Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,119
am dying. I’m sorry.”
My mum and I hoisted Lucifer up, and with Judgement’s help, despite her being seriously wounded, too, we all managed to drag him up onto the pile of rubble that had once been the citadel.
I was about halfway up when my legs went, and I found myself unable to move further.
“Nate?” my mum asked, sitting beside me.
I raised my wrist. “This damn thing. I can’t use my magic.”
“There’s no lock,” Judgement said. “I’ve never seen a sorcerer’s band without a lock.”
I removed one of the other bands that Demeter and Arthur had been wearing and passed it to Judgement as Lucifer was placed beside me.
“This is a realm gate band,” Judgement said. “I didn’t think these existed.”
“I’ve seen them before,” I said.
When used, the realm gate bands were left behind, so at least we had a clue as to where they might have gone.
I was wheezing and coughing, and it hurt.
“Son?” Brynhildr said.
“Arthur broke my ribs, sternum, nose, probably something else,” I said. “I was midheal when he slapped this thing on me. I think the adrenaline has worn off, and with our magical free fall now over, I think my body is starting to protest.”
The wheezing was getting worse, and I coughed dark blood onto the ground.
“You’ve got some internal injuries,” Lucifer said from beside me. “I can sense them in you.”
“You can sense them?” I asked.
“I might be a doctor now,” Lucifer said, “but I’m still a sorcerer. My matter magic means I can see injuries. It took me a long time to learn, but it’s come in handy.”
“You could have mentioned it earlier,” I said with a half-baked chuckle.
“People find it weird when I can literally see into their heart,” Lucifer said. He’d become pale and looked weaker than I’d ever seen him.
“I’m going to go see if I can get help,” Judgement said. She looked back at Lucifer. “You saved my life. Thank you for that.”
Lucifer forced a smile. “Couldn’t let you get yourself killed before Arthur was dead. Didn’t expect this, though.”
Judgement nodded slowly but didn’t say anything, and instead she turned and started to climb out.
“I’m okay here,” I told my mum. “She’s hurt; go check she doesn’t do anything stupider than what we just did.”
My mum opened her mouth to argue and nodded instead, climbing up after Judgement.
“After all this time, he finally killed me,” Lucifer told me. “Honestly, it’s a miracle that I’m still alive at all.”
“You don’t sound sad.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m about ten thousand years old, I think. I’ve seen everything you can imagine and things you probably can’t. I wish I could see how this plays out, but I can’t. Make sure you win. Anything else would be bad for everyone.”
I raised the bracelet. “I need to get this off before I can do anything.”
“Just rip it off,” he said.
“And be incinerated?” I asked.
“You know, I’ve never known anyone to actually try,” Lucifer said.
“You think it’s bogus?” I started coughing again, the wheezing causing me to try to control my breathing. It hurt.
Lucifer shook his head. “No. I think the runes there do act like magical napalm. I just wonder if it’s powerful enough to kill you. There has to be a second’s delay before it ignites. If you can use your magic in that second.”
“That’s a big if,” I said.
“Last-ditch plan,” Lucifer said. “Please don’t try it otherwise. I don’t want to die for nothing.”
“Look, stop saying that,” I said and felt like my chest was about to burst into flames.
Lucifer placed his hand on mine. “Nate, I wish I could do more.” He removed a knife from his belt and passed it to me. “A gift.”
I took it and looked at the intricate carvings that appeared to flow from the handle to the blade itself, which was at least partly silver. Lucifer took hold of the blade and snapped his hand up across it in one motion, the blood dripping onto my own hand.
I tried to open my mouth to stop him, but Lucifer clamped his hands around mine in a show of strength I hadn’t even known he had. I let out a cry as his power flowed through my body, healing my injuries. I felt my ribs popping back into place, the fluid leaving my lungs, my sternum finishing the job of fixing itself. Every bit of it hurt. Blood magic gave no shits when it came to your own pain.