“Are you in pain?” Gavin asked her.
Winter and Abigail slipped into the room as he adjusted the pillows, then the position of the bed until Kelly appeared at least somewhat more comfortable.
She shook her head.
He asked more questions, which she continued to answer with shakes and nods of her head. Was she conserving energy, I wondered, or too frightened to speak?
“We will fix this,” Sebastian promised her.
Gavin approached the petri dish, scrutinizing the creature within. After a moment, he picked up the dish and dumped the creature into his palm. I scowled. Dr. Baker objected, but Gavin ignored us both as he calmly watched the creature scramble up his arm. It stopped a few inches from his palm, then camouflaged itself against his skin. A few seconds later, I barely saw the shimmer of the creature as it crawled back down to his palm, where it remained.
He raised it to the level of his eyes to examine it more closely. “It’s a sleeper,” he proclaimed.
“I’ve never seen one before,” Dr. Baker said, awed. “I assumed it was a myth. Weren’t they supposed to have been destroyed?” He rubbed his temples as he thought. “The elves created this creature….”
The elves can provide the cure.
Gavin explained as he gently returned the creature to the petri dish, “They created it as an undetectable elimination tool. It releases venom that paralyzes the body, eventually infecting the organs, rendering them ineffectual. Once you’re dead, it slithers away, taking along all evidence, leaving the cause of the person’s death inconclusive and the murderer blameless.” His body stiffened. The muscles in his neck tightened like cords, and his fists clenched. His anger filled the room as his panther rose to the surface. “Why is an elven creature that should have been destroyed in our house, Abigail?” He turned to her, glaring.
“You all created this thing that causes death,” Sebastian said, deliberately controlling his temper, “but don’t have a problem killing your own people who happen to be capable of the same thing?”
He meant the dark elves. The Makellos, the elven elite and purists, had led the charge to commit genocide on their powerful, dark brethren, and here they were using the very same magic on their own kind.
Kelly had gone from pale to a shade of green. “If it released venom,” her voice tightened, “even if you can make or find an antivenin, whatever damage is done will be permanent.”
“That’s for snakes,” Winter lied, but Kelly knew too much to be fooled.
Sebastian turned to Abigail. “When is your election?”
Her attention drifted back toward her brother. “In four months.”
“And they will select the candidates in probably a month. What happened to your brother wasn’t a coincidence, nor was what happened to the other potentials.”
Abigail’s skin blanched as she began to fidget and pace the small area next to Gideon’s bed. “As I said before, my brother has no interest in leading,” she said unconvincingly. “That was my father’s dream for him, not his.”
“Eventually he will mature and will accept his responsibilities,” Sebastian stated, scrutinizing her. “Maybe not now, but sometime in the future, he will want that position, and due to your father’s legacy, it will be his without opposition. This”—he gestured to Gideon’s paralyzed figure on the table—“is not a coincidence.”
Abigail seemed aghast, so struck with horror that she leaned against the bed for support. “Someone tried to kill my brother,” she gasped.
“Is there an antidote?” asked Dr. Baker, his expression hopeful.
“Not that I know of,” she answered, distracted, “but we need to find one.”
He turned to Sebastian. “We should call Mason to see if he knows anything that can help.”
Fat chance.
Sebastian agreed with me. “He will not offer us assistance.”
“Call him anyway,” Dr. Baker pleaded.
Before Sebastian could respond, a low moan drew our attention to Gideon. Every one of us stared, disbelieving, until we saw his foot jerk. His legs shifted before he eased himself up, slowly turning to sit on the edge of the bed, groggy as if waking from a deep sleep. He ran his hands over his face as he looked up to take in his surroundings. Realizing he was trapped in a room with several angry were-animals, his body tightened. I doubted he had the strength to flee, but I was prepared to stop him. He calmed at the sight of his sister as she moved to his side and took his hands in hers. He offered her a weak smile.
His gaze fixed on Sebastian as he spoke softly to her in their language. She responded in kind, and at some length, while Gideon occasionally nodded. My suspicion was immediately aroused. It wasn’t polite for guests to conspire in front of their hosts. I turned to Josh, who only shook his head. He couldn’t translate their conversation.
“She’s bringing him up to speed,” Gavin whispered, surprising me. Sebastian was surprised, as well. “She left out the part about someone trying to assassinate him,” he added.
When Abigail finished speaking, the two remained locked in silent communication.
“Abigail is afraid of us,” Gavin whispered.
She should be. My hostile gaze shifted toward Winter, who wore an uncharacteristic look of guilt. She’d broken protocol to bring them to the retreat. It wasn’t our responsibility to treat every supernatural that took ill. We kept to ourselves, and for good reason. Now Kelly was paralyzed from the waist down, and we were quickly becoming embroiled in an elven affair we didn’t fully understand.
They shouldn’t be here.
“May I use your bathroom?” Gideon asked, meeting my gaze for the first time.
Dr. Baker was the only one who moved, helping Gideon off the table and guiding him to the bathroom at the back of the hospital.
The moment her brother was out of the room, Abigail turned to Sebastian. “He can’t find out that someone tried to kill him,” she said, half pleading, half insistent.
