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“Poison.”

She stiffened at his chuckle. “Serves him right.”

The fiercest snarl to ever escape her lips had Talon backpedaling. She stood and the magic rose with her, increasing in tempo. It hit his skin, melting on contact. “I said he comes with us.” She was running out of time. Rion wasn’t responding and his heart, that slow, sloshing beat, was enough to make panic course through her anew. “Please.”

Talon clenched his jaw, nodded, and let his magic fade. She gritted her teeth and draped one of Rion’s arms around her shoulder. Talon took the other, glaring at Rion as if he were a parasite.

She didn’t care, not so long as Talon helped her get him to safety. Wherever that was.

They ran, Talon’s warriors forming a tight circle around the trio. Her legs throbbed and threatened to buckle beneath the added weight, but she had to keep going. He was still going. Rion was fighting. She’d fight too.

The group disappeared into the trees, running, running, running until she was sure her body would give out.

One of Talon’s warriors veered to the left, and they followed. He pulled thick branches away from the side of a rocky hill, revealing the mouth of a dark den and they ducked inside. Talon assisted her with pulling Rion toward the back and they laid him on the cold ground then Talon backed away.

Arianna cupped Rion’s head. His eyes slit long enough to look at her, but she couldn’t be sure how much he understood.

Without looking at Talon, Arianna placed her hands over Rion’s chest. She searched along the bloodstream, listening to Rion’s ragged breath, and focused on his lungs first.

The world and its noise faded until Rion’s pulse was the only thing echoing through her body. She furrowed her brow, focusing on the bloodstream and the tissues that had begun to decay.

Sludge. Thick, undiluted sludge. That’s what the poison felt like. It coated everything in its path. Arianna quelled her rising panic and trapped one small particle at a time, forming them into a sphere so tiny, it’d slide through his sweat glands. She formed another. And another. Isolating. Holding.

A tear slid down her face. She swallowed and prayed to the gods that Rion wouldn’t die from what she was about to do.

With another breath, Arianna pulled the poison from his blood, through his muscles, and out his skin. His body arched, writhing in agony and Rion’s hoarse voice pierced her soul.

Chapter Thirty

Rion

Run, Arianna.

It was a mantra in his head. He’d started whispering it, over and over, praying she’d listen, but his lips had numbed and ceased moving. Then his eyes had gone hazy, and his hearing faded in and out.

He could hear the growls, hear her fighting, and when her body covered his, he was sure she’d fall still and silent. So sure, he was willing to die right there with her. But her hands had brushed through his hair, and she’d whispered while holding him in a protective embrace.

He couldn’t make out the words, couldn’t concentrate as his body fought against every command. Breath. Breath. Breath. Arianna might still be able to save him. It was clear she had no other plans and if she was protecting him, then maybe she stood a chance.

But he still wished she’d run.

Moments later a snarl ripped from her throat so loud and fierce he’d snapped to, but only for a moment.

A male.

From Móirín.

She was safe then. Protected.

But two sets of arms lifted him from the ground, and Rion knew he had one more task to complete. To stay alive long enough for her to try. Because if she didn’t, she’d never forgive herself and Rion wouldn’t let her suffer that torment.

So, though it felt as if a thousand shards of glass ran through his lungs, though his body longed to give up and rest, Rion forced air into his chest over and over again.

Seemingly only moments later, her magic seeped into him, warm and welcoming. Soon, he promised his body. Soon, the pain would recede. Arianna would do it, Arianna would—pain lanced through his core like a hot iron and he couldn’t hold it in. Rion screamed, thrashing against the agony that felt like a demon ripping the soul from his body.

When it subsided, he drew in a trembling breath, but his body felt brittle and broken. Seconds later, it filled, sweeping that unbearable ache away as if it never existed.

Then it happened all over again. And again. It tore through him in an endless cycle. Pain. Relief. Pain. Relief. Pain. Tears ran down his face and he fought, desperate to escape. He pleaded, thrashed, but it just kept coming.