Chapter 7: He Can Feel Me Now

SERYN POV

“He can’t breathe.”

Verek words still hung in the air. 

My heart pounded so hard against my ribs that I could barely think. 

I didn't wait for them to explain further. I pushed past Kael and headed straight to the door. 

“I’m going to see him.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kael caught my hand before I could take another step.

I turned to him. “To my brother, obviously."

“Elena prepared breakfast for you. Change your dress and eat something."

For a second, I thought I had misheard him. Then I stared at him in disbelief.

“Are you out of your mind? You expect me to sit down and eat when my brother is suffocating downstairs? He isn't some stranger to me, Kael!”

“The medical team are already handling it,” his eyes showed absolutely no emotion. “Running down there in panic will not change the situation.”  

“I don't give a damn.” I tried to pull my hand from his grip. “He has never had an asthma attack or a breathing problem in his entire life. Now he’s locked inside your prison and suddenly can’t breathe? This place is completely cursed, and if anything happens to him because you dragged him here, I will never forgive you.”

Kael didn’t flinch, but a muscle twitched along his jaw. His eyes dropped to my trembling hands.  

“Verek,” he commanded without taking his eyes off me. “Get the medical team ready. She is coming with us.”

Verek nodded once, and disappeared into the hallway. 

Kael finally released my hand. “You stay at my side. Don’t do otherwise, Seryn,” he pointed his finger straight at my face. 

“Fine,” I hissed, quickening my pace to reach the door first. 

***

As we walked, my thoughts became a chaotic mess of fear and a creeping, unwanted curiosity. Verek had explicitly said Caius couldn’t breathe the exact same way Kael did.

I glanced at Kael out of the corner of my eye. I really hope it wasn't what I was thinking. I couldn’t watch my brother react that same way. 

“Oh, Lord!” my voice a low whisper. 

Then another thought struck in. 

What if the weird current in my veins was actually a weapon that was spreading to the people around me? What if I was the reason Caius had collapsed? 

I didn't even know if touching him would heal him like it did to Kael, or if my skin would violently bring him down to his knees like Jace.

For the first time since discovering what my touch could do, I was afraid to use it. But I was even more afraid of doing nothing. 

The elevator doors slid open with a pressurized hiss. The two of us stepped inside, and the digital floor numbers began to drop with dizzying speed.

***

The severance hold smelled completely different from the luxurious room above.

It smelled of antiseptic and something bitter I couldn’t identify - probably some kind of herb. The scent clung to the back of my throat as I walked. 

We turned a sharp corner, passing two armed guards who quickly snapped to attention and lowered their heads as Kael approached.

I pushed past Kael sharply before the door could even finish opening.

“Come back here.” 

I ignored him. 

My baby was slumped sideways on the concrete floor, his back braced weakly against the leg of the interrogation stool. The big, silver-plated cuffs around his wrists shaking with every ragged movement of his shoulders. 

His face was a terrifying shade of pale blue, his lower lip trembling as his throat hitched wildly, desperately trying to drag air into lungs 

“Caius!” My cry tore out of me.

I dropped beside him so quickly that pain shot through my knees. Tears spilled over my eyelashes as I grabbed his trembling shoulders. 

“Caius, look at me!”

His eyes barely opened. His dark lashes were wet with sweat. “S… Seryn.” 

“I’m here.” I cupped his face. “I’m right here. Can you hear me?" 

His eyes rolled back slightly. He couldn't even form another word. 

“Please,” I whispered. “Please, stay with me.”

“Step back, Seryn,” Verek’s voice came from behind me. “The healers are coming with the essence tonics. Stop touching him.” 

A guard moved towards me and reached for my hand. “Get away from me!” 

I jerked away from him. I didn't care about their healers or their tonics.

"Miss, you need to move away from the prisoner.”

“Prisoner?” I snapped. "That's my brother!" 

My brother was dying right in front of everyone and they still got the gut's to call him a prisoner.

Driven by a desperate instinct, I pressed both palms against the center of Caius’s chest.

Please, I prayed frantically in my head. Please work. Clear his lungs. Fix him.

I waited for the familiar heat power to start moving but nothing happened.

My palms felt cold, and entirely useless against his shirt. 

Caius released another horrible gasp, his fingers clawing weakly at the floor as his vision started to edge on black.

“No, no, no…”

“Ma’am, please step back,” one of the healers said as she hurried into the cell.

“No!” I pressed harder against Caius’s chest. 

“Why isn’t it working?” My voice broke. “Caius, please!”

I looked desperately toward Kael. “Help him!”

