Cael's eyes fluttered open.
At the exact same moment, Nova opened a portal window—precise, as if she'd been waiting down to the second for that very blink.
Elias jumped again, stumbling with a tray in his hands. "Nova, I swear on the gods, if you open one more portal at me without warning, I'm going to start needing calming tonics for my nerves."
"Status," Nova said, her eyes never leaving Cael.
"One more minute," Elias replied, trying to catch his breath.
Nova opened the portal fully.
Jax could feel it—Nova was fading.
She shouldn't have still been standing, let alone commanding all of them with the focus of a war general. Whatever magic she was drawing from, it was bleeding out of her by the second. Fin felt it too, the same creeping, draining sensation wrapping around her. Both men clenched their jaws, their bodies itching to intervene.
"She'll survive," Nova said suddenly, answering their thoughts aloud without so much as glancing in their direction. "But her blood is still laced with traces of Lycura's Kiss. Otherwise, we would be using it for Cael. She will need a transfusion before midday, and another dose of the antidote."
She spoke of herself in third person, as though her consciousness was already one step removed.
Jax and Fin exchanged a glance—and only then did they realize their eyes were still glowing. No pupils. Just pure, burning light: Sapphire for Jax, pure white for Fin. It would have been funny except Cael had almost just died minutes before.
They both turned to look at him continuing to focus their healing into him.
"He needs to submerge fully," Nova said, voice unwavering. "We do not stop channeling until every trace of dark magic is gone. I will tell you when, Elle."
She didn't look at her, but Elle knew Nova had read her thoughts. She wanted to touch him—needed to—but it wasn't time yet.
Cael blinked, his eyes glassy with pain, but something in Nova's voice must've reached him. He inhaled shakily, then slipped under the surface without hesitation.
The moment his head went beneath the water, a violent burst of dark magic erupted from his crown—twice the size of what had come from Aeron. It shot upward in a thick, writhing column, hissing like steam. Elle's green magic met it midair, shredding it to nothing before it could touch the surface.
Cael came up seconds later, shifting from his back to upright. He coughed hard, water spilling from his lips.
"Beta, hold," Nova commanded.
He obeyed instantly, freezing where he was.
Elias stepped through the portal with a cup in hand.
"Elias, help him drink. Only touch the glass. Beta, do not try to hold it," Nova instructed.
Elias moved to the edge and held the cup steady at Cael's lips. Cael drank it greedily, like it was the first thing he'd tasted in days—like it was life itself. His skin, pale and strained moments ago, flushed with new color.
"Drop the glass into the spring," Nova commanded, eyes never leaving Cael.
Without hesitation, Elias released it. The moment the glass sank beneath the surface, a thin ribbon of dark smoke curled out from it, hissing quietly as it rose.
"How many do we have?" she called.
"I've got enough for a few more glasses."
"Bring me one every two minutes," Nova said, already anticipating the next surge.
"That helped," Elle called out, her voice carrying a soft edge of relief. She could feel it through the matebond—the tight pain in her chest finally starting to ease.
Nova didn't answer. She already knew it had worked.
"Beta," she said, her tone crisp and clinical. "Go under for ten seconds. Come up for twenty seconds to breathe. Your lungs cannot handle more than that. Repeat until I say otherwise."
Cael didn't argue. He dipped beneath the surface again, obedient and silent.
Two minutes passed. Elias returned, stepping through with another tonic.
"Hold," Nova said. "Stay submerged to the neck. Elias—give him the tonic. Drop the glass afterward."
Cael drank again, more slowly this time. He clutched his chest as he finished, exhaling hard—like he hadn't drawn a full breath in hours.
"Twenty seconds this time," Nova instructed.
Cael nodded once, then sank beneath the water again. More dark magic spilled from him, streaming from his back and shoulders.
The four of them kept channeling. Steady. Unshaken. Relentless.
Elias stood frozen for a moment, watching the scene unfold. He had never witnessed anything like this. Four individuals, all channeling direct healing into one person. A spring enchanted with magic. Potent tonics administered in intervals. And still—still—dark magic continued to seep from Cael like it had no end.
"This is the most concentrated healing I've ever seen," he muttered to himself, eyes wide.
"One more, Elias," Nova said, her voice steady. "And we'll need another, following the transfusion."
