by Kenna Bardot
She would survive.
✽✽✽
Alec Gaius
The AirQuarters, six buildings in a compound and all of them big, elegant and absolutely splendid. On a daily basis, it still managed to take my breath away. The opulence and beauty that the Order had at its fingertips was mesmerizing, even to someone who’d started his life in luxury. If only it could be comparable to how shitty our own living quarters were then life would be set. When Kaia Wren and Emerson joined us after graduation, perhaps we could breathe easier and have a better, more homey place to live in.
I’d already started looking into that, and I sighed out as I leaned just a little bit into Ronan Asher who grinned at my side, but it was tighter than normal. I knew he worried; we both were. The last time we’d seen Kaia Wren, she’d been nothing but a shell of the girl we’d spent a blissful summer with.
“Williamson! Daniels!” The Mage in charge of the communication channels called our names from the platform, and we turned eyes to him. “Urgent message from InkHaven!”
Ronan Asher barely glanced at me before his long-ass legs took him vaulting up the stairs faster than I could keep up.
“What is it?” I whispered as I entered the platform, finding Ronan Asher’s gray eyes scanning the scroll vigorously. His jaw clenched, and he crushed the paper in his hands.
“Let’s go,” he ordered, without a word of explanation and I turned to follow him. Grateful that we hadn’t gotten the night shift, I followed in silence until we were in the privacy of the open air outside AQII, building two in the compound.
“What happened?” I took his arm in my grip and made the stubborn ass look at me.
“Kaia’s hurt. Fell down an entire flight of stairs. Gale said she cracked her head open.” Ronan Asher bit out, as he swung his hammer and lifted into the air.
I followed suit, taking my long sword from its holster with a lightly whispered, “Zeevar.” We shot through the sky at top speeds, both of us anxious to see to our woman. The wind barrelled against the material of my clothes, the cooling fall night temperatures battering the skin left bare. When we landed outside InkHaven, Ronan stormed through the side entrance of the Air Spire reserved for non-students. He no longer ran, containing himself only just enough to hurry through the foyer with purposeful strides. As the Infirmary was on the first floor, it took several flights of stairs for us to get there. I followed after Ronan Asher, who sped through so fast I was convinced he was using Air to propel himself forward. I understood because, like him, I wanted nothing more than to find Kaia Wren awake and well and her injuries completely exaggerated.
When we entered the Infirmary, there were a few students about but they were just in the public stores looking through the potions that students were allowed to freely take. Given the timing, the fact that there’d been a party, I surmised that they’d just had their Tumult and I knew they were likely hunting for hangover remedies for the next day.
“Kaia!” Ronan bellowed out and the students threw him wary looks. I couldn’t blame them - Ronan Asher looked slight manic at that point. Healer Sylvia rushed forward from the back, arms held out. “Mr. Daniels. I would appreciate it if you did not create such a ruckus in my ward.”
Ronan Asher opened his mouth to speak, but I stepped forward and interceded, “Healer Sylvia, I sincerely apologize for the intrusion; however, we have been informed that our woman, Kaia Wren Shaw, was injured just tonight and we were hoping to see how she was doing.”
“Let us see her!” Ronan demanded loudly and I threw a dirty look at him.
He was completely undermining my efforts to be civilized.
“Be that as it may, Mr. Williamson, Mr. Daniels, this is still my ward and you need to abide by my rules. Miss Shaw already has two visitors and any more would be too much.”
“I’m afraid it’d be hard to keep us, especially this big guy, away from her,” I apologized to the Fire Mage, who had her hands on her hips.
“Porter!” Ronan bellowed, pushing her out of the way. I caught her before she could fall and ran after Ronan Asher.
“Ronan Asher, creating a commotion is hardly necessary.”
He turned towards me, gray eyes blazing. “Perhaps you haven’t gotten the picture but our woman has been fatally injured.”
“I have, but you need to calm down,” I argued, my temper rising to meet his. My eyes widened when a blue flame wrapped around Ronan Asher.
