Breathless Magic Read Online Free PDF Page A

see.
    She walked over to Lilly carefully eyeing Talbott as if he
would bite her. He didn’t.
    Thank goodness.
    When she needed him to, he stepped out of the way, but
didn’t go far. He hovered near the headboard, ringing his large hands and
making him look decidedly like a small child waiting for bad news.
    “She was alive when she arrived?” Syl asked with a tender
voice as she went about a brief physical exam on Lilly’s unconscious body.
    “Yes,” I answered. “Weak, comatose… but alive. I used my
smoke to seal the cut in her finger. And she opened her eyes for a moment, but
she’s been out of it the whole time.”
    Syl made a noncommittal noise and went back to poking and
prodding Lilly.
    Finally, she addressed Talbott, “There are no broken bones.
She’s not swollen in any way that I wouldn’t expect and her pulse is strong. I
want to give her an hour to see if Eden’s smoke continues to heal places that
we cannot see. I’m not surprised she’s unconscious after everything she went through;
but I don’t expect this to be permanent. I think she’ll be fine, Talbott. She
just needs some time.” Syl laid a dainty hand on Talbott’s bulking shoulder.
“She just needs to feel safe again.”
    He nodded, too overcome with relief and emotion to speak-
which in turn made me distraught with my own hope. More grateful tears fell
down my cheeks and I turned into Kiran again as my emotion grew stronger with
each moment that passed.
    Syl rubbed my back, reminding me so much of my childhood
that I wanted to crawl up on the bed and let myself believe I was back in our
happy house in Omaha and none of these terrible things had happened to the
Kingdom, to people I loved and respected or to my best friend. After another
minute of comforting me, Syl excused herself to check on Ophelia again.
    Kiran and I stayed with Talbott. I helped him wash her in
the en suite bathroom, making sure we scrubbed every ounce of dirt, grime and
reminder of what she’d been through off her body. Her hair had been dulled and
lifeless when she arrived, but after we washed it and spent time with some
conditioner, it dried as brilliant and shiny red as it had ever been.
    When she was dressed again and back on the bed, Talbott
curled up with her and I spent time cleaning and grooming her nails. Finally,
satisfied with a pristine-but-still-unconscious Lilly, I returned to Kiran’s
side and pressed myself against him.
    “You guys could open a shop,” Kiran teased us. “Lilly looks
brand new.”
    Talbott still didn’t say anything, but pulled her tighter against
his body and buried his face in the hair at her nape. More tears pricked at my
eyes but I decided to be stubborn this time and not let them fall. I was happy
that Lilly was home and I knew that she was going to be fine, that she was
going to make it… but with all the tears and sobbing, it felt like I was
treating this like she’d died and I was preparing for her funeral.
    I needed to pull it together or she would never feel safe .
    Kiran had just whispered into my ear that we should give
Talbott some privacy when I realized that Lilly would never feel safe- not ever
again, as long as Terletov was allowed to live.
    It was those thoughts that renewed my purpose and drive to
eradicate him from this Kingdom and this world. He would not hurt another one
of my friends.
    I swore that to myself and let the promise fill me with an
expanding strength that would see this vow through.
    Not a moment after the promise was made, Kiran suddenly
threw me to the ground, his body acting as a shield. A terrifying explosion rocked
the Castle at its core; the ground shook and rumbled beneath our prostrate
bodies and the entire structure threatened to crumble around us. This room
didn’t have any windows, but I could hear the sound of shattering glass all
down the corridor outside.
    When the foundation settled, Kiran pulled me to my feet and
shared a meaningful look with Talbott- the head of the Titan