“I didn’t lose you,” I gulped.
He moved his head toward me, his lips resting against my forehead. They were warm. We stood there, our arms wrapped around one another, unable to talk. His touch was more like a blessing than a kiss. I closed my eyes, focusing on his regular heartbeat matching mine, my fingertips pressed against his bare skin.
Thank you, I whispered to whatever higher power was listening, thank you.
Hazel
I felt like my body was being washed across an ocean, weightless, my bones like jelly and my mind drifting off without an anchor. I was dimly aware of Tejus calling down to me, and the walls of white light flickering past. He was carrying me, which explained why I felt weightless, but I could barely feel his arms around me. Whatever we had done, the barrier that we’d managed to create felt like it had taken every last cell of energy in my body. While we were creating it, I’d felt power running through my veins with such force I’d been afraid that I couldn’t take it—but as soon as it stopped, it was like a bulb had exploded, the fuse dead. I had nothing left.
“Hazel, syphon off me!” Tejus barked out his order.
I wanted to tell him that I didn’t think I could, that I just didn’t feel like I had the energy to even attempt it, but the words just wouldn’t form. All I wanted to do was sleep—sleep forever.
“Open the barrier!” Tejus called out to the waiting guards as we neared the palace.
We must have been the last to leave the battle. I couldn’t remember who had been behind us as we created the white light—perhaps no one—but I could have sworn that I felt the flickers of an energy source that didn’t belong to Tejus or me. But perhaps it had been my imagination. The whole thing felt like a strange dream anyway, one that I didn’t have the energy to understand.
The white walls that had flamed up on either side of the path faded from view. I recognized the lawns of Memenion’s palace, and saw the hordes of guards and sentries ambling around their tents. Cries from the wounded could be heard, and a hushed, respectful silence. We had lost many fighters in the hours before dawn.
“Put me down, Tejus,” I whispered.
I didn’t want my parents to see me cradled in his arms—they would think that I’d been hurt badly. He ignored me, but slowed his pace down from a run to a brisk walk.
“Please, Tejus. My parents. They’ll worry.”
He nodded curtly, gently helping me to my feet. His hands brushed along my sides as he checked for wounds, his eyes roving over my body. He was bleeding in a few places, but I was relieved to see the cuts were light—just flesh wounds and nothing more. Somehow, we had made it out of that battle alive.
“Ash!” I exclaimed, suddenly recalling his injury and Ruby riding off with him on the bull-horse.
Tejus shook his head.
“I haven’t seen either of them. Ruby would have gotten him to safety though, don’t worry.”
His voice was coaxing and soft. I got the impression that he was telling me what I wanted to hear, not what he actually thought. I nodded, numbed. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what Ruby would be going through right now.
“Hazel!”
My mom cried out my name. In an instant, she and my dad were standing next to me, Mom’s eyes running over my body like Tejus’s had to check that I wasn’t harmed. When she was satisfied, she pulled me into a tight embrace.
Then it happened—the leap of hunger jumping up inside my chest.
“Mom,” I breathed, firmly untangling myself.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, her eyes wide with concern.
“Hazel?” Tejus questioned. Their eyes were all fixed on me.
“It’s fine, Hazel.” My dad broke the pause. “Feed off me, I’m good to go.”
I shook my head, trying to repel their energy from floating my way. They all felt so good.
“I can’t. There must be someone else, like a sentry?” I asked Tejus hopefully.
“Your parents would be better,” he insisted.
“Hazel, please. If you need the energy, take it. You look like you can hardly walk,” my dad agreed.
“Thank you,” I whispered quietly. I felt so bad taking what little he had. We had all been in the battle—the fact that I felt so weak irritated me. Tejus seemed okay; I could sense his energy. It wasn’t fully back to normal, but it seemed more robust than mine did.
My dad rested his hands on my shoulders.
“Feed,” he urged.
I let my hunger satisfy itself, drawing his energy toward me, being as gentle as I could. I kept watching my dad’s face as I syphoned, making sure I wasn’t hurting him. He grinned at me, his brown eyes warm. Like the time I’d taken Mom’s energy when we were building the barriers, I felt a glow of love emanating from my dad. His emotions felt more restless than hers, like half his mind was still on the battle, but I couldn’t deny the fact that he was glad to be providing for me—happy to give me everything that he could.