“Mr. Daniels, I suggest you calm down or I will put you to sleep and you won’t be able to see your Miss Shaw tonight. Perhaps even tomorrow.”
“Kaia, I need to see Kaia. Porter,” Ronan called out more weakly now, face crumpled. A curtain parted several feet away, and the Air bubble popped to reveal Gaylord’s pale face. That’s why he hadn’t heard us - he’d kept them in a sound proof Air bubble. I cast a glance at Healer Sylivia who rolled her eyes. “Do what you will, but you have been warned.”
“Ronan,” he whispered, and the ragged sound made my heart pound in my chest. He walked over, holding out a hand. Ronan made to move past Gaylord, but Gaylord pushed an urgent hand on his chest to stop him - building a wall of Air behind him to keep Ronan from simply pushing past. It was a rare show of assertiveness since he’d joined our group as Gaylord deferred to Ronan in most things, being completely submissive to the man he had loved for years.
“The worst is done,” Gaylor murmured even as he kept the wall of Air going behind him. “She’ll be fine. But you should let them finish before you go in.”
“Get out of my way,” Ronan Asher grunted.
“Listen to me-“ he insisted but I cut him off.
“Why shouldn’t we see her now?” I asked, stepping forward and Gaylord seemed to appreciate the interference, when he normally thrived under Ronan Asher’s attention.
“Even with the worst done, there’s no reason you need to see her like this. They’ll be done soon, and you don’t need to know-“
“How monumentally you fucked up? You were supposed to protect her, Porter,” Ronan hissed, and Gaylord flinched. Even I had to admit that Ronan Asher was way out of line.
“I can’t be with her all the time,” he whispered, and I could see the guilt play out on his angular face. I wished there was a way I could ease it away, but I was too worried about Kaia Wren to handle anything else.
“You two figure out who to blame, I’d rather go see Kaia Wren,” I said, appreciating the way Gaylord’s Air parted to let me through. I walked just inside the curtain and my eyes immediately caught on the unconscious figure on the bed lying face down, nearly naked save her bra and underwear. Kaia’s spine was swollen, the reddened skin giving way to a fresh purple hue that seemed impossible given the timeframe of her injuries. One of the Fire Mages kept running his hands over her skin there, healing whatever injury had caused such an immediate reaction. The back of her neck was stained red with drying blood, though whatever wound had caused it appeared to have been healed already.
“Fuck,” Ronan Asher growled as he stepped into the space, turning murderous eyes Gaylord’s way. If I hadn’t been so overwhelmed by the state of Kaia, I might have felt bad for Gaylord.
“Tell me her injuries,” I said, suppressing the tightness in my throat.
The Fire Mage healing her spine turned annoyed eyes to me. “She had a severe concussion along with a cracked skull. We’ve repaired the damage, and the swelling on her brain shouldn’t have any long term effects as we kept it minimal and took care of it as quickly as possible. She dislocated her left knee and broke her left wrist, injuries we suspect she sustained when attempting to stop herself from falling. She has three spinal contusions and two broken ribs. After we finish with those last two things, we can do an overall pulse to take care of the minor lacerations and the bruises she’d be sure to develop should we leave them unattended.”
My eyes went to Emerson, who sat in the only chair in the area with his head buried in his hands.
“Where were you?” I asked him, since I wasn’t
able to question Gaylord at the moment. It would have been too obvious to admit he should have been watching out for her after hours on the biggest party night of the year. Even though the Fire Mages weren’t from the school, it was best to be as discreet as possible. Given that Ronan Asher had already shouted at Gaylord for all the world to hear, some others were already sure to form their conclusions. Regardless, it would not do to confirm them.
“Waiting for her. She asked me to meet her in her room.” His eyes swam with emotions as they met mine, and none of them were pleasant.
“Zeevar’s sake, Emers you’re supposed to be looking out for her,” Ronan Asher’s voice was malicious, and a glance over at him confirmed he hadn’t taken his eyes off of where the Fire Mage touched our woman. He would tolerate the touch, but only for the sake of helping her. I knew it killed the jealous beast inside of him to allow such a thing.
