said.
He shifted, rolling his head. Fear pinched his craggy features. He caught in a sharp breath.
“Easy,” she urged, sliding a hand onto his wrist.
He jumped and groaned.
“You’re safe here,” she said, letting magic rise. “Come with me.”
She nudged cool, sage-scented magic into his body.
They shifted to the etheric.
Did violence have a color? If it did, it defined Elliot’s magic. In the etheric, the wound in his abdomen hemorrhaged magic as well as blood. At his feet, a rabbit curled, twitching, her soft fur matted with blood and green-brown magic.
Elliot sobbed, something Isa heard in both worlds.
She’d never healed two entities at once before. She didn’t know whether she could.
“They’re integrated.” Murmur’s voice came as if from far away, even though he sat propped not four feet from her physical body.
Even in the etheric, his regard and his presence assuaged the gaping emptiness where he’d once been.
And where she wished he still was.
Elliot and his tattoo were integrated. When Isa put Live Ink on someone, she acted as a conduit between the spirit enlivening the Ink and the host. Could she do the same thing in reverse, channeling healing energy into each of them at the same time?
She put up a shield in the etheric that encompassed the three of them, her, man, and tattoo. Then Isa crouched and brushed the rabbit’s fur with the fingertips of her free hand. Elliot’s magic shot into her through her hand on his wrist. The rabbit’s gentler, skittish power edged, twitching and cautious into the open space inside Isa.
She started at the sensation of someone else’s magic rattling around inside the cage of her bones. Her gut twisted. Not like a demon poking her, but not at all comfortable.
“Defend yourself,” Murmur said, his hushed command rippling through the worlds.
It steadied her. Closing her eyes, she gathered power and intention until they gleamed like a miniature winter sun behind her solar plexus, then she drove the combination through the rabbit’s and Elliot’s magic into their bodies.
Elliot cried out, more from shock, Isa hoped, than from the pain of having his wounds closed in a flash.
The rabbit convulsed beneath Isa’s etheric fingers. A bolt of pure terror not her own struck her heart. The rabbit twisted and vanished from Isa’s grasp.
She fell out of the etheric and landed in her physical body with a bump. Opening her eyes, Isa drew a hissing breath in between clenched teeth, pulse thundering in her ears.
Elliot’s brown eyes were wide. Tears had dried on his cheeks. His gaze flicked away when she glanced into his face.
Isa took her hand from his wrist, and pulled her work cart closer.
She glanced at Murmur in Daniel’s body.
He’d tipped his head back, his eyes closed, and his features smooth and relaxed. A sensual half smile played over those perfect lips.
Awareness jolted her nerves, followed a split second later by confusion.
He looked like a man who’d found safety.
Was that her? Or was it her magic and her blood? Habituation? The fact that he’d been yanked from his world into this one against his will and attuned to her because he’d had no more choice than she’d had?
Was it small of her to want to take advantage? Isa had never been her own sanctuary, much less anyone else’s.
Of all the stupid things to want.
She forced her attention to the man on her table. Opening a sterile scrub pack, she said, “I need to clean up the blood.”
He flinched, wariness digging deep furrows into his brow.
“I need to make sure your tattoo is okay,” Isa said. “I can’t see her under the blood. I’d like to make sure she doesn’t need more help to stay healthy. If she does, I can get out the Live Ink and fix her. Can you let me look, for her sake?”
Lips trembling, Elliot straightened out on the table and nodded.
He had flat ink on one forearm—a Marine Corps bulldog—and several fine scars running in crisscrosses over his
He shifted, rolling his head. Fear pinched his craggy features. He caught in a sharp breath.
“Easy,” she urged, sliding a hand onto his wrist.
He jumped and groaned.
“You’re safe here,” she said, letting magic rise. “Come with me.”
She nudged cool, sage-scented magic into his body.
They shifted to the etheric.
Did violence have a color? If it did, it defined Elliot’s magic. In the etheric, the wound in his abdomen hemorrhaged magic as well as blood. At his feet, a rabbit curled, twitching, her soft fur matted with blood and green-brown magic.
Elliot sobbed, something Isa heard in both worlds.
She’d never healed two entities at once before. She didn’t know whether she could.
“They’re integrated.” Murmur’s voice came as if from far away, even though he sat propped not four feet from her physical body.
Even in the etheric, his regard and his presence assuaged the gaping emptiness where he’d once been.
And where she wished he still was.
Elliot and his tattoo were integrated. When Isa put Live Ink on someone, she acted as a conduit between the spirit enlivening the Ink and the host. Could she do the same thing in reverse, channeling healing energy into each of them at the same time?
She put up a shield in the etheric that encompassed the three of them, her, man, and tattoo. Then Isa crouched and brushed the rabbit’s fur with the fingertips of her free hand. Elliot’s magic shot into her through her hand on his wrist. The rabbit’s gentler, skittish power edged, twitching and cautious into the open space inside Isa.
She started at the sensation of someone else’s magic rattling around inside the cage of her bones. Her gut twisted. Not like a demon poking her, but not at all comfortable.
“Defend yourself,” Murmur said, his hushed command rippling through the worlds.
It steadied her. Closing her eyes, she gathered power and intention until they gleamed like a miniature winter sun behind her solar plexus, then she drove the combination through the rabbit’s and Elliot’s magic into their bodies.
Elliot cried out, more from shock, Isa hoped, than from the pain of having his wounds closed in a flash.
The rabbit convulsed beneath Isa’s etheric fingers. A bolt of pure terror not her own struck her heart. The rabbit twisted and vanished from Isa’s grasp.
She fell out of the etheric and landed in her physical body with a bump. Opening her eyes, Isa drew a hissing breath in between clenched teeth, pulse thundering in her ears.
Elliot’s brown eyes were wide. Tears had dried on his cheeks. His gaze flicked away when she glanced into his face.
Isa took her hand from his wrist, and pulled her work cart closer.
She glanced at Murmur in Daniel’s body.
He’d tipped his head back, his eyes closed, and his features smooth and relaxed. A sensual half smile played over those perfect lips.
Awareness jolted her nerves, followed a split second later by confusion.
He looked like a man who’d found safety.
Was that her? Or was it her magic and her blood? Habituation? The fact that he’d been yanked from his world into this one against his will and attuned to her because he’d had no more choice than she’d had?
Was it small of her to want to take advantage? Isa had never been her own sanctuary, much less anyone else’s.
Of all the stupid things to want.
She forced her attention to the man on her table. Opening a sterile scrub pack, she said, “I need to clean up the blood.”
He flinched, wariness digging deep furrows into his brow.
“I need to make sure your tattoo is okay,” Isa said. “I can’t see her under the blood. I’d like to make sure she doesn’t need more help to stay healthy. If she does, I can get out the Live Ink and fix her. Can you let me look, for her sake?”
Lips trembling, Elliot straightened out on the table and nodded.
He had flat ink on one forearm—a Marine Corps bulldog—and several fine scars running in crisscrosses over his
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