. “Easy, Wilder. Easy.”

“Where is that fucker? I’m going to kill him.” He took another few rapid breaths.

“Hey, look at me.” Wilder’s violet eyes met mine. They were full of anger and rage, but there was a little bit of fear buried in their depths too. A brush with death would do that to a person. “Breathe with me.” I took a slow, deep breath, encouraging him to copy me. “That’s it.”

When his breathing returned to a more stable rhythm, I checked his pulse again. It was a little elevated, but nothing that worried me.

“Thank you,” he muttered, his fingers flexing against his thighs.

“Don’t mention it. Let’s get you up and into a chair.” I helped heave him off the ground. He wobbled on his feet a little, which was understandable since he’d just died for a few moments, but he made it to an armchair without incident.

Acheron, on the other hand, looked like he was chewing glass. Guess, I’d missed something in the commotion of saving Wilder. Now I understood what Vlad had meant about Wilder being a spark of chaos.

“Well, that was all very entertaining.”

I turned towards the door and saw Lucia standing there looking hideously glamorous and gorgeous with none other than Remy Lavaeux.

Holy fuck.

Warm, golden skin and eyes the colour of honey. The man looked like a sweet treat just waiting to be unwrapped. He was always stunning in his photoshoots, but up close, the guy was impossibly beautiful.

“Stop drooling,” Vlad whispered in my ear.

I brushed my thumb against the corner of my mouth, double checking I hadn’t actually managed to drool over the guy. I looked at Damyr, but he just looked pissed that his wife was here. With her new boy toy.