Inserted in flesh to poison the heart,
Iced brimstone and fire I call you now forth.
Come out and heat this evil source.
Skyler focused completely on the tips of the hooks, determined to close the hollowed, opened end so that there was no way for that terrible silver to continue poisoning Dimitri's body.
Take what is open and seal it now closed,
So no more that is poison can seek what is exposed.
Take what is liquid and give it a form,
Sealing away all, so it no more can harm.
Skyler knew she couldn't hold the bridge between them for long. There was no way to remove all the silver spreading through his body in the time she had before she collapsed. She had chosen the longest lines, the ones most threatening, and meticulously pushed them back to their source and then through Dimitri's pores. One by one she removed those thin, deadly threads as fast as she could.
Skyler. Come back. You have to come back now! Dimitri, send her back to us now! She's lost. She's too far away and stretched too thin.
She heard the call as if from a great distance. Josef, she recognized, and his voice was filled with fear.
Sívamet.
Dimitri's tone was tender, gentle. Filled with love. Surrounding her with warmth when she was so cold. Icy cold.
You must go back. Now, csitri, I cannot lose you. When you are strong enough, come back and finish what you've started.
She had removed a lot of the silver, at least half, but that didn't lessen the agony he was in. The thought of abandoning him when he needed her was absolutely abhorrent. She told herself one more thread—just get one more out of him.