Court the Fire (Son of Rain #3)

by Michelle Irwin

  My thoughts were filled with image after image of Lou’s past torments, but I shook them off because, although I’d wanted answers, they were meaningless in the face of the bigger issue. The blood from Evie and the shot that hit her. Although I’d tried to be there to catch her fall, the dark visions of Lou’s past had stolen my speed.

  Evie hit the ground on all fours. My heart lodged in my throat when I saw her paling skin. A small smile graced her lips, no doubt because she’d done what she’d set out to do when reaching for Caelan—Lou was safe. I couldn’t celebrate or smile along with Evie though, because blood dripped from her wounds at an alarming rate.

  Almost as soon as Evie landed, her arms collapsed beneath her, and her momentum carried her to the floor. On her back, the entry wound was inches away from her left shoulder blade. Near her heart.

  I swallowed down my fear. It had to look worse than it was. I worked to convince myself that the injury couldn’t be as bad as it had seemed after my quick glance. That the blood pooling beneath her wasn’t all hers.

  “No!” I shouted, wishing the sound could somehow reverse the last minute and take us back to my choice to threaten my father. Take back my fight for the gun. Take back the bullet that had torn straight through Evie’s body. I wanted to take it all back, to not fall into Dad’s trap and ever risk the gun falling into his hand.

  My hands shook, and the taste of bile filled my mouth as I reached for Evie.

  Blood rushed past my ears, drowning out all other sound as she rolled over and revealed the gaping hole in her chest. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop my tears. It was even larger than the one on her back.

  When I met her eyes, confusion swam within their depths, and I doubted she even understood what happened. Her hand lifted and pressed against the edges of the wound, coming away slick and red with her own blood.

  I stumbled over the last few steps to reach her as fast as I could, tears already pricking my eyes, and pulled her against my chest.

  She’ll be okay. She has to be.

  She was warm in my arms, and for a moment, I was convinced it meant she would be fine. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, and her aura flickered and dimmed as she drew in another failed, wheezy breath.

  “No,” I murmured as I cradled her head in my arms. The blood from her body was on my hand, and when I caressed her cheek to let her know I was there, I left ruddy stains over her olive tones.

  After a moment, her eyes seemed to search for me, and she tried again to breathe. Her exhalations consisted of spluttering coughs, her inhalations useless wheezing. Watching her in horror as she struggled, it was clear she was going to bleed to death or suffocate in my arms if I didn’t do something to stop it. I had to stop it. Although it hurt like hell to do it, I let her go, returned her to the floor, and then pressed my hands to her wound to try to stop the bleeding.

  “Stay with me,” I pleaded as I did what I could to fix her. I’d been trained in first aid and field surgery, but it was all useless to me now. It wasn’t a flesh wound or a bullet lodged within arm tissue, it was a through-and-through wound in her chest, possibly even through her heart judging by the speed of her blood loss. I was helpless. “I can’t lose you.”

  With a strength I would have thought impossible, she grabbed for my hands and stilled my movements, holding them within her own. She closed her eyes and stopped breathing for a moment. The tears that had threatened from the first moment I saw her blood overwhelmed me and began to fall. Each one traced a path along her cheek, leaving rivulets of clean skin among the mess.

  Releasing her hold on me, her fingers sought after something unknown. Over and over, she moved her hand through the air, and only at the last second did I understand what she needed.

  I tilted my head so that her fingers brushed across my face; then I reached up and pressed her hand in place over my cheek. She opened her eyes again and the swirl of purples within met my gaze with such intensity, it was clear she was saying good-bye. I shook my head, and my tears fell faster.

  “No, Evie,” I murmured.

  She muttered something that might have been meaningless or might have been the most important words of my life, and then she closed her eyes.

  “No,” I muttered, refusing to let her go. She can’t die. She just can’t. I couldn’t believe it even though I was faced with the truth of it. “You’re not going anywhere, Evie!”

  I lifted her to me as her heart stopped beating.

  “Evie!”

  She murmured against my cheek, the words garbled and breathless. Then, she closed her eyes, and her body sagged lifelessly in my arms.

  My grief and rage joined, becoming one beast that threatened to overwhelm me. Not only did it have a voice that roared in my head and silenced all sounds around me, but also icy fingers that crept along my spine and sharp claws that pierced my heart and made it bleed. The useless organ sputtered in my chest, almost as if it refused to beat for a moment longer and wanted to fall as silent as Evie's now was.

  From behind me, multiple pairs of hands reached for me, pulling me away from her, but I fought them all off.

  "Leave me!" I shouted as I gathered Evie closer to my chest. My voice was hoarse and tight, a consequence of the tears that flowed along my cheeks. It caught in my throat and refused to work properly, even though I needed it to. I needed everyone to back off and let me hold Evie. Let me fucking grieve.

  "You have to let her go," the voice could have belonged to anyone in the room. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to listen to it.

  Instead of growing colder in death, Evie grew hotter than I’d ever felt her before while holding her so close. I held tightly, refusing to allow her to leave me. Flames erupted from her skin, lapping at her clothing and threatening to overwhelm her.

