Flames of Cobalt and Crimson

Shadowsinger

Cassian

I crashed into the polished sandstone floor of the Day Court palace and my thigh screamed in protest, but that hardly mattered. I felt a moment of stark panic before I sensed Azriel nearby, the bond quiet and still. The blinding white light was gone, and as soon as that fact registered, I popped my eyes open.

Helion was shifting, beginning to push himself to his feet from our sprawled position on the floor, the four of us having landed in a heap. Though I'd had to squeeze my eyes shut or risk being blinded, I'd felt him slam into Azriel, had sensed them sliding from the force of it to bowl into Eris and me, sweeping my feet from under me. I'd only completed half my fall to the ground before we were winnowing.

My eyes went straight to Azriel, and I crawled to him, not caring what Helion saw or thought. He hadn't moved. The bond was too still - too quiet.

He wasn't breathing.

I lunged for his neck, pressing my fingers to his pulse-point and placing my other hand on his chest, over his heart. Please, Gods, please no.

His heart wasn't beating. The bond was there in my chest though; I could feel it. I wrapped myself around it, trying to hold it, willing him to stay.

"Help him!" I screamed at Helion. When he didn't move, I tore my eyes from Azriel's beautiful face, and shrieked again in a voice I barely recognized as my own. "Heal him! Helion, please..." My voice broke at the devastation on the High Lord's face. "I can still feel him, he isn't gone! Please!"

"I can barely heal a bruise, Cassian," he said softly, painfully gently, and the blood roared in my ears. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening.

I fisted my hands together in the center of my mate's chest, and I started to pump. One, two, three, four, five... I threw my body weight into it, and every ounce of my will. At the count of thirty, I tipped his head back, pinching his nose, and sealed my mouth tightly over his, forcing the air into his still lungs; forcing his chest to rise once... twice...

I resumed the chest compressions, and my vision blurred.

One, two, three-

I blinked the tears free and let them fall, keeping my eyes locked on his face. I had asked him for time.

Four, five-

The golden tether in my chest began to fray. I clutched at it, trying to wrap my soul more tightly around his, and keep him here, with me.

Six, seven, eight-

Please, Gods, no. Let me take his place.

Nine, ten-

Azriel gasped, chest rising under my hands, and I choked on my sob. The frayed edges of the bond snapped back into place, and I shuddered with relief. He drew another breath, and another, but the bond was still too quiet and he didn't open his eyes.

I turned to Helion and saw realization and understanding on his face. I didn't care. "Get us to Madja!" I shouted at him, and he finally jerked into motion as though snapping out of a trance. He surely had his own healers, but he didn't ask any questions. I might have tried to kill him if he'd hesitated. Bending down, he grasped Eris's hand - I had forgotten that prick even existed - and gripped my shoulder.

Helion winnowed us directly into Madja's house, and I heard a gasp and clatter as we materialized. The dark-skinned woman was awake, despite the hour, sitting at a small work table covered in medical supplies. Her eyes widened further as she took in the four of us, and she rose from her chair with surprising ease that belied the lines on her face.