Page 23 of The Last Wish (Lost Legacy #1)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

IDRIS

M y magic lashes out like an icy storm. Frozen bursts send the papers I’ve been sifting through flying across the room. I sip from my tumbler of whiskey, but only a trickle of liquor makes it through the sheet of ice that’s formed in the glass.

The little djinn is going to die.

She is fading away like sunlight devoured by night, fragile as butterfly wings and just as fleeting. Soon she will be gone, and another ghost will haunt me.

Perhaps the gods have cursed me to stand silently by as an impotent witness to tragedy, saddling me with the weight of the cruelest of memories. I have knowledge, but it cannot help her. I have power, but it cannot save her. I can take her pain, but not the true poison siphoning away her life force.

Even now, as her magic consumes her from the inside out, Sheena clings to hope. Insidious and slippery, I have no stomach for that particular emotion.

I look down at the useless spread of papers with disgust, cursing myself for getting involved in the first place. There is neither word nor rumor of any magical objects or talismans kept hidden through time. Now, as her strength wanes, I am out of answers.

I wish she had never turned her green eyes in my direction.

A floorboard creaks, and I sense her incubus demon standing behind me. I turn to find him staring at my destroyed study, fear etched across his face.

“You really can’t help her,” Callum says, each syllable warped by pain. It puts a damper on the rage I feel at the invasion of my privacy at two o’clock in the morning.

“I cannot,” I admit, forcing my fists to unclench.

“Do you know how long she has?”

His voice trembles, but there’s an undercurrent of determination that surprises me. Perhaps I underestimated him. If only that mattered.

Meeting his stare, I shake my head. “No exact estimate, but from what I felt...” The demon’s black eyes glitter dangerously in the dark. “She does not have long.”

Instead of slumping in response, Callum stands a little taller. “I gave her my blood. She’s resting now?—”

“But it won’t last.” I finish the thought and he nods.

“I have to go,” he says. I blink at his quick shift. “Will you manage her pain while I’m gone?”

Although the question is simple enough, the distaste he feels asking for my help is written across his face. I find it less satisfying than usual.

“I will give her all the relief at my disposal.” I incline my head to assure him. It’s a pointless exercise. We both know I would grant her that comfort with or without his request. “What could be so important to pull you away from her side now?”

I have my suspicions, but I want to hear him confirm them. While I don’t expect him to answer, I find myself strangely frustrated when he simply meets my stare, and then turns to leave.

“Callum.” I raise my voice. His name feels odd on my tongue. “What do you intend to do?”

He pauses but doesn’t face me.

“Whatever it takes.”

The demon leaves my wing without another word. May he find more success than the gods ever afforded me.

As soon as the sun rises, I creep through the shifter wing with my invisibility glamour firmly in place. I have neither the time nor the patience to answer questions about why I’m lurking around at dawn. I slip into their bedroom and find Gideon already awake. He holds her tight to his side as she shivers and moans in her sleep.

Just like in the courtyard, he smells me at once.

“I know you’re here, fae,” he whispers.

Fate is stealing his mate from his arms. It’s cruel, but I’m still cautious. With the absence of an enemy to fight, he could turn his rage on me. Carefully, I remove the glamour and study him.

“Help her, please,” Gideon begs.

His pleading startles me, but I don’t hesitate to approach the bed and assess the situation. Gideon has the blankets piled high around them, even though the temperature in the room is already uncomfortably warm. Sheena’s hair is damp with sweat, and when I place my fingers to her temples, her skin is icy to the touch. A shiver rolls down my spine.

It’s worse than I thought.

I take Sheena’s pain, watching as she relaxes into the pillows. Her head turns into Gideon’s chest, seeking his comfort even in her sleep. He watches her like one might observe their salvation and damnation all rolled into one.

“Do you know where Callum is?” Gideon asks, glancing at me as he tucks the covers tightly around Sheena.

“I do not,” I say. He looks down, defeat etched in every line of his body. Despite myself, I feel a pang of sympathy. “But I spoke to him earlier this morning. I believe he is working on some sort of plan.”

Gideon perks up for a moment before narrowing his eyes.

“It wouldn’t have killed him to say that,” he mutters, and a muscle in his jaw twitches. “Sneaking out in the middle of the night and turning his phone off is fucked up.”

Personally, I agree, but I keep my opinions to myself, sinking gingerly down into a seat near the bed. At his raised eyebrows, I steeple my fingers. “Callum asked me to ensure she remained pain free until his return.”

Gideon accepts that without question, but he watches me with a calculating gleam in his eye.

“What?” I snap, fed up with his ill-concealed speculation.

“You said you don’t know where he is.” Gideon strokes his chin. “But you must have suspicions.”

Certainly, but that doesn’t mean he’s entitled to them. Leaning back, I hold my ground against his probing eye contact.

“I would never venture to hazard a guess,” I talk over his scoff. “However, from Callum’s demeanor, I suspect his plan to be something he believes to be an unpopular choice.”

Gideon sits on that for a moment, eyes narrowed in thought. If he has any suspicions about where his friend went, he doesn’t share them with me.