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Chapter Twenty-Three

Take the healer.

The healer.

Healer.

Heal—

A painful breath caught in her throat and Sang lurched to attention. The raspy voice echoed through her head, whispering promises of power and deliverance as it slavered over her mind's visage of Sean. She nearly gagged at the tainted pitter of power still crawling over her skin.

Her heart pounded in her chest, nearly agonizing in intensity as she struggled to ignore the haunting lull of the dream. Fingers falling on her chest, her hand twitched against the racketing beat of her heart. Even on earth, she'd never fallen so deep into a nightmare of this caliber.

It was horrifying.

The world had been black, pure dark energy, the power seeping through her hands and into the earth. It'd sank through the dead grass dotting her nightmare and crawled toward the clearing where the boys rested. She couldn't stop it. Dream after dream, she'd tried. Only when the energy would tangle beneath Sean's legs would the dream end, the same husky demand sinking through her brain.

It'd plagued her dreams for days. While Sang hadn't expected to achieve true rest, she'd hoped for something more than this. Tucked under the pitiful cover of Nathan's jacket as a blanket, she'd tried to nap beneath the nearest fir tree. With the boys bickering and Raven taking silent sentry a few feet away, she'd been comfortable enough to relax.

It was unfortunately not meant to last.

Stretching her legs out ahead of her, Sang rolled her shoulders back to peer up at the sky. Sometime during the night, the faded sunlight had rolled into a sweeping blanket of iron colored sky. There were no stars, but puffy clouds of pale purple spun over the horizon and hung near a south-facing mountain.

Slowly pulling Nathan's jacket off her shoulder, Sang let a weary eye travel across the clearing.

It'd been two transitions from day to night since her world changed. After Raven's surprise appearance, the boys had broken apart to tend to their injuries. It hadn't been without complaint. There'd been many a strong glare and Nathan even ventured far enough to try and gently direct Sang toward the groups center. Raven wouldn't have it.

Like a shadow, he'd moved with her. Every step Sang took— he was two behind her.

Every need she expressed; his hand delivered.

Eventually it grew too much for North's temper to handle and favoring peace over conflict, Sang had taken to tucking herself away from the group.

It seemed little had changed since. There were a few bodies spread about near the center of the clearing, obviously not asleep, but resting. Their eyes were closed— expressions similar to what she'd once seen Gabriel wear when he grew tired of his perpetual awareness and ventured into the mind space he shared with his brothers. Physically there, but not mentally. The notable exceptions were Owen, Silas, and North, who weren't to be seen at all. A glance to her left showed that Raven had followed similarly.

Crawling to her feet, Sang let Nathan's jacket fall to the earthen floor as she curled her arms over her stomach. She kept a wary eye on the group, but as one step turned into two, not a soul moved. Her lip quirked in amusement as she crept closer, a timid smile pulling her cheeks taunt as she caught Luke's mouth gaping open like a fish. His legs were sprawled over Gabriel's chest— the spirit of beauty sprawled out on the ground with his hands behind his head.

She knew they weren't asleep, knew they couldn't sleep, but it was still charming the way their faces slackened with ease.

Like this, she could almost forget the events of the days prior. The beatings, her death, their fear—