"Risa?" Ilianna said tentatively, from somewhere behind me. "Is he … ?"
"I don’t know." My voice broke as I said it. I swallowed heavily, then gathered the remnants of my courage and touched his neck. It was as if I’d inserted my fingers into the heart of a cauldron. It hurt. Burned.
I jerked my fingers away before they blistered, but not before I’d caught a pulse. It was thready and erratic, but it was there.
I closed my eyes and released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
"He’s okay," I said, even though I knew that wasn’t necessarily the case. He’d sucked in the energy of a fire elemental—consumed it, in much the same manner as my demon sword had. But Tao was a half-breed were, not a sword forged in the death of another demon, and who the hell knew what the merging of his flesh and an elemental’s would do to him?
Ilianna dropped down beside me. "God, he’s burning up," she said, her voice still distressed. "Inside and out."
"Have you got any holy water left?" I said, suddenly remembering how it had healed my wounds. It might not work on whatever was happening within him, but it sure as hell would help with his outside.
She nodded and scrambled up again, returning a few seconds later with a small bottle. "It’s all I have, though."
"Then drizzle it over the worst of his wounds. His wolf healing capabilities should take care of the rest."
I pushed wearily to my feet. Pain rolled through me, catching in my throat and, for a second, sending those stars dancing again.
Ilianna frowned up at me. "You’re hurt."
"Yeah." And if I had cracked a rib, as I suspected, then there was nothing I could do but grin and bear it. At least until I got my hands on some painkillers.
"You should let me see—"
"Ilianna," I said softly, "the only cure for a cracked rib is rest and time. I can’t afford either right now. Just take care of Tao until I get back."
Her frown increased, and her green eyes searched mine worriedly. "Why? Where are you going?"