I rush down the hospital hallway with my mate in my arms. I mind-link the doctors that I'm here. They meet me halfway with a stretcher. I placed Anastasia on it so they could take her to surgery. I wait outside as they try to save my mate's life.
I don't know how many hours go by when the doctors step out of the operating room. I rush to the doctor to find out how Anastasia is doing.
"How is she?" I ask.
"The witch had already sealed her wounds, so we administered a drug to help remove the silver in her body. Most of it went out with her blood, but some remained. We're also giving her blood right now. She fell into a coma because of the blood loss, so it might take a while before she wakes up."
"But she will live regardless?"
"She should."
"That's great. Where is she?" I release a breath of relief.
"Let me take you to her," the doctor says, leading the way to Anastasia's room. I follow him.
I thank the doctor before stepping into Anastasia's room. My mate has IV tubes inserted into her hand. One has a blood bag, and the other has a transparent color. I didn't know what it was, but I'm guessing it was something to help remove the silver in her system.
I pull up a chair and sit down beside my mate. I take her pale, cold hands and place a small peck on them. My mate looks dead. I could only tell she was alive because of the heart monitor. It reminds me that she's alive. I felt the urge to cry from how pale she looks. I pray in my heart that she survives like the doctor said she would.
***
I wake up from my little slumber when I hear the heart monitor beating faster than usual. I must have fallen asleep watching my mate. I'm about to press the button for the doctor to come when they burst in themselves.
"What's wrong?" I ask, panicking something terrible might be happening to my mate.
"We don't know yet, my king. Please wait for us outside," the doctor says, checking Anastasia's body to find out why her heart rate has increased.
"This way, my king," a nurse says, directing me outside.
"Tell me what's wrong! You told me she would be fine!" I refuse to leave the room. I needed to know what was wrong with her.
"I don't know m-" the doctor gets cut off when Anastasia starts shaking violently on the bed.
"What's happening? Why is she convulsing?" I ask, worried.
"My king, we need a witch right now," the doctor shouts after opening Anastasia's eyes. They were void of any color and as black as the night.
"Why do you need a witch? Is the magic still affecting her body?"
"I believe so, my king. Medically she seems fine, but she's not recovering."
"Okay, I'll have a witch brought immediately."
I quickly open a mind link with Kyler.
'Kyler, ask your mate to come immediately. I need her to help me save Anastasia.'
'She will be there immediately, my king,' Kyler replies.
"Is there anything you can do to make it stop before the witch gets here?" Anastasia's body is shaking too much, and the rate her heart is beating is too fast.
"I'll try my best," the doctor says and talks to a nurse close by to give him something. He then injects it into Anastasia's arm. Nothing happens. I am about to ask him if he can do anything to help my mate when Ekaterina bursts into the room.
"How can I help?" she asks, looking exhausted. The war drained all of them, and even if they won, they couldn't rest yet because Anastasia was still fighting her own battle, the battle of life and death.
"She's convulsing, and her heart is beating too fast," the doctor tells Ekaterina as she walks toward the bed.
"Let me see," Ekaterina says, opening Anastasia's eyes. "This isn't good," she says once she closes them.
Hearing my best friend and one of the strongest witches say 'this isn't good' increased my worries tenfold. "What's not good?"
"The fire Ava put in her body is still inside of her. It is making her body reject the blood she's getting."
"I don't understand."
"The fire spell Ava cast was meant to drain the blood in her body. The fire is still inside her body, so it's making her body reject the new blood so it can continue to drain her out. It only wants blood to go out of her body. It doesn't want any blood to enter."
"Is there a way we can remove the fire in her body to make her body finally accept blood?"
"I tried earlier, but I can try again."
"Please try again," I beg.
"I will, but first, we need to take her outside. I'll try to remove the fire from inside her, so it might be best if we do it outside."
"Okay," I say, lifting Anastasia's body in my arms. Her body was still shaking viscously even as I held her close. "Let's go," I say, walking to the door. Ekaterina follows me out the door.
I walk outside the hospital with my mate in my arms. I place her on the stretcher the hospital nurse provides.
"Theo, no matter what I do, don't interrupt until you see the fire out of her body."
"Okay," I say, stepping back so Ekaterina can try to remove the fire from my mate's body.
Ekaterina stands beside Anastasia's body and begins to uncast the spell Ava did.
I watch as Ekaterina's eyes become black the more she chants words. I begin to panic once I see blood flowing from her nose. She's practicing black magic.
"Stop, Ekaterina, you're bleeding," I shout over the loud words she's chanting. It's like another being took over her body the more she tries to draw the fire out of Anastasia's body.
I don't want Ekaterina to die while trying to save my mate. I'll have to find another way to save Anastasia without losing my friend in the process. I moved forward to touch Ekaterina's body so I could bring her back and drive away whatever took over her body. The moment I am about to touch her, a ball of hot fire pushes me back.
"I told you not to interrupt me!" A voice more profound than I ever heard spoke to me. The voice came from my friend but was definitely not her. Her eyes are black and void of any emotion. She was bleeding through her nose badly.
I dusted myself off the ground and quickly mind-linked Kyler to come. He might be able to bring Ekaterina back.
Kyler arrives a few seconds after I am done talking to him.
"My love, it's me, your mate," Kyler tries to bring his mate back.
"No love of yours is here!" the being inside Ekaterina replies.
"Don't let them take you, Ekaterina; our baby needs you. I need you. Please come back," Kyler pleads.
"Baby," a voice a lot similar to Ekaterina's says.
"Yes, our baby," Kyler says, placing his hand on her belly. He was able to get close to her.
"My baby," Ekaterina says, her eyes returning to their original color. "Kyler, what are you doing here?"
I release a breath of relief once I hear Ekaterina's actual voice.
"Thank goodness you're back. I thought I lost you," Kyler says, hugging Ekaterina.
"Back from where," Ekaterina asks, confused.
"That's not important; the Queen is still convulsing. What are you going to do?" Kyler asks.
"Let me try one more time."
"No," I object before she begins. "I want to save Anastasia, but I will feel guilty for the rest of my life if you die while doing it."
"I want to try something else."
"Oh, what?"
"I'll try to create a water spell to put out the fire from within her."
"That sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah, let me try it. Please move away a little," Ekaterina tells us.
"Sure," I say, taking a step back, and Kyler follows.
Once we are at a reasonable distance, Ekaterina creates a shield like the last one she made while we were fighting. My eyes widened once I realized she had lied to us. She is actually going to try and undo the spell again. That must be the only way to save Anastasia's life, but she lost control the first time. I fear I'll lose her forever this time. I've to stop her.
Kyler and I shout for her to stop, but Ekaterina only tries harder to save Anastasia's life. She chants fast, bleeding from her nose and eyes.
I only stop shouting the second the fire in Anastasia's body comes out and burns out in the air. Ekaterina takes down the shield and falls but is caught by Kyler. She must be exhausted from all the spells she had cast.
"Thank you," I say, with tears in my eyes. I can't believe my friend did it. She was able to undo the dark magic on my mate. My mate was going to live now.
"That's what friends are for," Ekaterina says as she rests her body on her mate's. She rested on his good arm, not the injured one. Kyler walks her inside the hospital to get treatment for the draining spells she'd just cast.