“I need help,” Cole said in a gravelly voice distorted by the elongated fangs in his mouth. “I need a witch. He needs a witch.”
Lexi blinked as his words sank in. She turned toward Sahira as her aunt rushed forward and stopped when she saw Brokk’s damaged body.
“Please help him,” Cole said.
The pleading and torment in his voice tugged at Lexi’s heartstrings. She understood his suffering and panic, and she would do whatever she could to help… even if it bit her in the ass again.
“This way,” Lexi said. “Hurry.” She pushed past her aunt. “Sahira, get whatever you’ll need to help him.”
Her aunt closed her mouth, but her eyes remained wide as she glanced from Lexi to Cole and finally to Brokk.
“Lexi—”
“Close the door and gather your supplies,” Lexi said more sharply than she intended, but she could feel time running out, and she couldn’t deal with her aunt’s overprotective nature now.
Sahira took a deep breath before her shoulders went back, and she shut the door. Lexi was aware she might be getting herself into more trouble —she had no idea what happened to them or if their enemies might come knocking on her door—but she couldn’t turn them away.
She couldn’t turn Cole away even if she harbored his other brother beneath her home.
Cole’s feet thudded on the steps as he followed her upstairs. At the top of the steps, she threw open the first guest room door she came to and rushed inside. She flipped on the light switch, and a dim glow filled the room. The electricity was powered down again, but at least it was working.
When they lost most of their workers, she and Sahira closed off all the unused rooms.
Now, she yanked the dust cover from the bed and the table beside it. She balled the covers up and shoved them into a corner as Cole carefully set Brokk on the bed.
When his head flopped to the side, Lexi held her breath while she waited for some sign he was alive, but he didn’t move. Just as she was beginning to think it was already too late, she caught the subtle rise and fall of his chest.
The air rushed out of her burning lungs, and she lifted her gaze to Cole. Anguish burned in his eyes and etched the lines of his face as he clasped his brother’s hand. She wanted to assure him it would be okay, but the words froze in her throat.
She couldn’t bring herself to lie to him by promising something that might not be true. Sahira was a talented witch, but she couldn’t perform miracles.
The clatter of bottles drew her attention to the doorway a second before Sahira rushed into the room with a tray full of supplies. She set the tray on the table Lexi had cleared.
“What was he stabbed with?” she asked.
“A fae sword,” Cole said.
“A fae sword?”
“Yes.”
“Made of fae metal?”
“Yes.”
Sahira’s eyes flew back to Brokk as Lexi’s hand went to her mouth. How is he still alive?
“Was it wielded by a fae?” Sahira asked.
“Yes,” Cole said flatly.
“Shit,” Sahira whispered.
That word summed it up. Fae metal through the heart was the only thing that could kill a fae, besides decapitation, yet as she watched, Brokk’s chest rose and fell once more.
The fae forged metal was the strongest in all the realms and a powerful weapon against their enemies, but they didn’t use it against each other. Apparently, that was no longer the case.
Lexi gulped at this insight into how far the two sides had devolved into their hatred of each other. If a fae had used a fae weapon against one of their kind, then all bets were off.
“So, the only reason he’s still alive is because he’s half vampire,” Sahira said.
“Yes,” Cole agreed.
Lexi’s hand fell from her throat. “I’ll get some blood.”
She turned and ran from the room. She took the stairs two at a time to the entranceway and sprinted past the stairs to the kitchen. Flinging open the doors of the fridge, she shoved aside the meager contents to grab a couple of bags of blood tucked into the back corner.
She closed the doors and ran upstairs. When she returned to the room, she discovered Cole sitting on the side of the bed. His hand rested on Brokk’s back as he propped his brother up so Sahira could pour a vial of green liquid into his mouth.
Lexi caught the scent of apples and pixie dust, but she had no idea what else was in the vial. She set the blood on the table before going to retrieve towels and water.