The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

Author:Sarah Raughley [Raughley, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781534453562
Google: DcA8EAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1534453563
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2021-09-06T23:00:00+00:00

25

THE EXPLODING MAN WENT OFF like a bomb. It was over in an instant, the damage done, and now he was squatting above Jinn’s burnt body, ready to pluck Rin’s key from his twitching fingers.

Iris launched at him, shrieking. It didn’t matter that he jumped back and began sparking once again. Iris wrapped her hands around his neck, screaming in pain from the electrical current, howling in fury but refusing to let go.

The Exploding Man couldn’t breathe. As if her vise grip were a candle snuffer, the electricity evaporated, and he fell back. Iris stood over him, body and clothes in a shambles, with an expression that would terrify a demon. He could see her body was already healing. Scrambling back, he ran off, leaving Jinn with the keys.

She would heal, but Jinn couldn’t. His shirt and pants were torn, his naked, exposed back bloodied and burnt. Tears welled up in Iris’s eyes as she turned him over. He was only just breathing.

“What do I do?” Iris wiped her face, still throbbing in pain from the electrical burns. “Jinn, what do I do?” Her whole body trembled as she held his head against her lap.

Cold water. Cold water! Whenever she burnt herself cooking, Granny would always bring her a pack of ice, not knowing that her wound would heal on its own.

Shaking terribly, Iris wrapped Jinn’s arm around her and stood, leaving the key on the ground, forgetting it entirely. She dragged him as fast as she could toward the lake. Then, wrapping her arms around him, she jumped into the icy water.

Bobbing in the waves, she lifted up his head while keeping one arm linked around his waist, examining his unconscious face, his dark hair floating around him. She was relieved when he started coughing. But he was still barely conscious. It took all her strength to keep them both floating, hoping with everything she had that the chilly waters soothed his pain like it did hers, but he needed more than this.

“I-Iris…,” he croaked as she dragged him back onto the shore and laid him against the thick bushes.

“It’s okay,” Iris lied, watching his eyes struggling to open. His lips were trembling, his throat sounding sore with her name on his tongue. Water. She could get him water.

She ran to the lake and held as much as she could in her mouth. Then, as carefully as she could, she tilted Jinn’s head back and pried apart his lips.

Jinn… She couldn’t stop the tears trailing down her cheeks as she cupped his face, lifted it toward her, and emptied the water into his mouth. Slowly, gently. Jinn’s long lashes fluttered rapidly, his hand weakly rising up against her arm.

“Jinn,” she said, noticing a bit of his strength return. “Are you okay?”

His hand continued moving up until it touched her face. Then his other hand. His eyes, half-open, stayed on her as he kept her face near his.

“More,” he whispered hoarsely, and drew her face closer. “I need more…” And closer.

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