Page 63 of Malcroix Bones Academy

There were an indeterminate number of seconds, or maybe fractions of a second, while I sat there, choking.

No one at the table noticed at first.

Given I couldn’t inhale even part of a breath, I’m not surprised.

I stared across to Darragh, but he was laughing, talking to Luc. My eyes shifted to the table past ours. By then, I couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound. A pair of gold eyes stared back, and that time, I really couldn’t look away.

I had no memory of when I lost consciousness.

I didn’t know precisely when my vision went away, or when I collapsed backwards from the bench onto the stone floor. I couldn’t see myself turn deathly white, then blue as my air passage got choked off for too long, or the chaos that erupted around me.

I heard about all of that after.

At the time, I didn’t know anything.

Not until it all came rushing violently back.

I choked outwards, then sucked in a desperate breath that hurt my lungs, my throat, my heart, and somehow even myfingers. That was followed by thick, wracking, exploding, painful coughs.

My body arched from the effort, or tried to.

Something like black smoke rippled out of my mouth, bringing a thick wave of nausea. It nearly made me pass out again. I coughed instead, straining, eyes streaming, and more of the black smoke left through my mouth and nose.Get it out of me.The thought echoed, attached to nothing.Gods, get it out of me.

I’m trying,a voice muttered.

Try harder,I demanded.You can do it harder than that. Please.

I felt him flinch.

Then a vibrating wave of heat and light and color slammed into me, so intense my breath got stuck, my heart stuttered under my ribs. That light flooded into my lungs. The black smoke ripped out of me painfully, violently, but a hell of a lot more of it left. It felt like watching someone yank a long, foul, sick-smelling worm out of my throat.

Disgusting… so, so disgusting.

But gods, such an enormous relief.

I felt an overwhelming rush of gratitude, even though I didn’t understand. I coughed, and a smaller, paler cloud of smoke came out. I still couldn’t really move, but my lungs were pulling in air again. My heart was beating. I realized only then that something heavy pinned me down, that I was lying flat on my back on cold stone.

My eyes struggled open, my throat burning like I’d drunk gasoline, my chest burning, my head pounding, and stared up at a face that already seemed to haunt me.

Gold, metallic eyes stared back.

An angular face, hard jaw, and pursed, yet strangely perfect lips hung over me.

He had a hand around my throat, and my first thought was, gods, he’s killing me. He was going to murder me in front of all of them… until I realized he wasn’t throttling me, and something hot and impossibly strong flooded thickly from his fingers into my skin and bones and the muscles of my throat. It was unmistakable. It was the same magic, the same presence I’d felt before, the one that banished that black smoke.

Gods, it had been him. He’d been the one who saved me.

That had beenhismagic.

I focused on his eyes.

Gods. He was staring at me like I was the one with my hand around his throat.

“I didn’t…” His throat moved in a low whisper. “I didn’t fuckingsaveyou… don’t tell anyone that. Don’t fucking tell anyone that.” His jaw hardened, right as his fingers tightened, his rings digging into my skin. He lowered his mouth to my ear. “Don’t tell anyone that. Please, Shadow. Gods-damn it,please.”

He said it so quietly, I questioned whether I’d heard him at all.

I had, though. I had heard him.