by Sariah Skye
I nodded, with a grin. "Yeah. It’s me."
Her lower lip trembled. "I want…to leave. "
I nodded vigorously. "Then just…give me your hand. Stand up. I’ll get you out. All you have to do is…take it." I outstretched my hand and she looked at it, like it was a foreign object. Reluctantly, she lifted her own heavy hand off the ground and slowly placed it in mine.
Daniel and I helped her to stand. She cried out as more tendrils, suddenly realizing they were losing their grasp on her, started furiously nipping at her bare feet.
Flashes of light shot through the opening in the portal at her feet. She yelped, but realized after a moment they were fighting off the tendrils she calmed. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Let’s go, okay?" And she nodded, leaning her weak body directly into mine, and she allowed me to slowly walk her to the portal, ignoring the flashes of light that kept shooting through.
"Okay." She dragged her feet but I held her weight against me. It felt like eons before we finally reached the portal opening, but we did. I felt a shove as Daniel pushed us. We crashed through, feeling a temporary disorienting sensation as we fell a short but unexpected distance to the ground. But only Kit actually fell, of course. Daniel and I sort of…dissipated.
I awoke with a choked gasp, starting violently. From next to me, Daniel sat up, abrupt, making appalled choking noises.
I felt a weight over the lower half of my body and cried out in relief, seeing Kit draped over my legs, listless but her chest was steadily moving up and down.
Esmè was at our side in an instant, Gabriel waving out the candles with his air magic so as to not burn her. She hovered her hands all over Kit’s non-reactive body and looked up at me.
"She’s alive…but only just. Her mind is in a bad place. I need to get her to my place. Fast!" Esmè pulled an arsenal of vials, herbs and trinkets out of her bag and started draping things over Kit’s body, sprinkling things on her or waving twigs over her, chanting rhythmically.
Maxxus rushed to her side—the largest and the strongest of us right now and heaved her off the ground in both of his arms. Her neck went slack and her head was heavy, limbs languid as he clutched her close to himself.
Her eyes fluttered momentarily, as Esmè put a vial to her lips, pouring some green liquid over them. Kit slowly and involuntarily pressed her lips together, and some of the substance seeped in. "You’ll be okay, dear," Esmè said, putting a comforting hand to her forehead. She looked up at Maxxus and nodded. "Let’s go. It’s not far." Maxxus grunted in acknowledgment and they began walking off, as a small noise came from Kit.
"Leo?"
I leaped up and was by her side in a flash. "Yeah?" I said, Maxxus lowering her slightly so we could properly look at each other.
There was recognition in her eyes, a spark in her eyes when she saw me. She tried to lift her hand to grab mine but was unsuccessful, too weak. I brought my palm to her cheek and held it there.
"Do I really get to see unicorns?" she asked, hopefully.
I chuckled lightly. "I promise…as soon as you feel better."
She flashed a small smile before allowing her eyes to shut again, too weak to keep them open. She leaned her head against Maxxus’ chest. I gave him a look of thank you before Esmè urged him to hurry.
I began to follow, but Finnian grabbed my shoulders. I tried to pull away but he only grasped more firmly, spinning me around on my heels to look into his face. His expression was stern and commanded compliance, his eyes flashing to a bright, bright grass green. "Esmè will do what she can, but no distractions. Let them be. For now, you need to recover. You may not feel it now, but you will be drained in a while. And…uhh..." he looked slightly past me, and nodded.
"What?" I asked, confused. I tried to glance over my shoulder and when I saw it, I groaned. The wings I had just gotten rid of were jutting out my back and draped down towards the ground again. They had ripped plum through my t-shirt and sweatshirt (but I was thankful the front of my shirts remained intact!). "Why?"
Finnian shook his head. "Don’t know. But—"
Suddenly, I was overcome with a wash of fatigue. My vision became cloudy and my knees unexpectedly weak. They began to give out from under me before Finnian caught me, before I could fall to the ground.
"Get her to bed," Finnian instructed to someone. I couldn’t distinguish to in my fatigued haze. A pair of arms wrapped around me and for the second time in such a short time frame, I blacked out.
