“You got it. Keep going,” she encouraged him.

Healing a wound involved more than he’d ever imagined. Broken bones needed to be fused together. Muscles woven back in place. Tissue smoothed. Veins repaired and reconnected.

Exhaustion flirted with him, but he shoved it aside.

“Blood,” Yelena said. “He’s lost too much. You need to generate more.”

“How?”

“Inside the bones.” She showed him a mental image.

He seized additional magic from the blanket to keep their link, then drew extra strands to induce Leif’s bones to produce blood. And when his own body fatigued, he tugged a few more to energize him.

“The color is returning to Leif’s face,” Yelena said. “His pulse is stronger.”

Valek removed his hand. A livid red scar surrounded with black, purple and green bruises marked Leif’s chest.

Relief, joy and pride pulsed through Valek. He’d saved Leif’s life. With magic! The power still rushed through his veins, as if he’d drunk too much whiskey. Valek worked on his own injuries. The cracked ribs gone. The bump on his head erased. The bruised muscles and all the cuts, sewn together. He hadn’t felt this good in a long, long time.

“Valek, stop!”

Valek focused on Yelena. Worry and love and gratitude and jealousy swirled in her mind. And that...tug. It sucked his magic, as if he’d sprung a leak. Good thing an unlimited power supply was so easy to reach.

The magic filled him, and he wrapped it around his body, layer after layer after layer, protecting him. Valek ignored Yelena’s sharp tone. Her fear grated on him, so he broke their connection. Now he wouldn’t lose any power to that leak. He’d keep it safe. And keep it from everyone. Owen and Ben Moon and all those who used it to harm others wouldn’t be able to hurt another. No. Valek controlled the magic now, and he wasn’t going to share. With anyone.

33

YELENA

Valek gathered too much power. He was going to flame out and kill himself and anyone nearby. I had to stop him, but wasn’t sure how. Panic threatened to jumble my thoughts, but I wasn’t going to lose him now. I yelled for Ari and Janco. They rushed from the cave.

Pointing at Leif, who stirred, I said, “Take him inside. Tell the twins, Teegan and Heli to come out here now!”

They didn’t hesitate. An eternity later, the magicians arrived.

“Oh, no,” Zethan said. “He’s out of control.”

Zohav backed away. “We need to take cover. It’s not safe.”

“Can you bleed off the magic?” I asked them.

Heli raised her arms and a gust cooled my sweaty forehead. “Some, but he’s just drawing more.”

I glanced at the twins. “How about you?”

“Are you crazy? You’re going to get us all killed,” Zohav said.

“Yeah, we can. Zo, that’s our brother.”

“But you heard Heli, it won’t stop him, just delay the inevitable.”

“Since I’m still learning control, I’ve been augmenting Zo’s and Zee’s powers,” Teegan said. “We can bleed off more magic that way.”

“Good. Use as much as you can. I’ll do the rest.” Grabbing Valek’s shirt from where he’d tossed it, I put it on and held the material close.

Valek scowled at me as I approached him. The null shield in the fabric must seem like a hole in his cocoon of power. The air grew thick and viscous, and I struggled to get closer. Valek’s gaze darted to the magicians, then back to me. He crouched as if preparing to fight, and no glint of recognition appeared in his gaze.

Nothing left to do, I yanked off the null shield. Magic slammed into me. I braced against it as if it were a gale. I concentrated on our love. On the matching heart-shaped scars on our chests. On all our times together. On our baby growing inside me.

He staggered. “I can’t...stop.”

“Send it back to the sky.” I took another step.

“I...can’t.”

I searched my mind for an image Valek could use. “The magic is an ugly gray stone. Carve it. Shape it into a butterfly and let it fly to the sky.”

His black hair clung to his sweaty face. He swiped it from his eyes. His muscles shook with the effort.

“Do it, or we will all die.”

That seemed to rouse him. His gaze focused on a distant point. I twisted the fabric of his shirt in my hands. If this failed, I might have to use the null shield to sever his connection to the power blanket. But the magic he’d gathered would be released like a flameout, killing us. Unless he managed to return enough of it.

“It’s working,” Zethan said. “Keep going, bro!”

Valek sank to the ground. He fisted his hands and his brows creased with pain. I moved to within touching distance.

He met my gaze. Exhaustion and misery etched on his face. “Can’t...do...more.”

I glanced at Zethan.

The teen shook his head. “Still too much. But he disconnected.”

“Go inside the cave,” I ordered. And when they hesitated, I added, “Now.”

Zohav grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him along. Heli frowned, but she left with Teegan.

When they were safe, I tossed the shirt aside and knelt next to my husband. Perhaps what drained Loris’s magic from me would work for Valek. Reading my intentions, he shook his head and tried to scoot away.

“Risky,” he rasped.

“I’m not leaving you.”