The Husband With many Identities

Ch 3 - Stop Him

"No."

His answer came quickly.

He reached for the fifth needle.

The moment it entered Seraphine’s chest, the preservation machine released a warning tone.

The chief healer checked the panel.

"Her remaining energy is falling."

Several relatives began speaking at once.

Mirella pointed at Akeel.

"Stop him!"

Garrick stepped forward.

Danaya raised one hand.

Nobody moved.

"He continues," she said.

Akeel glanced at her.

Danaya did not trust him, but she had chosen to protect his attempt.

He returned his attention to Seraphine.

The sixth needle reopened the channel near her lungs. The seventh guided healing energy toward her heart.

His fingers began to shake.

He tightened his grip until they became steady again.

Danaya watched every movement.

She had seen master healers perform difficult procedures. They worked with trained assistants, expensive machines, and prepared healing arrays.

Akeel worked alone.

The eighth needle entered.

Seraphine’s fingers twitched.

A woman near the wall gasped.

The chief healer checked the monitor.

"There was movement."

Mirella shook her head. "The preservation field caused it."

"No," the healer replied. "The field cannot move her muscles."

Akeel placed the ninth needle beneath Seraphine’s ribs.

His face had lost its color.

Danaya stepped closer.

"Can you finish?"

"Yes."

"You sound exhausted."

"I am exhausted."

His blunt reply caught her off guard.

Akeel picked up the final Core Needle.

The last channel lay behind Seraphine’s heart. Too little healing energy would leave the core motionless. Too much would destroy the weakened channel and expose the power inside him.

He positioned the needle over the center of Seraphine’s chest.

Then he pushed it in with precision.

Nothing happened. 

The preservation engine continued its slow deafening sound. As if no one wants to speak or make a sound.

Mirella released a bitter breath.

Akeel placed his palm above the final needle.

He opened the copied healing power inside his core.

Gold spread across all ten crystal handles.

The light traveled from one needle to another, forming a complete pattern over Seraphine’s body. Her skin warmed beneath Akeel’s hand.

The chief healer stared at the glowing pattern.

"That is impossible."

Seraphine’s body jerked.

She dragged in a breath.

The sound was rough and painful, but it filled the chamber.

Her chest rose.

The core monitor turned blue.

One weak line moved across the crystal screen.

Then another.

A pulse of energy left Seraphine’s body and stirred the curtains around her bed.

No one spoke.

The chief healer rushed to the machine. He restored the scanning pulse and read the results twice.

"Her heart has restarted," he said.

He looked at the second set of readings.

"So has her core."

Garrick’s arms dropped to his sides.

Mirella stared at Seraphine with her mouth open.

The relatives who had demanded Akeel’s removal now avoided looking at him.

Akeel removed his hand from the final needle.

"Do not remove them," he said. "Her channels need ten minutes to stabilize."

The chief healer nodded before he seemed to remember that he was taking instructions from a man with no healer’s badge.

Akeel tried to stand.

His left knee gave way.

Danaya caught him before he struck the floor. One arm went around his back, while her other hand closed around his wrist.

His core felt faint beneath her fingers.

Far too faint for the amount of healing energy still moving through the needles.

Akeel opened his eyes and found her watching him.

"You can release me," he said.

"You can barely stand."

"I have had worse days."

"You restarted her core."

The chief healer looked offended but remained silent.

Danaya tightened her hold when Akeel attempted to pull away.

She had spent six months blaming this man for leaving her before their wedding. She had believed she understood what kind of person he was.

A coward.

A liar.

A disgrace to her family.

But a coward could not face a room of hostile power users without fear. A liar could not perform a healing technique unknown to the finest doctors in Asterra City.

Danaya looked at the ten glowing Core Needles.

She knew nothing about Akeel’s abilities. She did not know where he had learned to heal or why he had hidden such knowledge from her family.

The face was familiar.

The man behind it was not.

Danaya lowered her gaze to Akeel.

Who was he?