Chapter 21
Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking the blurriness out of them, revealing myself to be in unfamiliar surroundings; almost a hospital type setting.
"You’re in the infirmary." Evie peered over me, obviously seeing the quizzical expression on my face. "All of you are, actually."
I tried to sit up and felt something crash into my head like a ton of bricks: a surge of pain. I groaned and quickly lay back down against the pillow. "Uggh…."
"Headache?" Evie questioned, and I nodded. "Good. Believe it or not pain is a good sign that you’re recovering."
"Recovering?" I asked, rubbing my forehead with the tips of my fingers.
She nodded. "Apparently, when you pulled out your friend, some of the Shadows had spilled out of the portal and started attacking your friends."
I gasped. "Oh, no!"
"Everyone’s fine," she said, quickly. "The sorcerer—err, Gabriel managed to summon down an incredible amount of light magic from seemingly out of nowhere. I’ve never heard of a sorcerer able to wield that much magic."
The vampire continued: "The light was enough to burn all of the Shadows into oblivion but not before they grabbed on to a few of you, leaving a dark imprint. So…you all were sent here and having been receiving light infusions and healing pots for the past four hours."
I groaned, trying to shake the confusion out of my brain. Sluggishly, I was able to pull myself to a sitting position and fully take in my surroundings. I was on top of a white-sheeted gurney, much like you’d see in a normal hospital. Daniel was asleep soundly to the one on my left.
"Is he—" I began to ask, pointing at him.
"Fine, fine. Just a bit tired." Evie explained.
On the other side of Daniel sat Connor—the mage—who was upright with his legs slung over the gurney, slumped down with his head in his hands, mumbling something about a headache.
"How about him?" I asked.
Evie began to speak, but Connor cut her off. "Oh, I’m fine. But your sorcerer blasted me with a bit of that light magic accidentally." He let out an unexpected peal of giggles. "Now I just feel…weird." He wobbled and slumped back down on the pillow, legs still draped over the side.
Evie chuckled. "Too much light magic directly taken makes you feel…tipsy."
"Wheee!" Connor blurted, with a giggle, sitting up again and allowing himself to fall to the pillow once more, followed by a hearty laugh.
I snorted and grinned. "That’s funny." Evie nodded in agreement.
I glanced on the other side of me, Maxxus was curled up under a blanket, sleeping peacefully with a small smile on his face. I felt crushed seeing him sleeping, seeming all vulnerable. I fought an urge to reach out for him and touch a small scrape over his eyebrow but resisted because it didn't feel appropriate.
"Him too?" I sighed, regrettably. "He shouldn’t have even have to be here."
"Since he was the one carrying your friend, he got a good dose of the Shadows too. But, he’ll be fine. He is strong, that’s for sure." Evie glanced over at him, smiling in admiration.
I raised a brow. "Oh?" was all I said.
She nodded, still smiling at Maxxus’ sleeping form before shaking herself out of a daydream. "Cute, that one is. But…his mind is clearly elsewhere."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh...nothing." She shrugged, dismissing the topic. I groaned under my breath; more cryptic words about the green dragon. Goody.
I noticed that Kit wasn’t in the room. "Where is Kit? She’s not here?" I asked, my
eyes darting around the room in a panic.
"Esmè is keeping your friend at her house. She requires regular, round the clock treatment," Evie explained.
I bit my lip, sorrowfully. "Is…she going to be okay?"
Evie was hesitant. "I…won’t lie. It’s pretty bad. But Esmè is a great alchemist. She is in good hands."
"Hands…" I looked down at mine in my lap. "Could I…maybe…??"
Another voice interrupted then, from one of the far beds. "No, Leorah. It’s too dangerous." It was Finnian, sitting himself up on one of the gurneys, a rag to his head. He winced as he pulled it away, revealing a black and blue goose egg on his forehead. "Your healing powers are…great. But the Shadows were clearly after you. Clearly. You may see her but I’m afraid using your powers on her is out of the question. We can’t risk having you turn Shadowtouched too."
I frowned, crestfallen.
"Your wings detracted again, I see," Finnian said. I hadn’t noticed, craning my head around to see the holes that remained in my clothing where the wings had jut out from.
