Littered With Stars {Book 7 in the Star of Gryffindor Series)

Chapter 87 - The Night is Gone

~Albus~

I was across the room in two seconds, which was enough time for Colette to collapse to the ground. Astra looked horrified, but I couldn't worry about her right now. Just Colette. I dropped to my knees, hooking my hands underneath her arms to pull her up to a sitting position. She was breathing heavily, shaking almost feverishly. Her grip on my arm was tight, but when she met my eyes, she almost looked scared.

Had she pushed herself too hard, even with the conduiting? That had clearly worked—they'd actually been lifted up into the air while it was happening. They'd literally glowed. But maybe even that had been too much, and she shouldn't have tried at all. My chest clenched as the thought that she was about to die in my arms swept into my mind unbidden. No, I needed to be calm, help her be calm. "Whoa, hey, it's all right," I said softly. "You're fine. It's over."

"Is that supposed to happen?" Nico asked from somewhere behind me, but Astra shushed him before I could. She stepped out of the way, though, hovering next to me as if she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing.

My eyes didn't leave Colette. "Do you need more painkillers?"

She nodded weakly, and I quickly rifled through her pockets until I found the bottle. Once again, I had to hold it for her, pour it into her mouth. What we really needed was more of whatever Adalyn had given her for strength, but she hadn't thought to send us with any of that.

"I need you to talk to me," I whispered, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "What changed after the spell? Are you hurt?"

She took a deep breath. "I... I don't know..." Slowly, she managed to shake her head, bring one hand up to her temple. "It feels like something exploded in there."

Well... that wasn't good. I bit my lip to keep from swearing. Instead, I asked, "Were there any side effects to conduiting? Do you remember?"

"I don't know." Colette tried to shift, but ended up wincing and clutching her side tightly. "I... I don't know that anyone's ever tried it like this before..."

"Do you think you can stand?" I finally looked up to shoot a glare at Nico, but he just put his hands up defensively. "We've got to get her downstairs somehow, if you want to find a healer."

"I can carry her," I snapped.

Colette's grip on my arm tightened. "I want to stand."

Astra groaned. "I really don't think—"

"Help me, Albus."

For a moment, I just stared at her. Surely she knew she wouldn't be able to, right? She was having enough trouble sitting up—I could feel how much she was having to lean on my hand behind her back. Was she trying to kill herself?

It wasn't about that, though, was it? The way Colette was looking at me, silently pleading with me to take her side. I wasn't going to let go of her, no matter what she did, and she had to know that. I wasn't going to let her die. So if it wasn't that...

I realized with a start that she'd never been this vulnerable before the detention center. Never in front of Astra, or Nico, or Wren. And she didn't want them to see her like this, did she? A broken, fragile, helpless girl who needed to be treated with incredible care. Of course, I was still going to treat her with incredible care, but it wouldn't be so obvious if she was leaning on me, instead of in my arms.

"If you're sure you can handle it," I said slowly. The relief in her eyes was almost enough to put me at ease about the idea. Though I heard Astra start to argue, I put my hand up before she could get a word out, focusing entirely on Colette.