Page 42 of Spirit Storm

“Sweet Mother Mary,” Freya gasps.

I open my eyes, and she’s staring at me. Well, not so much me, but the golden glow encompassing my entire body. “Yeah, that happens sometimes.”

Asher winks at me. “Yeah, Birdie. You do your thing, girlfriend. You rock.”

I close my eyes again and focus on the only acceptable outcome. Wylder being well and whole.

When I feel the power and intention of the Goddess Mother recede, I open my eyes and pull my hand back with a frown. The skin where I was touching him is even angrier than it was when we began.

My throat closes. “Did we make it worse?”

Henrik shakes his head. “We stopped the progression. The damage of the burn itself will take time and more healing power than we have.”

My chest aches with the failure.

Wylder is still so pale. I swipe my cheek with the back of my hand as his handsome face wavers behind a wall of tears. “I’m so sorry you’re hurting.”

"Asher can take him now," Freya says. "Cormac can have an Order healer manage the burns now that we’ve stopped the damage from increasing."

"Yes," the word comes out of me in a rush. "Asher, take him. We’ll wait right here, I swear.”

Asher frowns.

“Hey, I know what you’re going to say, and I get it. But I promise you, if you do this for me, I won’t move an inch. I’ll wait right here, I swear. Just snap him back to the headquarters and then come back. Please.”

I know he doesn’t like the idea, but he dips his chin. “Right here.” He points toward the floor.

I hold up my pinky finger. “Promise.”

He locks his finger around mine. “Promise.”

A quick shuffle moves Freya and Henrik out of the way and gives me a chance to kiss Wylder and then they’re gone.

The silence that follows hurts my heart.

Everyone is feeling the emotional drain of the past hour and the weight of Wylder’s injury.

“We're not far from the chamber now,” Freya says.

Orion nods. “We’ll see what we can learn in there and then we’ll get back to Wylder. I bet he’ll be sitting up and eating Jell-O by the time we get there.”

Man, I hope so.

“You realize Asher won’t be able to just portal back here, don’t you?” Freya says.

Orion, Rowan, and I all turn at once.

“What?”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean?”

Her brows arch. “If it were as simple as portaling to the chamber, why wouldn’t we have just done that and by-passed the dangers of the traps?”

Oh, I never thought of that.

“It was still the best call, though. Wylder has the best chance at recovery the sooner he’s in the hands of qualified healers.”