I inhaled, my nostrils stinging. “What are their names?”
“Tamsin,” he said. “And…Corvin.”
“There is no need for me to tell Tamsin and Corvin that or apologize,” I said, placing my hands above his wound. “Because you will do so yourself.”
A tear snuck free at the corner of his eye. “But…”
“Shh,” I urged, knowing he couldn’t be awake for this. I summoned the essence, and when I spoke next, it filled my voice. “Close your eyes, Harland, and sleep.”
“Did you just use compulsion?” Hisa asked, surprised.
So was I.
The compulsion worked shockingly fast. The man’s eyes were shut, his jaw lax. I didn’t even have to push very hard, likely because of how weak he was. “I had to. The pain would’ve been a shock to his system, killing him before I could do anything,” I said. “I need the wood removed. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.” Hisa moved around Delano, her armor creaking softly as she lowered herself to the man’s other side. She gripped the wood, her eyes trained on me. “Say when you’re ready.”
Taking a breath, I cleared my mind and summoned the essence. It flared weakly, causing my heart to stutter, and then flooded my veins. “Now.”
The wet, sucking sound and the subsequent slitheringsquelchturned my stomach.
It was a sound I never wanted to hear again.
Eather rippled through my veins, flowing from me and into the man. There was another sound, like raw meat sliding across a slick surface, as his flesh began to repair itself. Gods, I wished my hearing had stopped working. I desperately tried to ignore what I was hearing.
It took a couple of minutes to heal Harland—that was how grievous his injury was. By the time his breathing evened out and fused, shiny pink skin appeared, and my hands were trembling. I glanced at his face, no longer seeing the tight lines of pain.
“That’s enough.”
I looked up as Hisa rose, using a linen Casteel had handed her to clean her hands. My gaze shifted to him, and the air stalled in my chest. The intensity in his stare was blade-sharp, unyielding, and absolute as he stared down at me.
Mouth suddenly dry, I rose. “There are more injured.”
Casteel took a step forward. “Tell me something, my Queen.”
I inched back a step as Delano stood, his head cocking.
Casteel reclaimed the small distance I’d gained. “What was the point of showing Kieran how to heal if you’re just going to continue doing it?”
I edged back again. “There are still so many—”
“I wasn’t done.”
I snapped my mouth shut, fully aware of the attention on us.
Eather pulsed behind Casteel’s pupils. “Despite being close to passing out?”
I lifted my chin and clasped my hands behind my back, hoping they’d stop shaking. “Are you done now?”
His tight smile was a warning.
“I’m not close to passing out,” I argued.
“You and I both know that is not true.” Casteel looked down at the wolven between us. “Isn’t that so, Delano?”
He nodded his big, traitorous head.
Casteel’s stare returned to mine. “You have done enough. Kieran will handle it from here.”