“She’s not a child who needs a babysitter all the damn time. Besides, she can take care of herself,” Emerson whispered back.
“Then why am I looking at her broken body in an Infirmary bed?!” Ronan Asher’s yell nearly shook the wall.
“If you can’t control yourself, you need to leave,” the older Fire Mage said from the spot where he was kneading the flesh around Kaia Wren’s knee, soothing the pain she would no doubt have felt from the dislocation.
“I’m done with her spine,” the other inserted, and they worked together to ease her over onto her back. Getting the first sight of her face, my heart stopped. Her eye was swollen, and a cut at her temple still seeped blood to drip down her face. Her chin was split open. As my eyes travelled down, I noticed how thin she’d gotten. Her ribs were more noticeable than the healthy muscles she’d worked so hard for the previous year. Even her slight curves had gone to be replaced by an unhealthy gauntness. A deep red marred the right side of her body, and the Fire Mage wasted no time in pressing his hands to it. She didn’t so much as stir, though it would have had to hurt.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Ronan Asher mumbled, and I think the question was more to himself than any of the others in the room.
“We’re keeping her asleep with a mix of blue light and a sedative potion. It’s best she doesn’t wake up until we’re finished and cause undue strain to her injuries.” Ronan Asher nodded thoughtfully, but didn’t interject. He just watched the Fire Mages as they healed her ribs and the other started in on giving her a final pass to heal any of the more minor injuries on her legs and arms.
“I know you blame me,” Emerson spoke up and I wanted to gather him up and comfort him as he continued, “but you weren’t here. Kaia Wren is her own person and she wouldn’t have tolerated anyone treating her like she was helpless. Zeevar knows I’ve tried to watch out for her, but I had to respect her and her wishes first.”
Ronan Asher opened his mouth, but I held up a hand. He stopped because I knew my face had morphed with anger when I glared at him.
“I understand, Emerson. Kaia Wren is her own person. But it doesn’t stop our hearts from breaking to know she’s suffering through this.”
The younger man nodded, running his hand through his red hair. “I had to see her. Discover her there.”
I nodded and sent Ronan Asher a hard look, which he answered with tightly pursed lips and nothing more. If he had wanted to punish Emerson, he should figure that the devastation of seeing a near-dead Kaia Wren had to be enough.
I studied how Emerson looked - the haunted look in his eyes - and I knew that he suffered more than we ever would from this, perhaps even more than Kaia Wren would in the end. Our Emerson could not handle anything that related to violence. He would hurt himself before he could hurt another living thing.
By the time the younger Fire Mage finished with her ribs and gave her torso a last sweep, the older one took care of that beautiful face.
“We’ve done all we can,” the Fire Mage said at last, stepping back and slumping. It didn’t take a genius to see they’d strained themselves in healing her.
“She should wake up within a few hours or minutes, her body will know. If she’s in any pain whatsoever, I want to know about it.” They ambled away, returning to the main space and giving us privacy to watch over our woman and wait for her to wake up.
So we waited.
Twelve
Kaia
My eyes opened slowly, and I blinked against the bright lights pounding down on me - artificial from the blinding overhead lights.
“Hey, baby,” Alec Gaius said from beside me, and I turned to look at him in surprise, finding him giving me a genuine, relieved smile. He had been the last person I’d expected to see.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered, giving him a slight smile even though the grogginess of my head was overwhelming.
His smile faltered a bit and his brow furrowed. He glanced around the room briefly, and I turned to follow his gaze. Ronan, Emerson, and Gale surrounded the bed, as close to me as they could be without touching.
“Do you remember anything?” he asked carefully.
“I-I remember talking to Otto at the party then Cel. I walked out of it, remember thinking that it was cold when a draft hit me and then after that it’s fuzzy. Did I drink too much?” I asked that question even as I knew it to be untrue.
“I don’t think so, Precious. You had barely sipped your drink when I left you,” Emerson inserted, patting my forearm with his hand. I noticed that he trembled, and I reached forward to grab his hand over the crisp, white sheets.