I frowned, skeptical. “You think it is wise to keep such information from him? He can’t protect himself from an enemy that he doesn’t know exists.”
I ignored the irritable, perplexed look that Sky gave me.
“At this time it would be best. He will respond irrationally.” Abigail sighed. “Right now is not the time.”
“I don’t care what goes on with the elves and what truths you hold from him,” Sebastian snapped. “You keep whatever secrets you like. We need to find a way to fix Kelly.”
When Dr. Baker returned with Gideon, Kelly asked, “If he’s awake, then I should get better, too, right?”
The brightness in her eyes dimmed as he hesitated to answer. Finally, he frowned as he gave her a half-shrug. He didn’t know the answer, and apparently he didn’t want to lie to her. Seeing the collapse of her hope, I wasn’t sure he made the right choice, but that was between them.
He promised her, “If you don’t, we will find a way. You will not stay like this.”
One hour and we’ll know.
From the time the creature was removed from Gideon’s body to the time he emerged from his coma, one hour had passed. No one wanted to say it out loud, to get her hopes up, but we were all waiting.
CHAPTER 8
Each of us counted the slow, agonizing minutes. We stayed close to Kelly, one or more of us always by her side. Gavin was glued to the chair next to her bed when he wasn’t bringing her water or something to eat, even though she could barely bring herself to do more than nibble at what he brought. I suspected she did so as a courtesy.
As the hour finally approached, each of us found our way into the hospital room under one pretense or another, but we weren’t fooling her. When Dr. Baker repeated his exam and she still couldn’t feel or move her legs, hope drained from her expression, leaving her desolate. She blinked away tears until they overwhelmed her.
Still, we waited for something to happen. Perhaps the effect of the creature took longer to wear off with a human. Unlike the rest of us, Kelly didn�
��t have magic to help her heal. Perhaps she’d need a few more minutes. Perhaps it would be hours, or days, or years. Or never. I didn’t want to contemplate her future as a paraplegic. Not yet.
Frustration tightened in Sebastian’s expression as he turned on Abigail, demanding, “Why isn’t she better?”
Just a few months ago, he’d had Kelly removed from the retreat house for defying his orders and enabling Demetrius to convert Chris. Instead of contrition, Kelly had stubbornly doubled-down on her moral defiance. His anger then matched his concern for her now. Had her defiance made her more endearing to him?
“I’m not sure,” Abigail answered carefully, avoiding the roomful of accusatory glares. “Is she wholly human?”
Sebastian nodded.
“Hmm, usually you all are fanatical about limiting exposure. Why is she different?”
“That’s not your concern,” Sebastian snapped. “Concern yourself with things that matter. How can we fix this? What do you know about this sleeper?”
She pursed her lips as she considered. “It is new to me, just as it is to you.”
Gavin said coolly, “It is an elven creature.”
“No,” she corrected him, “it’s a Makellos creature.”
“To me, it’s the same thing. Whether they consider themselves elite to you all or have skills and powers stronger than yours, at the end of the day they are still elves. You all knew they were creating creatures foreign to us. Things that are so vile they keep them hidden, and when they manage to escape, no one can fix the problem.”
“They are not the same,” she insisted. “They consider themselves pure-breed and do not associate with the likes of us. We know as much as you do about what goes on with them.”
Dr. Baker stepped closer to her. His eyes narrowed and anger filled the worry lines in his face. “Then you need to play nice,” he growled, “and find someone to help her.”
“We will see what we can find out,” she promised meekly, her hand searching for Gideon’s. When he took it, they gave each other a meaningful look before starting together toward the exit.
Sebastian barred their way with his body, looming over them. “No. He stays. You will work better without him.”
Holding on to Gideon was the only way to guarantee her cooperation.
“People will respond better to him,” she said softly.
Sebastian answered with a sly smile, “Then during your drive, you should work on your people skills.”
Winter said, “I’ll go with her."
“No,” Abigail said apologetically. “It will be difficult to get information with any outsider, but it will be even more difficult with you present.” To numb the blow, she gave Winter a soft kiss on the cheek, then turned to her brother. Another silent communication.
“I’ll go with her,” Josh volunteered.
Abigail considered him for a moment before making up her mind. “Okay.”
I frowned, unsure why he would put himself in the hands of elves who were likely to be hostile to any outsider. Who knew what he would be walking into?
“I’ll go, as well,” I announced.
She took longer to consider me, studying the determination in my face. Apparently, she didn’t understand it wasn’t a request. “That will be unnecessary,” she politely apologized. “Josh will be just fine.”
Before I could object, I caught the slight shake of his head as he stood behind her. Where my presence tended to illicit fear and resistance, Josh’s was more charismatic. He was admired for his power. The elves were much more likely to want to encourage my brother’s favor, and without their help, Kelly didn’t have a chance for a cure.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Josh was much better able to deal with Abigail and the elves if she betrayed him. And if they harmed him, I would kill them all.
Left with my concern for Josh and Kelly, and the ever-present concern over Dennis’s appearance and what that said for my state of mind, I spent the next few hours working out in the basement gym. My gaze frequently drifted toward my phone, but after three hours, my brother still hadn’t given me any indication that they had made progress, or that he was safe. I frowned as I jogged on the treadmill. Typical.