Fin's body shifted slightly—then something strange happened. The gold energy he was directing into Cael suddenly split, veering midstream. Half continued flowing into Cael, but the other half redirected into Nova. He hadn't done it consciously. His instincts had taken over, like his body recognized she needed it too.
Nova didn't acknowledge it aloud.
The slight softening in her shoulders was all the confirmation needed.
Jax noticed immediately. He felt it through the matebond—her weakening, the edges of her strength beginning to fray. He tried to shift some of his own magic to her, to support her—but his power refused. It continued pouring into Cael, unyielding, like it knew where it needed to go first.
Elias returned with the third tonic.
"Hold. One more tonic," Nova instructed.
Elias moved without being told, helping Cael drink as he had before. Neither needed further guidance. They'd done this dance twice already.
"Do I—?" Elias began, glancing at the cup, unsure if he needed to drop it again.
"Yes," Nova said flatly, cutting him off before he could finish.
He dropped the glass into the spring, and another faint trail of smoke escaped as it sank.
"Thirty seconds now," Nova commanded. "We'll continue until you are clear. No more than that—your lungs are still fragile."
Cael didn't nod. He didn't speak.
But the moment Nova's words ended, he slipped beneath the surface without hesitation.
"Transfusion," Nova began, her tone as flat as ever.
"Yes, prepared," Elias answered quickly—short and clipped, thinking he'd cut her off. But he hadn't. That was the entire sentence. She was only going to say one word. He was just in such a rush to preempt her that he ended up unintentionally answering perfectly.
He blinked, mildly surprised, then cleared his throat.
"Go check on Aeron. Alpha and Gamma will assist in lifting Beta out in two minutes. I will require you then," Nova said.
"Yes, Luna," Elias replied instinctively—too fast.
There was a beat of silence.
He froze. He hadn't meant to say it. Hadn't even thought it. But the title had slipped from his mouth like a truth already accepted.
She was the Luna. Whether she was two weeks into the job or not.
Jax and Fin looked at each other again. Both cracked a grin—brief, involuntary. For one second, they forgot they were pissed off, worried, and covered in magic.
"Elle," Nova continued, "after the transfusion, you'll lie beside Cael to complete his healing."
Elle gave a single sharp nod.
Fin and Jax exchanged another glance, their grins already fading. The voice giving orders still wasn't hers—not entirely. And yet… it was.
Was this their Nova?
Neither of their wolves answered or commented in their minds.
Cael went under a few more times. And Finally the last of the dark magid faded.
"Yes." Nova said, answering Elle's unasked question once he'd gone under twice with no dark magic emerging. She ran through the water to Cael, wrapping her arms around him and kissed his face everywhere.
"Don't try to speak." Nova said.
Fin and Jax both stopped channeling, their magic dimming as the last of it faded from their hands. Nova's power fell silent too, silver fading into nothing. Green light still flowed steadily from Elle—but she didn't seem to notice. Her body kept going, locked in instinct.
Both men turned toward Nova.
And just like before, both streams of gold—the remnants of their power—shifted mid-air, veering into her. Not because she asked. Because their magic chose to.
Both of them reached for her, again, not able to touch her. An inch away. Always an inch.
"Nova!" Fin snapped, frustrated.
Nova didn't respond to the desperation in his voice. Didn't acknowledge their hands, or their proximity.
"Assist in lifting and preparing him for the transfusion," she said, crisp and controlled. "Now."
Jax's jaw locked. His eyes flashed sapphire. Fin's flared white. They looked like overgrown magical toddlers ready to throw something across the room—but no one dared say that aloud.
The only person who would have? Cael.
Who, at present, had been ordered not to speak by the boss herself.
With synchronized huffs of resignation, Fin and Jax waded through the water toward Cael. Without another word, they hauled him toward the edge and guided him through the portal, dragging their irritation behind them like a wet cloak.
Gold magic still streamed from Fin and Jax into Nova. Neither of them was doing it consciously—their bodies did what their minds couldn't. Instinct. Through the matebond, they both felt her faltering. Whatever version of Nova this was, she wasn't fine. Not even close. But she gave no indication of slowing. No trembling. No pause. But they knew she shouldn't even be upright.
They lifted Cael out of the spring, guiding him through the portal to the nearest open bed just across from Aeron's. His body was heavy with exhaustion but healing—flesh knit, breath steady.