Kael stepped into the center of the tiny cell, where I was. “Move back first, Seryn.”

“No!"

“You asked for my help. Now move.” 

For once, I wasn’t trying to challenge him. “Help him, please.” 

He reached down and closed his finger around my upper arm to pull me away from the floor. “Then get up. Let the staff handle him.”

“Let go of me!” I wrenched my body against his grip, my teeth getting close to his arm, ready to bit his hand off me. 

Then Kael's bare skin touched my wrist and everything changed.

A violent, invisible shock snapped between us. I felt it shoot through my body, sharply enough to steal my breath. 

Kael froze.

The air inside the cell suddenly felt hot.

Beneath my ribs, the familiar current awakened. It rushed up my arm like a flood.

But this time, it didn’t settle inside Kael’s chest.

It passed through his fingers, crossed my wrist, and surged into my other arm which was still pressed against Caius’s chest.

A sudden gasp ripped through the cell making everywhere vibrate. The violet light flickered along the links of Caius’s silver cuffs.

His body jerked. 

A deep breath tore into his lungs. His chest expanded, hitting the air like a drowning man hitting the surface of the water.

The two healers froze instantly, their hands hovering in mid-air.

Caius coughed hard, a wracking sound, then coughed again.

I stared at him, my heart beating fast. “Caius?” 

His eyes slowly opened, blinking against the harsh white light. The blue tinge in his lips was already fading. He was breathing normal again. 

I almost collapsed flat onto the floor from  relief. “Oh, thank God…”

I grabbed his shoulders with one hand, my fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. “You’re okay. You’re breathing. You’re okay.” 

I tried to smile, but my face was trembling too badly. 

Caius blinked, his gaze clearing as he looked down at my hands on his chest. Then, his eyes moved past my head.

I thought everything was fine but then his expression changed. 

He looked directly at Kael standing tall behind me.

He sat up fast, his breathing loud. His wide, terrified eyes were locked directly onto Kael’s hand, who was still holding onto my wrist.

I turned around, expecting to see maybe the healer holding an injecting pin, because Caius feared them so much. But no kael was still behind me, alone. 

I stared down at our joined fingers. My skin felt hot, still vibrating with the strange current. 

Kael slowly released my wrist, his fingers sliding away with a calculated slowness. His facial features were perfectly composed, but the golden light in his eyes was flaring brighter as he stared at me. 

Caius pushed his back even harder against the concrete wall, trying to drag his limbs as far away from probably Kael as the chains would allow.

“Caius,” my voice trembling as I reached a hand toward his face. “Are you okay?”

He didn't answer me. His eyes still remained fixed on Kael. 

Kael expression hardened. “What? Why are you staring at me?” 

“Why did you touch my sister?” Caius swallowed. 

My brow pulled together. “Caius, he didn’t touch me. He was trying to pull me away from you, and then..."

Caius coughed slightly. “You shouldn’t have even touched me, Seryn.” 

I froze.

Verek let out a humorless laugh before I could respond. “What an ungrateful thief. Your sister just saved your life, and this is how you repay her?”

Caius ignored him. 

“I… I had to. You were dying.” 

“I wasn’t dying,” his voice was weak, but there was something else underneath it - it sounded like fear. “You don’t understand.” 

“Then make me understand." 

My frustration rose, but beneath it was something more painful.

I had watched him struggle for air. I had begged my power to work. When it finally did, I thought I had saved him. Now he was looking at me as though I had made a terrible mistake.

Caius looked at my hands. Then at Kael. “I thought you already knew what your power did.”

“I don’t know what my power does!” I snapped. “That’s the whole problem.”

He shook his head slowly. “You think it only works one way,” he said. “It doesn’t.”

“Caius… what are you talking about? We saved your life.” 

“You saved my life but you also gave him something now."

“What did she give to me?” Kael voice came from behind, deep and clear. 

Caius lifted his eyes towards him. Then looked back at me.

“You made a connection she can’t take back.”

The cell fell silent.

I looked at Kael. The golden light in his eyes had dimmed, but it hadn’t disappeared completely.

“Connection?” I repeated. “What connection?”

Neither man answered.

I felt suddenly trapped between them, caught in the middle of a truth they both seemed to understand better than I did.

Because whatever had passed between Kael and me, it hadn’t ended when he released my wrist.

I could still feel it.

And judging by the look in his eyes, so could he.

Author Note: Now, let’s settle something in the comments! Who do you think is more stubborn: Seryn or Kael?

Choose wisely, besties. I don’t want anybody entering this comment section and pretending these two are easy to deal with!