A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1)(41)

“You have been using some of your power all your life without knowing it. You can heal. You are life. You don’t need the plant right now. You just need me for strength. Pull him away from the demons’ magic. Think of what your soul wants and will it. Take from me, Finley. Use me. I am yours.”

Pull him away from the demons’ magic.

The thought echoed through my mind. My animal pushed power into me.

Together we focused on Hadriel, and our power continued to build, pulling up from my roots, bubbling and turbulent.

“Now,” Nyfain commanded.

For the first time, I didn’t push back.

I sank myself into the thought: Breathe. Please, Hadriel, breathe!

A shock of power reverberated within me before blasting out. I could feel Nyfain’s power swirling and merging with mine, becoming a tidal wave of force that stole my breath. Then, to my shock, it swung back around and slammed into my middle. I nearly fell back from the force. My vision wavered and my animal roared, bucking and jumping within me. My skin prickled and fire rolled over it. It felt itchy, somehow, my skin. Like it was stretched too tightly. I needed to shed it.

“Easy now,” Nyfain commanded, his rough voice washing over me comfortingly. “Take it easy. Use the power, but not to shift. You cannot shift with the curse in effect. I will not let it disfigure you as it has done me. Just settle into the power. Push anything you can’t handle back into me. Use me, Finley.”

The raging storm within me thrashed. My vision was peppered with black, and I did as he said, leaning against him as I tried to shove some of the power away. The haze cleared a little, but it didn’t calm the raging inferno.

“That’s my girl,” he murmured, his voice seeming to hum within me. “That’s it. Hold on to it.”

I whimpered under the strain as his arm came around my shoulders and pulled me in tightly. His heat caressed my skin and then settled deep and low. Throbbing. Electricity fizzed within our touch.

His head dropped a little, and I swore I heard the softest of moans, like a decadent sigh.

“Will it again,” he whispered against the shell of my ear. “Use your will to pry him away from the demon magic.”

I closed my eyes, feeling my animal basking in the glow of our combined power. Shivers raced up my skin and across my scalp. Again, I did as he said, clutching at him and taking in a bit more power, the swell stretching my skin unpleasantly. Raging to the point of destruction.

Breathe, Hadriel, I thought, my eyelids fluttering.

My power scrabbled against something slick and oily, like a sheen over garbage. I clawed through it, wild and raw. Ripped it away.

Hadriel sucked in air, convulsing upward. He gripped the ground, his fingers digging into the dirt like claws. He coughed and bent, flopping sideways.

“Hadriel?” I reached for him, but Nyfain’s grasp kept me immobile. Those strong, scarred fingers clutched my chin and he pulled my face his way.

He searched my features for a moment before landing on my eyes. It seemed as though he was looking for something. An answer to some question. His brow dipped, and he suddenly released me and stood.

The unexpectedness made me lurch forward, falling to my hands.

“Get him cleaned up, and then let’s go,” Nyfain barked, striding away right and behind the trees.

By now his mood swings and shitty behavior weren’t new or shocking. The guy took brooding to a whole new level.

Shaky from the power, which was now dissipating quickly, I bent to Hadriel.

“Are you okay?” I grabbed his arm.

He coughed again, curled up in the fetal position. His chest rose and fell. “You guys saved my life,” he rasped out, clutching his throat. “That was a close one.”

“Too close.” I waited until he was ready and then helped him up.

He sucked in a deep breath. “Fuck, I thought I was going to die. When you started running me into the wood, I thought it was to hide my dead body.”

“My animal was in control.”

“Thank the goddess and her secret kinks that you have access to her and chose to listen, because yeah.” He stood with his hand pressed to the base of his throat for a long moment, looking out at nothing. “I don’t really want to comment because I don’t want to go through that again, but…”

He gave me a pointed look and nodded.

Butterflies fluttered up through my stomach, although I had no idea why.

“You can tell me about the curse now,” I said, gesturing to the castle. “Maybe I can help—”

“No way.” He waved his hands. “I wasn’t even talking about it directly, and it did that. It might have been worse if I’d said more. Stronger magic, maybe.” He shook his head adamantly. “I’d seize up before I could give you anything of note, and even if I did…” He paused, clearly going over what he would say.

“Even if you did, there’s no need.” Nyfain walked back into the area, still completely nude.

I tried not to let my gaze wander down his sculpted body and end on his large—

I jerked my head away so my animal didn’t try to fight to the surface and jump him.

“She can’t help.” He stopped a few paces away, scowling.

Hadriel studied his feet and didn’t comment.

“Can’t I?” I asked with a sudden rush of anger. “Clearly I have some worth. Maybe I don’t know how to fight as well as you do, but I’m told you have a big library. If you’d fill me in on the checking-out system, I could find something to help me. I know I could. I learned about the everlass from books, about making elixirs and draughts. I can be ready when the time comes.”