Impulse by Dannika Dark Read Free Book Online Page B

sword.
    Footsteps crunched behind me and my hand flew up.
    “Don’t come any closer,” I yelled out. “I need a blanket from a safe room.” I whipped my head around and saw Leo. “Get me a blanket that doesn’t have any liquid fire on it!”
    “Is it Justus?” Simon dropped on his knees beside me. “Good girl. We’ll do this very carefully.”
    Leo returned with a tightly folded blanket he handed to Simon. Something was stuffed beneath his shirt so that he looked pregnant. Leo draped the blanket over our backs, sealing us in dim light.
    “Let’s give it a minute for the liquid fire to settle,” he said in our stuffy pocket of air.
    “How is this going to work?” I asked in a worried voice.
    “As best it can, love.” Simon shook his head. “We’ll do the best we can.”
    A couple of agonizing minutes passed before Simon pulled away a flat stone. I followed his cue and we carefully worked together. Others held the ends of the blanket, securing them down. There wasn’t much to uncover. The hilt of the sword was flush with his belly and blood soaked his white dress shirt. Simon unbuttoned the jacket and stopped me from lifting the last bits of rubble. A bead of sweat dripped from my forehead.
    “Hang in there, chap,” Simon said encouragingly.
    I brushed my hand across Justus’s forehead, relieved he had no other serious injuries. His eyes were hooded, and I stroked his sweaty brow with my thumb.
    “Hand me the sheet,” Simon called out.
    When the folded sheet appeared, he paused. “Carefully remove the remaining blocks from his stomach. I doubt they’re coated in liquid fire, but lift them straight up.”
    Justus wasn’t just impaled, that sword was pushed all the way to the hilt. I grimaced and fought back the sickening feeling in my stomach.
    “What about his back?” I asked.
    Simon tore a slit in the center of the sheet with a dagger, draping it over Justus with the handle of the sword poking through the hole.
    “The blast would have thrown him down and it settled on top. What we’re doing is protecting him for what’s about to happen.”
    I pulled my hand away from Justus and looked over my shoulder. “What’s about to happen, Simon?”
    He stood up and snapped the blanket off in a dramatic fashion.
    Crawling to his side, I cradled my Ghuardian’s head with my left arm, which also kept him from moving.
    “Stay still,” I said against his temple, brushing my hand over the bristles of his short hair. His eyes rolled back.
    When Leo stepped forward and reached for the sword, I caught his wrist.
    “Silver, let him go,” Simon warned. “Someone needs to pull the sword free and release him from this pain. Leo’s the strongest one among us.”
    Novis stood in profile with his head hung low. There was a trace of guilt in his voice. “It was mounted upstairs. I’ve kept it for over six hundred years. Please accept my apologies.”
    “Can no one take away his pain?” I asked, looking between the men. A Mage kept gifts closely guarded like a fantastic hand of cards.
    “Christian?” Novis yelled out.
    “No,” Justus grumbled. “Keep him out of this.”
    Simon wiped his cheek, leaving a smudge of dirt. “Distract him,” he whispered to me.
    How the hell do you distract someone from getting a forty-inch blade pulled from their gut?
    By blurting out the most inappropriate thing, of course.
    “Simon showed me what binding is. Remember that time you caught us in my bedroom?”
    His eyes slanted into fiery slivers and before he could mutter a word, Leo gripped the sword and pulled. Justus peeled his lips back and his moan turned into a roaring shout.
    “Ghuardian, look at me!”
    His beautiful eyes—the color of summer sky—locked on mine, glazed over.
    “I’m sorry I made a spectacle of myself tonight. Just one second of pain. We’ll heal you as soon as it’s out. Focus on my face.”
    He bravely locked eyes with mine and a fire flickered in them. This man possessed a control over