A Thorny Path — Complete by Georg Ebers (i can read with my eyes shut .txt) 📕

body as she crawled on her hands and knees across the room to get to him. Not only was she weak from her psychic ordeal with Merc, but the lingering dark power in Cash pierced through her like the sharpest blade through her flesh. It tore through muscle and tendons straight to her inner core. She gasped for breath with each painful stab.

Come on, Selene. You can do this. Cash is counting on you.

The stench of the black power nauseated her as she crawled through the dense shroud of it around him. Despite her determination, her body instinctively recoiled with each step. Finally reaching his side, she collapsed next to him, spent and used up. Tears tracked down her cheeks at the sight of his pale, stricken face turned toward her. The gurgle in his labored breathing didn't sound good as she imagined his lungs collapsing. She worried she was too late. She'd let Merc get the best of her and Cash had sacrificed himself for her.

“Come on, Cash, don't die on me. Please don't do this.”

She reached for him and brushed the dark lock of hair that had fallen across his eye, to the side of his face. She didn't care about the pain that caused her. She needed to touch him, skin to skin, more than she needed her next breath of air.

“What the hell happened here?”

Lost in her desperate thoughts of Cash, she hadn't even heard anyone enter the apartment. Anger surged. She needed an ass kicking for her continued loss of control. Practically since she’d left the shelter of the lab she’d been unable to catch a break. Selene turned to the stranger with fire at her fingertips, ready to defend him every which way possible. With a twist of her body she blocked Cash from view, doing the best she could to protect him.

“Whoa. Careful there, hon. I'm not here to hurt you, so there's no call for that.” He raised his hands up in surrender, taking a couple of steps backwards.

“What do you want? Why are you here? How did you get in?” He glanced over her shoulder at Cash.

“Do we have time for the twenty questions? My brother over there isn't looking so good. I'll admit that I'm impressed with your protectiveness of him, but right now you need to let me get to him before it's too late.”

She lowered her hand, extinguishing the flames. “You're the brother he called for?” She watched him walk around to the other side of Cash.

“Yep. I'm Denn Scott.”

She knew exactly who he was, but she thought it wise not to mention that right now. He was easy to recognize from the dossier she’d been given on him. Not that a photograph had done him justice. The Scott family had certainly been blessed in the looks department.

Denn knelt down on the floor next to his brother, checking for a pulse. His lips pressed together tight in a grim look. “Pulse is thready—barely there. How long has he been like this?”

“I'm—I'm not really sure. The fight seemed to go by really fast, but time is irrelevant when fighting for your life. He uh—got shot first and then pulled some seriously dark magick out to save me.”

Denn glanced at her. “You know about his magick?” She nodded. “Did he bother to tell you that using it destroys him piece by piece every time he uses it?” He ripped away Cash's shirt to reveal his blood covered chest and stomach. “Damn it, Cash, what were you thinking? You know better than this.”

“What do you mean?”

“My dumb ass brother here knows damn well that unleashing the black magick will destroy him. The more often you use, the faster the deterioration. Apparently he has been using way too much.”

“But he's been shot. That's why he's like this, right?”

“Partially, Selene. It is Selene isn’t it?”

She nodded and watched as Denn pulled a black pouch from a bag that he'd carried in. Opening the velvet cloth, he reached in and pulled out a handful of what looked to be some dried herbs. Not having any experience in natural healing, she couldn't really tell. He sprinkled them across the wound before placing the bag on the ground next to his feet. He returned his hands over his brother's abdomen and chanted something under his breath.

“What are you doing? We don’t have time for this. We need to call the paramedics. Get him to a hospital.”

He looked up at her. “That won't be necessary. I can fix the gunshot. But that's the least of his worries right now.”

“The black magick?”

“Yes.” He went back to chanting and moving his hands back and forth across his brother's body. She felt the crackle of energy seconds before she saw it flow from his palms. The power was tinged blue on the edges and seeped into Cash's body. Worried for him, she grabbed at his hand to lend support.

Their connection sizzled as the power surged forward from Cash to her, whispering along her skin. Startled, she jerked her hand away, looking up at Denn as she did.

“Can you feel that?” he asked.

“Yes, his body is fighting it. Trying to expel it.”

He shook his head and blew out a hard breath. “Black magick is powerful, that's for sure.”

“Not to mention it tastes and smells disgusting.” She scrunched up her nose as a fresh wave of the dark settled around Cash.

“You can smell it? And taste it?” He looked at her with a strange puzzled expression.

“Of course. Can't you? It's overpowering.”

“No, I can't. I can sense it. Feel the weight of it but that's it. Are you an empath?”

“Not exactly. I have developed some psychic ability. But I've not ever felt anything like this before.” Cash's body jerked and stiffened beside her. “What's happening? What are you doing? You're hurting him?” She grabbed at Cash again. “The pain is excruciating.”

“The gunshot wound is healing. Unfortunately that gives way to the stronger dark magick consuming him.”

She whimpered in response. The searing pain took