"Huh…that’s weird. Seems to happen when I sleep?" I hypothesized, with a shrug.
"I wonder if you can call them out on command?" Finnian mused.
I shrugged. "Why would I want to?"
"I do believe they act as a protectant for you. A shield, basically," Finnian said, gingerly poking the bump with his fingertips and replacing the cloth over the injured area. "I also believe that they might make your magic stronger."
"I guess…maybe? It’s worth a shot." I closed my eyes and pictured the wings on my back. I held my breath and I felt a pulling and tingling on my back.
"I’ll be damned." Finnian said.
I opened my eyes and turned to look behind me. The wings had morphed out of my back and were forming down my body as I watched. I raised a brow. Even I thought that was kind of neat. "Huh." I closed my eyes again, and imagined them retracting back into my body…nothing.
I sighed. "Well…I got it half right."
Finnian chuckled. "It’ll come to you."
I scooted backwards so the wings were hanging down the other side of the gurney. "So, can I at least see her?"
Finnian and Evie exchanged a glance; Finnian nodded. "I suppose that would be okay. Just…no magic. Promise?"
I held up my palm like I was giving a vow. "Yes, yes…no magic. I don’t know what I’m doing anyway."
"And…you should probably wait for those wings to go away," Evie said, with a chuckle. "Does she have any idea what you are?"
I shook my head. "No. At least…I don’t think so."
"It’ll be a surprising day all around," Evie muttered. "But if you think it’s okay, Finn, then after I finish these rounds I’ll walk her over. I should check on her myself; take her vitals."
Finnian nodded in agreement. "That works."
I glanced around at my friends laying or sitting up on their beds. "Are…are they all going to be okay?"
"Oh yeah," Evie replied confidently. "Kiarra and Nomi were already released. Maxxus is fine, but he’s asleep so I didn’t want to wake him. The brothers are the only ones we’re still worried about—and you—but they’re responding nicely. All human vitals are good."
"How about him?" I gestured my head towards Finnian.
He grumbled. "I’m right here, you know."
I scoffed. "I know, I know. How did that happen?" I asked, pointing to his forehead.
"Eh, just collateral damage. When Kit came flying out of the portal, she was pushed towards me and kicked me accidentally in the forehead." He smirked. "Looks worse than it is, but I do have a nasty headache."
I chuckled. "Well…sorry about that," I said, not sounding very sorry at all. Served him right.
Finnian shook his head, with a grin. "I’m sure that’s the only apology I would ever get from you, so snide as it is, I’ll take it."
"It probably is," I replied, with a small laugh. Evie scooted over to me and grasped her fingers around my wrist, peeking at a pocketwatch she had pulled out of the pocket on the front of her white lab coat. She dropped my wrist after a moment, and put a hand to my chest. I gave her an odd look.
"Vampire thing. I can actually hear your heart beating across the room," she explained. "No need for a stethoscope."
"Odd," I said with a laugh.
"Freaks most people out," she replied. She produced a small pen light from her other pocket and clicked it, turning on a light at the end and shined it briefly in each of my eyes. "Looks good. I’d say you are clear to get out of here."
"Good." I slid off the gurney, trying to be careful not to snag one of my wings—not that it would do anything but feel weird—and glanced back and forth at Daniel and Gabriel still resting. I felt a momentary pang of guilt just leaving them behind. Evie must have sensed my hesitation because she said:
"Oh, they will be fine. But you can come back after seeing your friend if you like and stay with them. If that will help you feel better." She flashed me a friendly smile, trying to conceal her fangs with her top lip.
"Thanks," I said, nodding thankfully.
"Well…I’m set to go if you are," she said. I started to follow her out of the infirmary before I paused momentarily at Maxxus’ bedside. I started to reach out to brush a strand of his ginger hair out of his forehead in a pang of momentary guilt. The strong earth dragon looked so vulnerable and peaceful sound asleep; breathing soundly. A lone tear stung at my eye before falling slowly down my cheek. "I’m so sorry…" I said, with a sniffle.
Evie let out a noise, to remind me that she was still here. "Are you okay? He’ll be fine, I promise."
