Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Thirty-Six: My Atlantis

"Abbi, my love, I'm going to give you some potions okay," I whispered to her, my voice shaking. I brought the first bottle to her lips and slowly poured the potion down her throat. Instantly, some of the cuts on her face started to stitch themselves back together, and a blush of color rose to her cheeks once again. It was harder to see under the amounts of dried blood, but it was there.

Her eyes squeezed together tightly as I shifted to get her another bottle of potion, having to stop myself from pouring it too quickly. As the second bottle of potion emptied, she groaned in pain. I watched in relief as a large wound on her arm healed itself over, the blood spilling onto my robes from it stopping instantly.

Anne came bustling over to us again, a lightly harassed look on her face. "Sebastian, please, put her on the bed, I need to look over her wounds if I'm going to heal her."

I looked up at her, desperation in my eyes. She couldn't understand, would never understand, that I simply could not release her from my arms. People I had known did this to her, and she expected me to let go?

"Anne, I can't."

"You brought her here, you know it's safe now."

"I just-"

"She's safe, Sebastian. Now, let me work."

Reluctantly, I released her, my fingers now limp against her as Anne helped me place her gently on my mattress. I stepped away, my mind racing with a thousand thoughts and lists and truths. I could feel the dark monster in my chest clawing at my heart, demanding that I right this at this very instant. I could feel the red tendrils of the binding magic she had performed slithering inside me, hissing its way around my veins.

They deserve to die.

I know.

Look at what they did to her.

I can't look at her.

Look!

I didn't need to look at her again to know that I agreed with that darkness inside of my chest, but the force of the word jerked my head to her. Anne was removing her destroyed armored robes, bits of pale, bruised and bloodstained skin becoming visible as Anne removed her top.

I looked away, sick.

Starting my pace back and forth, I wanted more than anything to run back to that poacher stronghold and slaughter each and every one of them, if they weren't all already dead. The absolute wastes of space, the entire lot of them- including the Gaunt family. Ominis had been right not to trust a single damn one of them when I'd gone with him last summer.

The swell of anger only rose more with each passing second as Anne worked and I paced anxiously. Abbi was waking up due to the healing potions Anne had supplied her with, but as she started running her wand along her limbs whispering healing incantations, I was ripped further apart, pulled deeper into that darkness at the sight of the pain on her face.

"Sebastian, either go outside or keep yourself under control," Anne hissed as she stood and summoned more supplies to herself, hands laden with rags and a large pot of water.

I glanced up startled.

She gestured to me, "You're shaking, and I can feel it on you like I did that night. Get it together."

"I'm trying," I said through gritted teeth, my vision blurred from rage. The monster in my chest longed for vengeance, but I couldn't tear myself from her side to go get it. He would have to wait until I knew Abbi was okay.

"Then try harder. Send a letter to Ominis. He and Poppy should be here."

"Is she going to be okay?" Every single emotion flooded out of my body, sucked away at the implication of summoning loved ones to another's bedside. I knew what that meant. If she was going to die, I would be lost forever. I'd be pulled under, succumb fully to the darkness, unable to ever move on.