Dex's eyes went to Serena first. Her face was tear-streaked. Her composure was gone, replaced by the raw, unguarded expression of a woman watching a man she cared about die and having no magic, no portal, no ancient power that could stop it.
Then Dex's eyes went to Gav. His best friend. His brother. The man he had punched in the jaw and poured whiskey for and still trusted like gravity. The man who loved his wife and had chosen to carry that silently because the alternative was losing both of them.
"He severed the matebond," Alaric said, without looking away from Gav.
"How long ago?" Fin asked.
"A few hours."
"What do you need?"
The healer straightened. He looked at Fin, then at Dex, and the expression on his face was the one that made Dex's stomach drop, because Alaric Kestrel always had an answer.
The expression on his face right now was the absence of one.
