***
“Again,” she heard someone saying.
And then she felt warm air being pumped into her lungs. She opened her eyes and saw Kace’s mouth over hers, his hand on her chest as he prepared to press down hard on her ribcage.
“No,” she mumbled and he stopped the pressure. Her eyes fluttered and he smiled through black eyes and swollen mounds of flesh. His lips were puffy and there were cuts on his forehead, but she was glad he was smiling. Not everything was terrible.
“What?” she asked, as a pair of hands sat her up from behind. She craned her neck slightly to see Catherine, also weary and beaten. It was like half of Catherine’s face had been smashed in and the other half had been left alone. The way she wobbled, even as she crouched, it was as if she was going to faint herself at any moment.
“Give her time,” Kace said, but Remi lightly pushed him away. She began standing to her feet and Catherine snickered.
“So stubborn,” she muttered, her voice sounding hoarse. Remi made it onto her feet and looked to them for answers.
“What happened?” she asked, afraid of what she might hear. Kace was the first to speak.
“We got our asses kicked together,” he said with a half-smile.
Remi was not amused. “Seriously, what happened?”
“I’m not sure. All I know is that you’re unharmed.”
“I fainted,” she whispered, casting her gaze to the dirt. “I remember now.”
“More than that,” Catherine sighed, still sitting on the ground. “You were died.”
“I what?”
“Died,” Kace said, nodding his head. “When I found you, you weren’t breathing…and I couldn’t find a pulse.”
“But how?” Remi asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking. She hadn’t even fought the monster and she nearly died. How pathetic was that?
“It doesn’t matter,” Catherine groaned, rocking backwards and then jumping to her feet. “It happened. But now we have to let it go. There’s work to be done.”
“Let it go?” Remi scoffed. “Are you hearing yourself? I died! I was so scared that I fainted and stopped breathing. He didn’t even have to touch me to—”
Catherine slapped her.
Remi cocked her arm back instinctively and punched Catherine in the face. She staggered back and groaned as she rubbed her cheek vigorously.
“See?” Catherine moaned. “You’ve got plenty of fight left in you.”
“You’re not concerned at all that I’m a liability?”
“The opposite actually,” Catherine sighed, patting her wound one last time. “You’re an asset, and the way I look at it, you’ve just gained some invaluable battle experience against a formidable enemy. It was bound to happen at some point. Now cut the pity party and let’s keep moving. He could be fighting my friends right now, and I’m not going to just let them die.”
Catherine took off running as Kace reluctantly followed. Remi felt like she was losing her mind. What was the point of her being a part of the fight? What could she do?
“Shut up,” she told herself suddenly. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. “Just shut up. I’ve got this.”
She opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and then focused on where Catherine and Kace had gone. She chased after them, and she didn’t allow her thoughts to get in the way of what she had to do.
She was determined.
The Sorcerer's Ring (Book #1 of the Seven Sorcerers Saga) Page 27