Crisp, white sheets.
“Am I in the Infirmary?” I gasped, sitting up suddenly, and they all moved to lunge toward me. I winced at the suddenness of their movements, the synchronized lunging.
The varying degrees of panic and worry in their eyes and faces had me worried as well. “What’s wrong?”
“You fell down the stairs, woman,” Ronan grunted, his face twisted into a scowl. I knew it must have been one of his ‘I’m so concerned for you’ scowls, but it irked me nonetheless.
“Right. How long have I been here?” I mumbled softly.
“It’s not even sunrise yet so just a few hours. Does anything hurt?” Gale asked softly, and I shook my head at him with a smile.
“No. I’m fine, it couldn’t have been that bad. I’m just a bit tired and sore, actually. Well, really sore. But nothing hurts too too much.”
“Then can we take this back to your room?” Alec Gaius asked, and I nodded and moved to stand. Ronan’s arms slid underneath my knees and supported my back as he lifted me from the bed.
“I can walk,” I protested.
“Shut it, woman,” he snapped back.
I quieted, snuggling into his shoulder instead. My hand reached out and Alec Gaius grabbed it and held it close. With how much I’d missed both Ronan and Alec Gaius, arguing over being held seemed like an exercise in futility.
“Ronan?” I asked quietly, my voice muffled as I spoke into those hard, broad muscles.
“What?” he hissed.
“I missed you,” I admitted, and his eyes warmed from their glacial temperature as they met mine where I peeked up at him. He shifted me in his arms without warning, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. My arm stretched behind me, still held in Alec Gaius’ as he strode through the halls without so much as a glance to confirm the others were following. I knew Alec Gaius was, since he still held my hand.
Ronan’s face was just above mine, our foreheads touching when he tilted his into mine and ran his nose along the side of mine.
“Missed you too, Kaia,” he rumbled, and grinned up at me. I smiled back at him, that dimple of his irresistible even in the worst circumstances.
“Missed that smile almost as much.” I pursed my lips to fight the threatening tears, wrapping myself around him and hiding my face in his neck. His familiar, subtle, spiced vanilla scent hit me full force, and I hugged him tighter one-armed as he walked. Of all the things I’d missed most, having Ronan’s strength wrapped around me was at the top of the li
st along with having Alec Gaius’ magic hands on me. We reached my room, and Alec Gaius and Ronan paused just inside the door, glancing towards Lottie’s side of the room.
“We’re staying this time, baby. We need you to tell us if you’re okay with us moving the bed.” Alec Gaius ran a thumb over my hand in support.
I whimpered into Ronan’s throat, but nodded my assent. Given the choice of them leaving or sleeping on a bed that my best friend no longer needed, I knew which option Lottie would want me to take. Alec Gaius let my hand go, and I peeked over Ronan’s shoulder as he and Gale moved the bed. They righted the mattress that I had pushed with my Air in anger what seemed like eons ago before pushing the two beds together. Ronan set me down on my own, and Emerson immediately moved into my space, hugging me to him tightly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him, tugging back to look at his pale face more closely - he looked tired, his face haggard and older than I’d ever seen. He shook his head but didn’t say anything, instead pulling me back in tighter.
“Emerson found you,” Gale explained hesitantly. “He’s a little shaken.”
“It was bad, wasn’t it?” I asked, turning eyes to him. Emerson nodded against me and slid his hand to cup around the spot where my head met my neck. He scratched at the sensitive skin there, and when his hand came to stop in front of my face, his fingers were stained with red.
“Why can’t I remember anything?” I stared at his fingers, horrified.
“The Fire Mages are very good at their job. Besides, you cracked your head open. That among other things, but I suspect the head injury is to blame for the memory loss,” Gale answered. I glanced down at my body, suddenly recalling my semi-nude state.
“You carried me through the hallways half-naked and covered in blood,” I protested to Ronan as I made my way to the bathroom, but hesitated at the door. He followed me, always needing to take care of me.
“Shower, baby,” Alec Gaius murmured as I passed. “We’ll all be here when you come out.”