Nathaniel in growing dread. “Nathaniel, did you break your back?”
“Yes,” he said, and he sounded so strained. “I am attempting to mend it. But my powers are quite depleted at the moment, as, I imagine, are yours.”
It seemed like it had happened hours before, not minutes. The mention of the protective spell we’d put over the hospital—and what had come after—made me blush.
“Nathaniel,” I began, but he shook his head at me.
“If you have any magic to give now, you must use it to get away,” he said. “I do not know what became of the Agents or why they halted their pursuit. They may return to complete the task they have begun. But more important, there are vampires are approaching.”
“How do you know?” I asked, glancing around.
We were on the sidewalk in front of McCormick Place, next to the traffic circle and between the south and west wings of the complex. It looked like a ghost town. There was no traffic on King Drive—no taxis, no buses, no bikes. Nobody roamed through the pedestrian bridge that connected the two buildings. Everywhere was the detritus of people abandoning the area in haste. It was like we were the last two souls on the planet.
“I can hear them,” Nathaniel said. He’d closed his eyes again. “Madeline, you must go.”
“And leave you here to die?” I said.
“I will have fulfilled my pact with Lord Lucifer. I have protected you from harm, and now I can die with honor.”
“Are you out of your effing mind?” I said, grabbing his hand. “I am not going to leave you here.”
I tried pushing the healing spell into him, but my magic flickered and sputtered instead of pouring forth in a steady stream.
“Do not waste your energy on me,” Nathaniel said. “You must go. You must protect your child.”
“I won’t leave you,” I repeated.
“Madeline, you do not love me. I know this. I felt it inside you when our powers merged.”
“I don’t have to love you to know that it’s wrong to leave you,” I said fiercely. “I only have a little power left, and so do you. But we can put what we have together. Maybe we won’t be able to heal your wing, but we can at least repair your back so that you can walk.”
“Why will you not leave me?” Nathaniel said.
“I can’t,” I said. Everything I’d ever felt for Nathaniel—the hate and the anger, the sometimes friendship, and, yes, the lust I’d barely admitted to myself—roiled inside me. It would be easier to leave him, to let him fulfill the destiny that he thought Lucifer had written for him. But I couldn’t. Nathaniel had saved my life more than once. And I didn’t know yet just what he was to me.
“Madeline,” he began again, but I stopped his mouth with a kiss.
This wasn’t the kiss of before, full of passion and power. This was a connection born of desperation, of a need that I did not fully understand. Into that place where our bodies joined, I poured the remnants of my magic. My power touched Nathaniel’s, and his light was so depleted, sofluttery and small. For the first time, I felt really afraid. I could feel him slipping away.
“Stay with me,” I said against his lips. “Stay with me.”
Tears were slipping down my cheeks, falling on his face, and it wasn’t just Nathaniel’s face but Gabriel’s, Gabriel’s frozen body in the snow. Nathaniel’s life wavered, a candle flame flickering in the draft.
“Stay with me,” I said again, and summoned all the strength, all the will, that I had remaining. I pushed that will inside Nathaniel, let my power twine around his.
The guttering flame grew brighter. It wasn’t the blazing heart that it had been before, but I knew at that moment I wouldn’t lose him.
Our magic flowed together through his body, found the broken vertebrae and reknit them—slowly, laboriously. There would be nothing left to mend his broken wing, but he would be able to walk and—I hoped—run.
After a long while I lifted my head and opened my eyes.
“Yes,” he said, and he sounded so strained. “I am attempting to mend it. But my powers are quite depleted at the moment, as, I imagine, are yours.”
It seemed like it had happened hours before, not minutes. The mention of the protective spell we’d put over the hospital—and what had come after—made me blush.
“Nathaniel,” I began, but he shook his head at me.
“If you have any magic to give now, you must use it to get away,” he said. “I do not know what became of the Agents or why they halted their pursuit. They may return to complete the task they have begun. But more important, there are vampires are approaching.”
“How do you know?” I asked, glancing around.
We were on the sidewalk in front of McCormick Place, next to the traffic circle and between the south and west wings of the complex. It looked like a ghost town. There was no traffic on King Drive—no taxis, no buses, no bikes. Nobody roamed through the pedestrian bridge that connected the two buildings. Everywhere was the detritus of people abandoning the area in haste. It was like we were the last two souls on the planet.
“I can hear them,” Nathaniel said. He’d closed his eyes again. “Madeline, you must go.”
“And leave you here to die?” I said.
“I will have fulfilled my pact with Lord Lucifer. I have protected you from harm, and now I can die with honor.”
“Are you out of your effing mind?” I said, grabbing his hand. “I am not going to leave you here.”
I tried pushing the healing spell into him, but my magic flickered and sputtered instead of pouring forth in a steady stream.
“Do not waste your energy on me,” Nathaniel said. “You must go. You must protect your child.”
“I won’t leave you,” I repeated.
“Madeline, you do not love me. I know this. I felt it inside you when our powers merged.”
“I don’t have to love you to know that it’s wrong to leave you,” I said fiercely. “I only have a little power left, and so do you. But we can put what we have together. Maybe we won’t be able to heal your wing, but we can at least repair your back so that you can walk.”
“Why will you not leave me?” Nathaniel said.
“I can’t,” I said. Everything I’d ever felt for Nathaniel—the hate and the anger, the sometimes friendship, and, yes, the lust I’d barely admitted to myself—roiled inside me. It would be easier to leave him, to let him fulfill the destiny that he thought Lucifer had written for him. But I couldn’t. Nathaniel had saved my life more than once. And I didn’t know yet just what he was to me.
“Madeline,” he began again, but I stopped his mouth with a kiss.
This wasn’t the kiss of before, full of passion and power. This was a connection born of desperation, of a need that I did not fully understand. Into that place where our bodies joined, I poured the remnants of my magic. My power touched Nathaniel’s, and his light was so depleted, sofluttery and small. For the first time, I felt really afraid. I could feel him slipping away.
“Stay with me,” I said against his lips. “Stay with me.”
Tears were slipping down my cheeks, falling on his face, and it wasn’t just Nathaniel’s face but Gabriel’s, Gabriel’s frozen body in the snow. Nathaniel’s life wavered, a candle flame flickering in the draft.
“Stay with me,” I said again, and summoned all the strength, all the will, that I had remaining. I pushed that will inside Nathaniel, let my power twine around his.
The guttering flame grew brighter. It wasn’t the blazing heart that it had been before, but I knew at that moment I wouldn’t lose him.
Our magic flowed together through his body, found the broken vertebrae and reknit them—slowly, laboriously. There would be nothing left to mend his broken wing, but he would be able to walk and—I hoped—run.
After a long while I lifted my head and opened my eyes.
Similar Books