  “You can’t leave me,” I sobbed before gripping her shoulders. “Not now, not like this.” Not ever.

  An instant after the flames started, they were running over the tiled floor as though it was a forest floor full of tinder.

  Arms that could only belong to Eth pried Evie’s body out of my arms and tugged me away from the fire.

  “She’s gone, Clay,” he said, his tone filled with sorrow that was still only a fraction of the darkness that held me tightly in its clutches.

  I watched, helpless and terrified, as the flames that were now separate from her body turned inward, seeking out my beloved.

  “No!” I screamed and fought loose of Eth’s hold.

  Without a thought, I raced back to Evie’s side and lifted her up into my arms, away from the fire that surrounded her and sought her out. I carried her a number of steps across the floor before placing her back onto the cold tiles and brushing her hair off her face. I didn’t care what anyone else thought; she wasn’t gone. She wouldn’t go. She wouldn’t leave me.

  “Help me,” I cried as I started CPR. “Somebody fucking help me!”

  Small hands came to rest beside mine on Evie’s chest. “Let me see what I can do.” I looked up into a pair of eyes that were at once familiar and strange.

  “Please, Mackenzie,” I whispered to my half-sister as hope and sorrow worked together to steal my voice. “I can’t lose her.”

  She placed her hand on mine. “I know. I’ll do everything I can.”

  Her hands hovered over Evie’s chest, and at first, it seemed like she was doing nothing, but then she released a breath and offered a small smile.

  “I might be able to do something.”

  Well, fucking do it! I wanted to shout the words at her, but I bit my tongue and waited. I didn’t want to piss off Evie’s potential savior.

  “Mother, we will need to be prepared to move as fast as possible,” Mackenzie said. “I might be able to return her, but I will not be able to sustain her for long without additional help.”

  Fingertips brushed through my hair, and I glanced up to see Fiona—Mom—looking down at me with tears in her eyes. The sorrow on her features could only be that of a mother witnessing her son’s h
eart breaking. At that moment, the years that I’d missed didn’t matter.

  I needed her, and I needed her support, and she gave it all willingly.

  “I . . . I can’t lose her, Mom,” I whispered.

  Her tears fell as she knelt beside me. “We can’t lose her.”

  I broke down and reached for her. I might have been almost twenty-four, but I wasn’t too old to seek comfort in my mother’s arms when my world had shattered. After a minute, I’d gathered myself enough to watch Mackenzie’s process.

  It was strange to watch the fae healing technique because it was so different from everything I knew about first aid and medicine. Mackenzie breathed for Evie like you would in CPR, but it was different—almost like she was passing her aura into Evie rather than oxygen.

  Mackenzie’s hands rested in the space above Evie’s chest, her aura swirling around the wound, as if the light that emanated from her body was part of the process. Then Mackenzie pulled a small vial from her pocket and poured the liquid within into Evie’s mouth.

  There was movement in the room and speaking, but I couldn’t focus on anything but Mackenzie and Evie as I sat on the floor and watched my half-sister work.

  After almost a minute, I heard the most wonderful sound—a gasping intake of breath from Evie. I raced back to her side, falling onto my knees and threading my fingers through her hair.

  “Let us proceed,” Mom said, and I glanced up to see what she meant. The three guards, Aiden, and Mom had formed a circle around where Evie lay.

  “This room is too sterile,” Aiden said. “There is no life, so this will not work.”

  “Are you questioning my ability, Aiden?” Mom asked, her voice fierce and infused with an authority impossible to deny. “There are three females of my bloodline in the room. That is more than sufficient to forge a ring from the fire that is burning low here.”

  “Three?” Lou asked. “You’re including me? What . . . what can I even do?”

  “Your presence alone is helpful,” Mom said.

  Regardless, Lou crossed the room and held her hand. “Let me know if you need me to do anything more.”

  Mom closed her eyes and began to mutter something in a language I didn’t understand. The fire that Evie’s death had caused swirled into the air, circling around and around, faster and faster, until it began to glow with all of the colors of the rainbow.

  The swirling mixture of color shifted lower and lower until it curled just above the floor. As soon as it touched the tiles, a bright light burst into the room, and then I was surrounded by trees and the sounds of nature.

  “What . . . What happened?”

  Mackenzie and Evie were the only ones with me.

  “We have to get Evelyn out of the ring so the others can come through,” was the only response I got.

  I lifted Evie in my arms, carrying her out of the ring but not knowing where to go. Mackenzie took a few steps and then stumbled.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, unable to go to her assistance because of my precious cargo.

  “I’m fine,” Mackenzie said, offering me a comforting smile and moving forward. “Follow me.”

  She led the way to the healing wing of the court, and when we arrived, Evie was taken from my arms and into what must have been the fae equivalent of an ER.

  Once Evie was safe in the care of the healers, I walked over to Mackenzie, who hadn’t followed the rest of the healers, and pulled her into an embrace.

  “I can never thank you enough,” I said.

  She nodded and swayed on her feet a little.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” I asked.

  “It has been an emotional day. It has taken a little out of me.”

