Page 52 of Rhuyin

I could see emergency vehicles all around the perimeter of the building, lights flashing and sirens wailing. Distantly I could almost feel emergency personnel making their way through the ruined portions of the building in search of victims. Rhu stayed focused on Naya as I worked to bring us down somewhere close to the rescue teams, ignoring the points and shouts as we got closer.

This was probably the most magic I had used in one go since I had created the tunnel to free Master Tarek. Elex and I had worked to hide our true abilities from the Elusians, using only the minimum power necessary to accomplish any task. That meant there were very few times when we were able to unleash everything we had.

As I set us down near one of the vehicles, slowly pulling the metal and earth back into the ground I heard Rhu hand Naya off to some medics with an urgent warning about the metal in her leg. As I looked back I could see a massive expanse of collapsed building radiating out from a central spot, like the ripples of water a stone makes when dropped in a pond.

Fuck. Naya hadn’t been the only one fortunate to have survived that blast.

“Call them back,” I told one of the medics urgently. She looked at me in confusion.

“I’m an Earth Mageia. I can feel the rescue teams in there. There’s no one else in there, alive or dead. If they rush in, they’re just going to get hurt for no reason.”

She looked at me doubtfully for a moment, then her eyes rested on the metal and stone circle that had levitated us out of the building and nodded in understanding. I heard her relay the information on the radio at her shoulder before turning her attention to Naya.

A wave of dizziness washed over me and I shook my head.

“Are you okay?” I heard Rhu ask, but his voice seemed to be coming from very far away. I caught a final glimpse of his emerald green eyes before I dropped to my knees and felt the darkness overtake me.

Chapter 16

Rhuyin

I barely had time to catch Luke before he collapsed. One of the medics rushed over to us and helped me lay him gently on the ground.

She rested her hand on his chest for a moment and closed her eyes in concentration as her partner worked on Naya.

“He’s okay. Feels like he’s just drained,” she said, smiling at me as she opened her eyes. “We’ll take him to the infirmary until he wakes up.”

I nodded. I was still astonished at how he had been able to protect us from the blast.

“Can I—Can I go with him?” I asked hesitantly.

“Of course! We’d never separate a Bonded pair,” she said, confusion in her eyes.

“Oh! We’re not—I mean, he just—we’re—”

“Winnie, we gotta move,” her partner called, interrupting us. “I’ve got most of the bleeding stopped, but she’s probably going to need a transfusion.”

I realized these two were actually a Bonded pair themselves. Her partner seemed to be a Water Mageia and I saw him magically begin delivering fluids to Naya.

I lifted Luke in my arms. While we were mostly the same height, he was light in my arms. I knew that Mageia in Alexandria had it rough, but I could feel his ribs sharply through his shirt. They had to be borderline starving.

The ambulance was small and only had one cot, so I secured him as best as I could in the seat next to me and kept one hand wrapped around his thin waist to make sure he didn’t topple. At least, that’s what I told myself. Privately, I could admit to myself that the feel of his magic thrumming over my skin was addictive.

The ride to the infirmary was surreal. Out the back of the ambulance I could see so many emergency vehicles surrounding the damaged building.

“Was anyone else hurt?” Naya asked from her stretcher. The medics had started her on IV fluids and pain medication.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “Luke said he didn’t sense anyone else, but it’s hard to imagine that something this bigdidn’thurt anyone else.”

She nodded groggily.

“N’one shoulda got hurt. No one supposed to be…” then her eyes closed as she faded into unconsciousness.

The medic, Winnie, looked at me.

“What did she mean by that?”

“No clue. Luke is one of the new Mageia, and he got lost in the admin building. I had just found him when the explosion happened. We found Naya near the boiler room.”