I nodded slowly. "I know, it’s just…" I felt choked. Yes, I felt guilty as to his being here but there was…something else. I couldn’t find the right words so I just shrugged. Feeling exposed, I pulled my hand away. "Let’s go." I had to practically force myself not to turn back and take one last glance at him. I followed Evie out the set of metal doors out of the brick building that sat on the west edge of town. She led me through the town square and down several rows of family homes and huts, all of a different construction than the other before we arrived at a terra cotta cottage, complete with scalloped red roof and rounded, wooden door. She didn’t bother knocking before going in, and I assumed we had reached Esmè’s home.
I honestly didn’t pay much attention to the décor as we traipsed through a front room with couches, down a hallway and we paused briefly before entering the small bedroom.
She did pause to ask me, "You think it’s wise to let her see those wings?"
I shrugged. "She’ll have to know sooner or later."
"You’re the boss," she said with a chuckle and we entered. I gasped, when I saw her.
Kit lay on her back on a twin size bed, covered with handmade quilts her head rolled to the side, still pallor and fairly lifeless.
I tried not to cry out in despair at the state of my friend. I did notice that someone had taken off her rags and replaced them with a set of sunny yellow robes (her favorite color—I wondered if they somehow knew) and her face had been washed of the dirt marks, her long hair had been thoroughly brushed and braided off to the side, and trailed down her chest.
Esmè had been sitting at her bedside, swinging a blue crystal from a silver chain over her and whispering something rhythmically that I couldn’t quite make out: I wasn’t sure if it was another language or if I was too panicked to care.
"How is she?" Evie spoke for me, as I was too dumbfounded to open my mouth.
Esmè startled and gasped. She turned to see us there and laughed. "Oh my…sorry! I was in concentration; I didn’t hear you come in."
"How is she?" I repeated nervously. Esmè reached for a small vial and dropper from the table next to the bed and dipped the dropper inside, squeezed the rubber top and hovered it over Kit’s lips a short distance. She dropped a couple drops of grayish liquid from the dropper and they landed on Kit’s lips. Instinctively, she pressed them together, swallowing whatev
er it was that had been in the dropper. "Healing potion," Esmè explained, setting the vial back down. She stood up and motioned for me to sit in the stool that she had been sitting on.
"I believe your friend will be fine, but she will probably feel better hearing from a familiar voice," Esmè said.
I nodded, sitting down gingerly next to Kit in the stool, tossing my wings behind me like they were hair. "She can hear?"
"Oh yes. She’s awoken a handful of times, but only for a few moments before she drifts out again," Esmè said. "She would appear to be in a state of shock." Esmè putzed about the room, rearranging dried flowers in vases, moving crystals around. Briefly I noticed that the room—adorned with rose-floral wallpaper—looked like it should belong in what I assumed rooms in the New Orleans French Quarter would look like, complete with voodoo ware and other mystical objects—glass orbs, crystals and bones hung from strings in various spots, beads instead of curtains over the windows. The wallpaper appeared severely out of place. She smiled at me briefly, gesturing to Evie with a nod of the head. "We’ll give you some privacy, but not for long, she needs rest."
I nodded, and Evie followed Esmè out of the room.
I turned back to Kit and reached for her hand that had been placed over her heart; it was cold but not clammy. Just cold, like she’d just been outside in the winter. I noticed a rune-like object had been drawn in her palm and wondered what it meant. I didn’t know so I just placed her hand between mine and gave a light squeeze.
"Kit? Can you hear me? It’s…it’s Leo," I said softly, gazing at her with concern. I peered at her face, looking for any sign of recognition. I didn’t notice anything, not even a flutter of the eyes. I sighed. "Kit, I’m so sorry…this whole thing…" I sniffled, feeling the sting of hot tears brimming in my eyes. I didn’t fight them and allowed them to trail down my cheek and fall to the bed. "I’m so sorry…" I murmured over and over again, as I cried quietly. Feeling weak with despair, I rested my head on her shoulder and just let the tears fall in silence.
"L-Leo?" Kit’s voice was quiet and raspy, but she spoke.
