The Faerie Guardian

Bonus Chapter - Ryn

Bonus Chapter - Ryn

Ryn kicked open the door between his kitchen and sitting room and carried Violet through. Gently, he set her down on a couch. "Mom!" he shouted. He took a step back and looked down at the unconscious, dripping wet girl he'd spent half his life hating. He couldn't remember ever seeing anyone in as bad a state as this. A gash on her forehead dripped blood down her face, and he'd felt a warm wetness on the back of her head too. There was a wound on her arm, and another on her shoulder, but these were nothing compared to the injury across her abdomen: A mess of torn fabric, ripped flesh and way too much blood. His stomach turned at the sight.

"Mom!" he shouted again, going to the foot of the stairs. His mother had tons of experience healing her guardian team mates. If anyone could keep Violet from dying, it would be her. He ran up the stairs two at a time and checked every room. Empty. Dammit, why did she have to be out now?

He ran back downstairs and knelt beside Violet. He pressed two fingers to her neck. Her pulse was so faint that for a moment he thought it had stopped altogether. "Dammit, V! I finally get to the point where I can ask you for help, and then you go and get yourself half-killed? Are you trying to piss me off?"

She didn't respond, of course. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on either side of her face. He hesitated. If he screwed this up, he might never see Calla again. But why the hell would he screw up? He'd received the second highest marks in the class when they'd done healing magic in third year. Of course he could do this. He closed his eyes and imagined himself letting go, waiting for the slightly unnerving feeling of magic trickling out of him.

He opened his eyes when it began, so he could watch the skin on her forehead as it began to knit together. It took several minutes before the wound was completely sealed up; it left a patch of pink above her right eye. Next he tilted her head to the side, pushed her matted hair out of the way, and placed his hand at the base of her neck. He couldn't see the wound through her hair, but he was probably close enough. He gave it a few minutes, then removed his hand, now sticky with her blood.

He sat back on his haunches and made himself look down at her stomach. He should have healed that part of her first, but just the sight of the mangled mess made him want to be sick. His hands hovered over her as he tried to figure out the best place to put them. He needed contact with the skin around the wound, and since her dress was ruined anyway . . . He sighed as he gripped the material just above her knees. This certainly wasn't the way he'd imagined his first time ripping a girl's clothes off. He tore the dress straight up the middle, then frowned at the sight of her underwear. White with little pink hearts? Now that was certainly unexpected. Not that he'd ever imagined Violet's underwear before.

He was struck suddenly by the fact that she was a girl. Not just a rival or a once-upon-a-time friend or an infuriating classmate who always got everything right. She was a girl. Beautiful even covered in blood, and a whole lot more grown up than the last time he'd seen her half-naked.

"What the flip?" He shook his head. She was still the reason he had no brother, and if he didn't get on with healing her, he might never find his sister. He carefully put his hands on either side of her narrow waist and sent more magic into her. Nothing seemed to happen. He closed his eyes and continued, willing himself to relax. Letting go of his power wasn't something that had ever come easily to him—not that he'd admit that to anyone. He could do it, of course, but it always made him feel a little uncomfortable.

His breathing slowed as he concentrated on releasing magic. How much would be enough? More than he had, probably, so he just kept going. He wondered what Violet would think when she woke up here. Hopefully she'd hang around long enough to hear him out. He just needed to be nice to her. Nice. Yeah, that was going to be hard. Maybe just civil. Civil should do it.