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I trusted her.
“Take me to him,” I told Quinn, reaching out a hand. His gaze flicked to my outstretched fingers and back to my eyes as he took a hesitant step closer. “I can save him, Quinn.”
Relief crossed his otherwise unflappable expression, and I wondered what the truth felt like to him. He slid his hand into mine. “I know you can.”
He remained steady as I used his grip to pull myself upright, ignoring the wave of dizziness that crashed over me.
Alaric’s hand landed softly against my back. “Alright, Pixie.” He flicked off the monitor and carefully unhooked me before easing the IV out of my arm.
I half-expected Quinn to let go of my hand and let someone else move in, but he surprised us all by shifting the blanket down my legs and scooping me into his arms. My heart stuttered at the sudden nearness, the intimacy of being held by him when everything between us was still fraught with tension. He was careful as he cradled me against his chest, the throbbing pain in my ribs muted by his warm black pepper and bergamot scent.
“Okay?” he asked, the word raising goosebumps as it whispered over my ear.
I nodded, clinging to his shoulders. “Hurry.”
Lucian took point, leading us into the hallway, while Alaric and Bellamy resumed their places on either side of me. There was hardly anyone in the hall, but still I kept waiting for someone to stop us, to raise an alarm that a patient was being abducted. Then I noticed the pulse of Luce’s heartstring and the subtle wave of influence he was exerting, just enough to deflect attention.
We had to take an elevator, and the ride felt endless, each second ticking away toward an outcome I had to prevent. My anxious fingers curled into Quinn’s soft henley, and he held me a little tighter.
“It’s going to be alright, foxglove.”
We reached Rami’s room just as a night-shift nurse was leaving it. Her eyes widened in surprise, taking us in with a slow blink. “What is this?”
Lucian slid in with fluid grace. “This is nothing,” he said in a smooth tone, the pulse of his persuasion beating harder. “You haven’t seen us. This patient is fine, and no one needs to round back on this room tonight.”
The nurse’s eyes crinkled at the corners, some small part of her brain resisting.
“There’s nothing to worry about.” Luce’s promise was a rich purr that rolled over the woman and dismantled the last of her resolve.
“Nothing to worry about,” she echoed with a murmur and moved on, disappearing around a corner. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until it puffed out of me in relief.
Sneaking into Rami’s room, my heart shattered at the sight that greeted me. My gentle giant, my sweet bear of a man, had been reduced to an insulting husk. A cruel mockery. His skin was ashen, his white-blond hair limp and tangled on the pillowcase. The cardiac monitor beeped in a slow rhythm, the space between beats like a chasm.
My own heart seized, instinct surging and driving me toward him. Sensing it, Quinn settled me on the edge of the bed, mindful of the tubes and wires currently keeping Rami alive. I placed a trembling hand on his chest, watching the shallow rise and fall of his breaths. The lock clicked on the door behind me, and the guys moved to surround us.
Their presence anchored me as I reached deep into the well of power that was now infused into my own soul. It rose to meet me like an electric current, crackling through nerve and fiber. I focused on Rami, on the pale blue heartstring that connected us. It was frayed and unraveling and on the verge of dissolving completely.
I pulled up a shimmering cord of my own essence, a smoky violet color. As I had with the others’ heartstrings when he needed their support, I wove my life around his, braiding strands of my very soul around and through it. Tighter, stronger, repairing what had been so horribly damaged. I felt his wounds knitting together, his heart thumping more soundly, his breaths growing deeper.
“Come back,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “Come back, Rami. I’m not letting you go.” My fingers twitched where they were pressed against his chest, and with a final burst of power, a new bond snapped into place.
Rami’s body arched off the bed, his chest heaving as he drew in a great, gasping breath. His eyes flew open, ice-blue and disoriented until they locked on mine. Then recognition flooded his gaze, followed by a love so deep I could feel it in my marrow. A relieved sob tore from my chest as I collapsed against him, and his arms shook as they wrapped around me.
“Kulta,” he rasped, nuzzling his face into my hair. “What have you done?”
“We should go,” Lucian interrupted, his voice tight with urgency. “I really don’t want to test the limits of my capabilities explaining miracles.”
I let Alaric scoop me back up while Bel helped Rami disentangle himself from the network of wires and tubes. I was suddenly exhausted, still unsure of what exactly I’d just done.
But Rami was whole, so I focused on that.
54
CORDELIA
I turned off the water and watched the last trail of suds swirl down the drain. I’d almost lost something vital tonight. The guys were quiet on the ride home after we managed to escape the hospital, trading glances that held a thousand words. Rami kept me tucked against him the whole way, our bodies in constant contact. When we separated, it felt like losing a limb.
I couldn’t explain the sudden, desperate need for his touch. He was alive, and that should’ve been everything, but it wasn’t. Something was still missing, some final piece still out of place, uncomfortable and wrong.