  Her words reminded me that although one of the bullets had nearly taken Evie from me, another had taken Mackenzie’s father. She hadn’t even had a chance to grieve before she’d stepped up to help Evie.

  What if by saving Evie, she lost the chance to save her father?

  She smiled weakly at me. “I know what you might believe, but I will be fine. Mother had told me stories about the wickedness of my father. However, I never saw that side of him. After hearing how he stalked your friend and killed people for fun . . .” She trailed off and closed her eyes. “I just cannot believe I fell for his lies.”

  “We both had a bit of bad luck when it came to fathers.”

  “We did, but we have a pretty fantastic mother.”

  I smiled at her. “We do. At least, aside from her terrible taste in men.”

  She laughed, but it died away quickly. For all her assertions that she was okay with what happened, part of her was reeling from her loss. I knew it because I would have been the same. I hated Dad, but part of me couldn’t imagine not having him in my life still.

  “I really can’t thank you enough for what you did,” I said again. “You saved her life.”

  “Just make sure you keep her close. Entwined auras are very rare.”

  “Aiden mentioned something about that. What does that mean?”

  She smiled again, but it was more wistful. “There are stories that tell of fae couples who are meant to be. Regardless of how far apart they live, fate will draw them together. When they unite, their auras entwine and react to one another. When that happens, they are joined by a bond stronger than any other.”

  “Wow.” There were so many forces trying to guide Evie and me together, despite all the circumstances that ripped us apart. It made me more certain than ever in everything we shared. I met Mackenzie’s gaze, so strikingly similar to Lou’s. “When do you think I’ll be able to see Evie? I need to know that she’s okay.”

  “It will not be long. First, let us see to those wounds of yours.”

  I looked down at my hands and saw they were covered with blisters and burns. I’d been so concerned with Evie that I’d been able to push all the pain from my mind.

  Now that the adrenaline was leaving my systems, the sting of the burns returned. After seeing the wounds, it attacked in force. Despite the agony, I was more interested in knowing that Evie was okay than having my wounds tended to.

  “I’ll be okay,” I said, drawing my hands behind my back.

  “What would Evelyn say if she saw these wounds?” Mackenzie asked.

  I went to brush the back of my neck with my palm, but the pain of lifting my arm was too much. “I just need her to be okay.”

  “I am certain she will be. However, I am more positive she will be better pleased if we fix you up too.”

  After I reluctantly nodded, Mackenzie disappeared for a minute, reappearing with bandages and a salve. She swayed slightly as she worked, but it didn’t take her long to have me as patched up as she could.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.

  “I will be perfect once I have some rest. If you wait here, someone will be with you soon to let you know more about Evelyn.”

  “Okay. Make sure you get some sleep then . . . sis.” The last word felt odd considering Mackenzie was a practical stranger, but she’d more than earned the title, and not just because of our shared mother.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  BEFORE TOO LONG, I began to pace the small room Mackenzie had left me in. Just as I finished a circuit and turned back around toward the door, it swung open. I expected someone with green wings—the color I’d learned related to healers—but instead, Eth walked in wearing a big smile.

  “This place is really awesome,” he said. “I only saw a little bit of it the other day, but, dude, did you know monogamy is practically frowned upon here?”

  “How did we ever doubt that you could be fae?” I asked.

  “Are you all right?” he asked when he saw my bandaged wounds.

  “I’ll live.”

  The statement seemed to bring his mind to Evie. “How is she?”

  I shrugged even though I was desperate for an answer to that question. “I haven’t heard anything, but Mackenzie’s sure she’ll be okay. What happened after we left?”
>
  “Dad stole the key and snuck out while everyone was focused on Evie. Abe followed behind him. Ben just stood in the corner of the room like a scared rabbit until Lou and Mom went through the ring. Then he scampered too. The three guards stayed with me to protect the room until Aiden returned with some enchantments, and then we came here. It was much easier than trying to get out through the lobby, that’s for sure.”

  I leaned against the wall, tipping my head back to rest against it. I only just noticed it in that second, but the headache that had plagued me at Bayview was completely gone.

  “How’s Lou?” I asked.

  “She’s doing as well as you can expect considering the changes that she’s had to deal with. She always believed the Rain shtick more than anyone else I think.”

  “I wish I could get my hands on all the bastards that hurt her.”

  “Does that mean you don’t hate her anymore?”

  “I never hated her,” I said.

  He raised his eyebrow at me.

  “Things she did pissed me off, but how much of that was even her? How much of that hardened bitch was just Caelan’s influence shining through? I don’t see the point in causing issues for her or making her transition any more difficult than it’s already going to be.”

  “She’ll be happy to hear that. She’s been worried that you’ll never talk to her again.”

  “I’ll come and see her as soon as I know Evie’s okay.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said with a chuckle.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “As if you’ll be able to tear yourself away from Evie’s bedside for a minute until she’s back up and walking around.”

  I chuckled. “That’s true.”

  We fell silent for a while, each of us processing the events of the day in our own way.

  “Thank you for what you did for us too—it takes a lot to pretend to betray someone. You had no way of knowing whether Evie or I would understand.”