even see Cedric or Tao. I think we all need to give her some time.” Theo sighed, wanting to believe his own sentiment as much as he wanted me to. “She’s strong. She has been since the day she was born with a set of lungs that could rival a siren’s. She’s going to make it through this. I won’t give her a choice.” Theo’s eyes flashed with determination, and for the first time all day, my lips pulled up from the permanent frown that had been set across them.
“You’re a good big brother, Theo,” I reassured him.
“And you’re a good sister, Nix. It doesn’t matter to me if we said our vows already or not. You’re my mate, and that makes you Molly’s family. She’s going to need us in the days to come.”
I sniffed and nodded, scrubbing my hands down my face before wincing from the ache in my abused fingers.
“Have you calmed down enough to allow me to heal those wounds yet?” Ryder sauntered into the gym smelling like Hiro, whose arms he’d just been in while they watched me try to destroy the defenseless punching bag.
I bit my lip hard while I considered letting him touch my injured hands. I’d meant what I said to Killian earlier. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.
“My blood is unpredictable, Ry. Maybe we should just let these heal naturally.”
Ryder scoffed. “Nix, I’ve been around you and your blood more times than I can count, unfortunately, and while I would love for you to stop bleeding around me, it’s only because I don’t want you to be hurt. Now give me your hands.”
I hesitated.
“Nix.” My name on Theo’s tongue was both a comfort and a warning.
“My blood is uncontrollable, Theo.”
He shook his head, inching closer to me as though he’d taken a page out of Hiro’s playbook, as if I was a wounded animal and he was being careful not to spook me. “You know that’s not true. How many experiments have I run to prove your theory wrong?”
“I know you’ve been testing it, but—”
“No ‘buts,’ Nix. Your blood is not uncontrollable. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, and what happened with Molly just proves my point.”
“How?” I asked, keeping my fists close to my body and away from Ryder’s glowing blue hands.
“Think about it. Your blood carries powers, and those powers grow more or less potent depending on the quantity, how it’s given—external use versus injection versus ingestion—and what form you’re in when the blood in question was taken.” Theo pushed at his glasses, imploring me to follow along with his logic as he explained the science behind it, ruling out my concern. “Remember when Ryder was exposed to your blood on the island when he saved you from Stone and what we now know was the breeding program?”
“That’s hard to forget,” I sassed, and Theo’s mouth quirked up on one side.
“He got your Phoenix’s blood on his skin. My theory is that your blood is what awakened the powers he never knew he had. I wasn’t sure at first, but it all clicked when I tested your blood for myself that day on the mountain and lost control. Your blood heightened my powers and strengthened them, making me a weapon. The same happened to Joshua when he was injected with the blood the Council took when you were in your human form. The power in your blood roused his death glare and increased his strength.”
I nodded, glancing to my sweet Basilisk whose eyes were still slightly two-toned from that newfound power.
“Our new abilities settled while the rest dissipated after your blood was out of our system.”
“Are you saying that the effect my blood had on Molly is going to wear off too?” I inquired, half horrified, wondering if that meant her resurrection was temporary, and half hoping her soul would remain in her body while the effects of my blood wore off and allowed her to return to her normal self.
Theo shook his head, sadness rising through the mental connection Damien opened slowly. “No. Molly’s DNA seems to have altered on a molecular level, but that’s a conversation for another day. What matters is that Molly is alive. You did that, Nix. The amount of phoenix blood Molly received directly from the source, along with whatever magic your Phoenix added to the mix, saved her. You placed her soul back in her body, and that seems to be irreversible. We can’t begin to account for the number of possibilities