Page 55 of Hybrid Heroics

“Do you want the answer? Or was it rhetorical?”

I shook my head, but murmured, “Yes.”

He scrubbed his hands over his cheeks before leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees. “It was fast. Consuming. It knocked me out of my chair, sucking the breath from my lungs as if there was no more oxygen in the room. It felt like she died, too. And by the time we got to you, she’d already forced the bond.”

“She was panicking, fucking crying. I don’t know another word strong enough to describe what I saw. But I know she used so much power to bring you back, she was too weak to stand. I picked her up, holding her like I did all day today. Vaughn tried to heal you, but he wasn’t needed. She’d already repaired you; we just watched as it took effect.

“You tried to speak, but we weren’t able to hear the first words. She did, though. I mean, I don’t know if she actually heard what you said or just heard the sound pass from your lips. But she jerked out of my arms so fast, she hit the ground, too weak to land gracefully on her feet.

Briggs scratched at his brow, swallowing thickly. “I got what Jack meant about her emotions, then. She’s either all in or you get nothing. That’s what they were trying to tell us in Hell... That if she ever really broke, it was heartbreaking. Jack tried to fix her when York was captured, but he couldn’t.

“Time hardened her back to what she’d been before the druid came along. We softened her up again. If she wouldn’t have been able to save you—” He cut himself off, shrugging. “We wouldn’t have had the same Sloane we have now. Something would have broken in her that none of us would have been able to repair.”

“And that’s why she’s so protective,” I commented.

He nodded. “Because she cares. She cares about us, but she also cares about herself. She knows she’ll break if something happens to one of us. We’re targets, whether or not we realize it, and Alric would use any one of us to hurt her.”

“Which is why she closed the bonds,” I surmised. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”

“I guessed. I think we’ve all come to the same conclusion.”

Had we?

Had we known all along but skirted around saying it aloud?

I knew she cared, knew she loved us. And to Sloane, that meant keeping all of us safe, herself included. Because she couldn’t repeat the past and come out the other side as the same person.

To her, she cared about too many people… And that was a good thing when they made her feel wanted, accepted, loved, treasured. But that was a bad thing when they could be used to bend her beyond her tolerance threshold, used to hurt her simply because she felt something for them.

I stared out at the darkened yard, wondering what lay in wait. The boys were patrolling, but butterflies didn’t move faster than hellhounds.

“You know what I just thought about?” Briggs murmured, watching the same abyss for signs of life.

“No. What?”

“None of us really need much sleep anymore,” he mentioned. “I needed at least six hours a night to function before we sealed our bond. Now though? I think I’ve had that much sleep in the last week, and I’m not tired.”

I glanced at him, nodding in agreement. “I hadn’t really thought of that. But you’re right. I slept once while we were in the fae realm.”

“York mentioned something a few weeks ago, but he’s slept less and less with each bond that she’s sealed.”

“Novak doesn’t sleep at all. Stone sleeps very little... And Sloane is somewhere between them.”

“No.” He shook his head, then wobbled it. “Maybe. I’ve seen her sleep for hours at a time, though.”

“When?”

He frowned. “With Dolyn’s potion.”

“That’s understandable,” I assured him. “Dolyn said he warned her.”

“While we were at Amelia’s, too.”

“She did sleep while we were there. With me and with Vaughn.” I tapped my chin. “Maybe this stasis is a good thing, then?”

“She’s learning shit about Alric while resting her body,” he guessed, though there was confidence in his voice.

I chuckled. “She’s gearing up for war. And I’ll bet she led us here to figure out the curse while she got ready.”