Wicked Deal (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 2)

“Carrow.” My voice was rough. My heart thundered, a violent tattoo of fear inside my chest.

I couldn’t lose her.

Not now.

Not ever.

I brushed her hair off her face. My blood could heal only physical injuries, and this could be magic.

But I had to try.

I bit into my wrist, tearing at the skin. Hastily, I raised my wrist to her slack mouth, pressing it to her lips.

She didn’t move.

“Come on, Carrow. Wake up.” Something inside me roared like a wounded animal.

Still, she didn’t move.

Seconds passed.

She’d absorbed the power of the bomb. Instead of the spelling destroying us, it had taken her.

Mac fell to her knees at my side, a sob rising in her throat. Eve landed near us, stumbling. All around, the battle slowed. The only ones standing were from our side, so we must have won.

But I only had eyes for Carrow.

“Save her,” Mac demanded.

“I’m trying, damn it.”

Suddenly, Carrow shifted, her eyelids fluttering. Had my blood saved her, or was it her magic? It didn’t matter. She was waking up.

Slowly, she blinked. “What happened?”

I hugged her to me, clutching her tight.

Mac jumped on us, hugging Carrow from behind. “You’re all right!” Mac pulled back, confusion on her face. “You are okay, right?”

I released Carrow, lowering her so that I could look at her more closely.

She eased away from me, sitting upright under her own strength. Her eyes glowed with a strange light, nearly neon in their brightness.

“I…feel strange.” She looked at her palms. The ashes of Orion’s Heart marred her skin. “It’s gone.”

“You absorbed all the magic from Orion’s Heart.”

“It was going to explode,” Carrow said, her voice slightly dazed. “It needed a vessel to contain it.”

“So you decided to grab it,” Mac said. “You’re mad.”

Carrow blinked. “I think I might be.” Her gaze darted around the room. “Where is Ivan? Did we get him?”

I nodded. “I’ve bound him. We’ll take care of him.” I was going to find a way to kill the bastard this time. “But how do you feel? Do we need to see a healer?”

“I honestly don’t know.” She rubbed her chest. “I feel different. More magical, maybe. I don’t know.”

Quinn arrived. He’d returned to human form, though he was covered with cuts and bruises. He looked at Carrow, his eyes intense. “We need to get out of here before the Council members escape their cell. We don’t want them knowing what you just did.”