My wolf lurked just below the surface, eager for release. I needed the cool comfort my animal nature provided. It might clear my thoughts about Dennis, allowing me to gain a fresh perspective, but I’d need to leave my phone behind. As long as Josh was with the elves, I didn’t dare take that risk. If he needed me, there would be no time to waste.
I found myself considering the mind magic theory once more, deciding to research the subject. After exhausting myself, I showered and grabbed a quick bite of leftovers before making my way to the library. Sky was there, pulling books off the shelves, quickly flipping through them, then promptly returning them.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
She spun around, startled, but quickly recovered. “My glass slipper, have you seen it?” she quipped. “What do you think? The Clostra. I want to finish translating.”
I closed the library door, then folded over a corner of an area rug, exposing the hardwood floor beneath. I’d used the secret storage area so many times that I could find the panel with my eyes closed, but I went through the ritual, feeling for the indentation with my finger, then sliding under the lip and lifting the panel to reveal a rectangular steel lockbox that sank deep beneath the floor. Using the combination only Josh, myself, and Sebastian knew, I removed the brown-and-blue books of the Clostra and handed them to Sky.
“Sheesh, it’s just us,” she teased as she took a seat at the table, placing the books down in front of her. “Don’t you think this is a little over the top?”
I felt a flush of anger heat my cheeks, but suppressed the urge to snap at her. It wasn’t her fault. The constant hum of dark magic in my body had me on edge. Concern for Kelly and my brother only increased my irritation. I returned the box, then the panel. “Apparently we are now running a shelter for misfits,” I said as I restored the rug to its usual state, then took a seat at the table across from her. “We have enough carelessness here. I will not add to the problem.”
Ignoring the rebuke, she pressed both books open side by side, then retrieved a tablet from a nearby shelf and laid it on the table. If she thought I was going to trust her alone with the translation, she was incorrect. Eyeing her, I pulled the tablet toward me and detached the pen clipped to the binder.
“Start,” I said.
“You know Latin?”
“You don’t have a mother who’s a witch without learning Latin.”
“And yet you made Josh do all the work,” she said.
Once again, she was quick to misjudge me, but I didn’t owe her an explanation. “Josh is the only one who finds your little quirks entertaining. Can we start?”
She answered me with an exasperated sigh, then focused her attention on the books. Once she warmed up to the translations, we made steady progress. After hours of reciting Latin, she’d picked up many of the standard pronunciations.
Without the third book, much of what she read remained mysterious, but an obvious pattern began to emerge. The bulk of the spells dealt with magic and magical beings, such as the faes and the elves, but we still didn’t understand why.
Sky stopped for a moment, staring at the place on the page that she marked with her finger. Before I could ask what had piqued her interest, she read aloud, “Et non consurget a umbra spiritu militia … What does that mean?”
I had her repeat the sentence as I wrote it down, then examined it. “The spirit shade will rise from its host and no longer …” I frowned. As with the other clues, there was just enough information to cause worry.
“There are spells for spirit shades,” she said, the pitch of her voice rising with excitement, “which means that there has to be more than just the one in me. Ethan?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed as she leaned toward me. “If you are
lying to me, then stop it. Despite what you seem to think or believe, we are on the same team.” She brushed the books aside, overstating her point.
I glowered back at her. We didn’t have time for childish games and sensitive feelings. “If I knew the answer, I would give it to you. For now, we are on the same team; but I am under no illusions that you will be anything but the undoing of this pack. Unfortunately, the feelings people have for you will cause them to ignore affronts and tolerate things longer than they should and only deal with them once there is irreparable damage.”
I regretted the outburst immediately, but couldn’t take it back. She wasn’t the only one making mistakes. Winter’s decision to bring Gideon to the retreat might well have cost Kelly the use of her legs for the rest of her life. We all make mistakes, I reminded myself. I got a detective killed and now I’m misleading his grieving daughter to cover my tracks.
“I’m sorry,” Sky snapped, her temper rallying. “Are we talking about this pack?”
I frowned as I settled back into my chair, scrutinizing her. “People make mistakes,” I admitted, softening my tone. “It happens. No one sets out to do anything to jeopardize this pack.”
“If I am not mistaken, your relationship with Chris compromised this pack quite a bit. You sleeping with the Master of the Northern Seethe’s mistress wasn’t good for the pack. Yet, you continued to do so without reservation.”
The hair on my neck bristled with a sudden rise of anger. The frequent accusations regarding myself and Chris were tiresome. Since our relationship had ended, we’d gotten together once. It had been a mistake, never repeated, but Sky couldn’t seem to let it go. “She’s not his mistress,” I growled. “My relationship with Chris was never a question of compromise when it comes to this pack. We had no illusions about our roles and the boundaries of our loyalty to each other. If she was a problem or ever became one, trust that she and the situation would have been handled without hesitation.”
“Oh, you were handling the situation just fine. You seemed to handle each other every possible moment you could. So you can take your hypocrisy and shelve it, and while you’re at it, put the attitude and the arrogance there, too.”
Midnight Shadows Page 15
